Pray Each Day

It is important for us to remember that prayer or any other spiritual discipline, for that matter, does not earn us a place in God’s kingdom. We can't work our way into God’s grace. Instead, God’s gift of grace through Jesus Christ (Romans 3:23-24) works its way into our lives. Grace motivates us to respond with a thankful heart. Prayer is one of the best ways for us to respond in gratitude to God.

Jesus called his first disciples to follow him; we are his followers too. As a result, we follow Jesus’ example of his commitment to prayer as a way to spend time with our Father in heaven. “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35). We see many examples of Jesus dedicating time away to pray (including Luke 11:1, Luke 9:28, and Luke 5:16).

Engaging with God

Mary Kate Morse writes, “Prayer is not a skill leading to better and better results because one is praying rightly. Prayer is the simplest and most elegant of spiritual disciplines. Nothing is needed. It is the primal avenue for reaching out and engaging with God and then being strengthened and directed in our mission in the world. Everyone can pray, anytime, anywhere, and in lots of ways”.

Prayer as a spiritual discipline will deepen your faith. Tim Keller writes, “Conversation with God leads to an encounter with God. Prayer is not only the way we learn what Jesus has done for us but also is the way we ‘daily receive God’s benefits.’ Prayer turns theology into the experience. Through it we sense his presence and receive his joy, his love, his peace and confidence, and thereby we are changed in attitude, behavior, and character”.

Praying Each Day This Week

1.        Get some other prayer warriors to pray that you will pray. When you know that others who really pray are interceding for you, you’ll at least think more about prayer—and you’re likely to pray more. Their prayer will motivate your prayer.

2.        Pray in small segments of time. You might remember a recent post where I talked about a “secret” for doing disciplines well: start with 10-minute segments. I still have deeper times of prayer each day, but I’ve learned to delight in praying through the day this way.

3.        Use your calendar to guide your praying. Think about these possibilities:

·      For one week, calendar a different focus for praying each day. For example, pray for your family on Monday, your church on Tuesday, your neighbors on Wednesday, etc. Simply knowing what your prayer focus will be when you wake up will help you pray—and you might use this approach for more than one week.

·      When others ask you to pray for them, immediately calendar  time to do so. Often, the prayer request itself (e.g., a scheduled surgery, a job interview, etc.) will help you know what day to pray for the request. One of my prayer emphases today is a missions trip a friend is leading in a few weeks, and I have their departure date on my calendar.

4.        Pray as you read the Bible. Start by thanking God that you have access to the Word of God that millions around the world do not have. Then, ask God to show you something as you read. If it’s a promise, thank God for it. If it’s something that convicts you of sin in your life, confess it. If it’s a command, verbalize your commitment to obey it. Let your Bible study time become a dialogue between you and God.

5.        Send someone a prayer text each day. I have a friend who’s committed to sending prayers to different people each month, and I’m grateful to be one of those persons. He texts me to get a prayer concern, and he sends me his written prayer in return. I’m often amazed by the Holy Spirit-guided timing of his texts at just the right time in my life.

I know it’s not easy to pray. The devil doesn’t want you to pray. The world wants to distract you from prayer. Your flesh often doesn’t lean in the direction of dependence on God. Sometimes, we just have to fight to pray—but do fight, friend. You won’t regret it.