Prayer more

We should occasionally take time to consider afresh what prayer is. I should ponder prayer more often, too. Because sometimes I forget what this holy habit means and how important it is.

In addition to the recent Paz level-up meetings on prayer, I stumbled onto a podcast with Ryan Skoog on prayer. It was encouraging to consider his statement, "There are no experts on prayer." (Well, except Jesus. And he's interceding for us, too.)

Prayer is the heart of the global and expanding church.

My next stop on the prayer resources train was about prayer for empowered preaching and Christian living by E.M Bounds. He wrote exhorting believers in the 20th century to pursue prayer for Holy Spirit-empowered lives. (It turns out people were significantly distracted from prayer before smartphones, too.)

My summary recollection of past prayer-related resources:

• Prayer is time with Jesus
• Prayer is powerful when you pray in your personal prayer language
• Prayer is an important time for petitions
• Prayer can be over-analysed in modern times
• Prayer is sometimes a rediscovery of ancient Christian practices
• And so on

It seems there’s always another practice to incorporate. We could possibly drown in the flood of practices and concepts and books and podcasts and sermons on prayer.

But the biggest loss is if we emerge from those times and teachings with less desire for prayer. Alternatively, we can spend so much time in the pursuit of prayer knowledge or perfection that our actual prayer life suffers.

I don’t at all advocate coming up with a definition of prayer all by yourself. That’s pretty much new age toxin in a nutshell.

Prayer practices and rhythms are based on Holy Scripture. Turn out there’s a lot to learn about the approved and recommended practices from God.

In the Bible, Jesus gave us his prayer, sermons on the power of prayer, and plenty of examples of how he prayed. God’s Word also includes 150 prayerful psalms and other written prayers from faithful saints.

As of today, I encourage you to pray. Read the books. But pray. Try out new rhythms. Don’t forget the prayer. Get distracted sometimes. Thank God for his grace, and get back in your prayer spot. Or go out on your prayer walk. Join a prayer meeting. Keep a prayer journal.

Stop doing those things in a season when they don’t work for you anymore. Do what God tells you to do. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Listen to Jesus, speak to God, and obey. Grace is in prayer and petition.

Just pray.

As long as it's to our true and good God, in ways not forbidden by scripture, pray. There’s fuel for thought in the Word and healthy practices there.

Prayer isn’t a productivity hack. But it's nevertheless an incredibly good use of our time.

"For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." - 1 Timothy 4:8 ESV

Whatever it is, just pray.

When it’s mysterious, it’s still time to pray. Or, think about it, and then pray. Maybe take some time not to think about it and pray. When your life seemingly gets better or then worse, you can always get back into a new prayer rhythm. 

Pray while slowly reading the Bible. Pray while not reading scripture. Try to figure out prayer without ceasing. Don’t give up when you don’t always understand.

Just pray. It’s always a good time.

Prayer is good. It’s mysterious. It’s big. It’s faith. It’s trust. It’s like breathing. It’s relationship with our Heavenly Father. It’s powerful. It’s a means of grace. It’s something I don’t fully understand. It’s something I want to do. It’s something I don’t always want to do. It’s authorized. It’s dangerous (to the enemy). It's safety. It’s warfare. It’s humility. It’s wisdom. It’s weakness. It’s strength. It’s listening. It’s crying. It’s anguish. It’s bliss. It’s health.

Prayer is access through Jesus to the Heavenly Father, while the Holy Spirit helps us.

Like G.K. Chesterton says of poetry, the boat of prayer floats easily on an infinite sea. Praying is an admission that we don't and can't understand everything. It's the evidence of faith in our infinitely good God.

“Poetry is sane because it floats easily in an infinite sea; reason seeks to cross the infinite sea, and so make it finite. The result is mental exhaustion. To accept everything is an exercise, to understand everything a strain.” -G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

Prayer is something we should do.

What does prayer look like in this season for you?