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Prayer is hard! It takes work. I often feel guilty that I don’t pray enough. Even when I do, I wish I prayed longer. When my prayer life is lacking, rushed and forced, it unfortunately becomes a last resort instead of a first response.
Prayer is the one thing that can have the greatest impact on our lives and the lives of others, yet it becomes an option, not an absolute. Prayer is a discipline we need, want and value. It gets pushed aside to the never-ending demands and busyness of life. This can minimize and marginalize our prayer lives. Prayer becomes a 911 call — a plea for help — instead of a continual conversation with our Lord. There’s nothing wrong with 911 prayers, but when they become our only prayers, then there is something wrong.
Often, when I ask people about their prayer life, I usually get a similar confession. We like the effects of prayer but not the hard work of prayer. We want the results, benefits and blessings without the surrender, sacrifice and sweat. We resort to microwave prayers instead of Crock Pot prayers. Quick and short instead of slow and long. God longs for us to commune with Him. Instead, we give him “quick words of prayer.”
The crazy thing is I have never met someone who says they feel great about their prayer life. Engaging God through prayer can be an ongoing battle. Recently, I talked with a friend who started a prayer ministry 20 years ago and has mobilized 20,000 full-time prayer missionaries. He spends over 25 hours a week in their prayer room and, guess what, he told me he struggles with praying! We are never satisfied with our prayer life because there is always room to grow when it comes to praying.
Unfortunately, learning how to pray doesn’t come naturally. I believe the best way to learn is from a mentor. Barry Spofford, who passed away in 2015, was my spiritual mentor who taught me how to pray. For 23 years, I had the joy and honor of serving on staff with Barry and starting Fellowship of Christian Athletes in many countries around the world. God used Barry as a spiritual coach to show me the importance of spiritual disciplines, especially prayer. Spending hours of prayer on my knees with Barry, I saw God move mountains. I learned how to pray, not just talk about prayer.
When we met, Barry slipped off his Timex watch, set the timer for an hour, put the watch on the table, and then dropped to his knees. No talk; just prayer. He modeled how to pray right away, instead of waiting, which was the key. He lived by the motto, “Pray it, don’t say it.” He seized the moment and prayed instantly. Barry taught me the power of constant, unbroken, continual, spontaneous prayer. Activating prayer was as simple as calling upon the Lord at all times.
SOURCE: Christian Post, Dan Britton
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