Time to Pray

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”  Luke 11:1

There are many times in the scriptures that we are commanded to pray. We’re to pray for our own forgiveness (acts 8:22), we’re to pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44), we’re to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), we’re to be thankful in prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:18), we’re to pray for strength not to sin (Mark 14:38), and for those who abuse us. We’re also to intercede for each other as brothers and sisters in Christ (James 5:16) but we’re not to pray for the praise of men or with too many words (Matthew 6:6-7).

Sometimes it seems overwhelming. We are to pray for each other, our church leaders, our political leaders, our families, our co-workers, and ourselves. We are often given a desire to pray for a particular ministry or missionary and we’re often asked to pray for particular outcomes or circumstances for our friends. Then, we need to pray for salvation of those in our families and spheres of influence who do not know the Lord and that we would have a passion to reach unnamed others with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Sometimes I think about all of these requests and wonder how on earth I am supposed to have time to get them all in. So, over the years I have been taught a system for keeping track of all these needs. I keep lists by categories and days of the week. I don’t look at every list everyday  but I do have it all written down so when I am praying I will remember all of these prayer needs at some point each week.

I am a blessed woman in that I have time in my schedule for prayer every day – at least Monday through Friday most weeks. Because of what I do I am home to prepare to write and teach – prayer is a big part of what I do.  My ministry would not survive if I did not rely on the Lord for all aspects of teaching.  There are others who graciously pray for this ministry as well. I was taught early on that prayer is fundamental, not supplemental.

This morning my Pastor talked about how Christians have abandoned prayer as a part of our ministries. A ministry of any kind that is done without prayer is destined for failure or at best mediocrity. God’s ways are not man’s ways. When we do work without prayer we are doing it without the leading of the Holy Spirit – we’re doing it man’s way – not God’s way. He has not promised to bless us if we haven’t asked for His direction or given Him the glory in praises and thanksgiving for how He has worked in us and our good deeds.

Why aren’t we praying for our ministries, for our church leaders, for our families, for our own passion and love for the Lord to grow? Most people would say they don’t have time. If you think about it that can be the only excuse we have. We can’t say it costs too much, there is no cost. We can’t say it’s too hard, it’s a conversation and we’re all practiced at having conversations and if we aren’t a conversation with God is a great place to practice. If someone says they don’t pray because they don’t believe God will answer I think they had better make sure of their salvation.  If they believe prayer doesn’t get answered or doesn’t change things then I would say they haven’t tried praying very much.  One of God’s promises to His people is that He will hear our prayers. Jesus, in Matthew 21:22 says, “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive in faith.”  And 1 John 3:21-22 say, “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;  and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.”

So, are we keeping His commands regarding prayer and doing what pleases Him? Are we taking time every day – or at least on a regular basis- to pray? If not, how are we spending our time?

Another thing that our Pastor did this morning was to challenge us with a quote from John Piper. It is a very convicting thought and one we need to ponder. He said, “Facebook will forever be the indictment against the church that its prayerlessness was not for want of time.” I would have to add to that the computer games that take hours and hours of valuable time from Christians, time we could be using to pray and to serve.

Beloved, do our hearts condemn us?