If there is one thing I struggle with as a believer it is the discipline of having a personally devoted prayer life.
I think Jesus gets me best in Matthew 6 when he says...
"6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."(emphasis mine)
When I pray I suffer from the knowledge that the Father already knows what I need before I ask him. I think many Christians have a nagging feeling about this knowledge that keeps them from having a devoted prayer life. I have wondered if it is my definition of what prayer is that keeps me from being motivated by it. I assume that prayer is a communication between God and I where I tell Him about me. What if prayer has very little to do with me (As far as providing God information of what I want, how I feel, etc. - he already knows, remember, he's God)? What if prayer has much more to do with me alligning myself with what Gods will is, what Gods heart beats for. What if it is about me seeking the coming of God's kingdome, and forgiveness of those I need to forgive as I am being forgiven. What if?
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4 comments:
I have the exact same problem. I think you hit it right on though. That it is more about changing our hearts and finding out what God cares about and wants. Makes me think that listening should play a much larger role in my prayer time.
I guess that is why praying on the go (with out ceasing) is great and should never be abandoned but I also need to make alone time to just sit and listen to God and meditate on His Word. Not that he can't speak to me in traffic while I am driving but I am much more likely to hear him when I am alone with him and focused just on him.
I think the same thing a lot.
"So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind." 1 Corinthians 14:15.
I know that Paul is probably (okay... is) talking about tongues in that verse but I think about it a lot.
Taking time to kneel before God one on one, and devote that time and all your thoughts to him, is pretty powerful.
Although it can be so much easier to sometimes say "Welp, God knows that, so I'll let him take over" Without actually spending time in prayer with him.
I look at prayer a lot like I look at studying the bible. I have to spend time in God's word to truly understand it, and I have to spend time talking with him to build a relationship. Maybe prayer isn't so much about Me or God, but more about me & God. What I do to serve him, what he does in my life, how we work together with others.
HMMMMMMMMMM.... I like your notes, they make me think... talk to you soon!
Yeah, I like that Emily. I do think as we practice we grow more akin to the practice... I have a sneaky suspicion that we Christians have little figured out about the things of God... Anyway. Keep the discussion going...
"Makes me think that listening should play a much larger role in my prayer time."
Yeah, my prayer times are so full of me talking and most of it giberish to fill time. Prayer seems to get the rap of being one sided instead of multi-demintional.
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