Life Lessons on Prayer

This writer has been a slow learner in the school of prayer. I had been preaching 15 years before I began to take prayer seriously. That was 30 years ago, and God has taught me a few things about prayer during that time, for example:

Prayer deserves priority.

A national poll showed that the average Christian prays only three minutes a day. That is not good news. We cannot have victory in our lives and churches with that level of praying.

Prayer focuses on God”s desires rather than what we want. Prayer needs to be our first response rather than our last resort. We should make our plans with prayer rather than praying out of despair when our plans fail.

Also, prayer is how God gets things done. God is all-powerful, but he has told us, “You do not have because you do not ask God” (James 4:2). How many blessings from God have you missed by not making prayer a priority?

Prayer takes many forms.

It is not something we do just in church or at mealtime or bedtime. We can always be in communication with God.

In times of crisis, we may be on our knees in earnest supplication like Jesus in Gethsemane (Luke 22:44).

During the busy activities of the day, we may send up quick prayers to the Lord on a variety of subjects.

During our quiet time with God, we may use a prayer notebook filled with matters of concern, or just talk to God as a friend to a friend.

Sometimes prayer is merely recognizing the presence of the Lord with you throughout the day. You can “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) because the Lord is “with you always” (Matthew 28:20).

Busyness is no excuse.

In fact, the more you have to do, the more you need God”s power, provision, and protection.

Jesus set the example for us in this. Mark 1 tells us about one of the busiest days in Christ”s earthly ministry. The day was filled with preaching, teaching, healing, and casting out demons. He was undoubtedly exhausted after such a day, but notice what happened after he had slept a little while. “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).

If Jesus, who walked in unbroken fellowship with the Father, needed prayer more than sleep, what must our need be?

Quiet time is essential.

Jesus advised us to have a private time of prayer away from distractions (Matthew 6:6). Solitude is good for the soul, especially when we are alone with God. We need to draw apart from the anxieties and rush-rush of our daily schedules. Doing that requires self-control because focusing on spiritual matters is hard work. It is easier to seek immediate gratification in less demanding activities.

But alone with God we see ourselves as we are””the good, the bad, and the ugly. That may be uncomfortable at times, but it will be balanced by a deeper understanding of our potential to live for his glory.

Prayer is the perfect partner to Bible study.

In prayer we talk to God, but we must also listen to him. Listening to God can occur while we pray, but it should begin with time in God”s Word.

We cannot pray with power unless we pray in harmony with the will of God as revealed in Scripture. So Bible study in an atmosphere of submission to God is a prerequisite to a mature prayer life.

A prayer notebook creates a valuable record.

My prayer life took a giant leap forward when I began using a prayer notebook. Before that, I would sometimes forget to pray when someone gave me a request. Even when I did remember, I might pray about it once or twice and never again.

Also, keeping a record with dates, requests, and answers from God became a real faith builder. I could document clearly the results of prayer. It enabled me to point to specific answers to specific requests on a regular basis.

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful” (Colossians 4:2). Keeping a record of your petitions and the results is one way of watching for the Lord”s guidance and provision. It also is a tremendous aid to our being thankful for all he does.

Prayer is a weapon against sin.

Jesus taught us not only to confess our sins, but to pray for victory over temptation (Matthew 6:13). He told his disciples, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation” (Matthew 26:41).

In Ephesians, after Paul”s discourse about taking on God”s armor, he closes with an exhortation to pray (6:18-20). God would not have told us to pray this way unless he knew we needed the protection. In 1 Corinthians 10:13, he promises a “way out” when we are tempted.

Every time I have sincerely asked the Lord for victory over temptation, he has made it happen. It works 100 percent of the time!

Enemies need prayer too.

Jesus commanded this in Matthew 5:44. In doing so, Christianity establishes a higher ethic than any other religion known to man. We are taught to pray for those who persecute us! This means we ask God to lead our enemies to Christ, and for his sake to forgive them.

Jesus set the example for us on the cross. He prayed for his crucifiers, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). If we will imitate the Savior, we may be surprised to find some of our enemies turning into friends.

Evangelism begins with prayer.

First Timothy 2:1-4 often is used to show the necessity of praying for government leaders. Verse 2 does tell us to pray for kings and those in authority, and we should do this. However, verses 1 and 4 urge us to pray for everyone, because God “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

When Paul speaks of prayers for the salvation of everyone, I do not believe he is suggesting a generic prayer like “God, please save everybody.” The idea is that we all know people who need Christ. They are in our sphere of influence. We should pray specifically that they will be convicted of their sins and repent. Pray for an opportunity to witness to them.

Christians spend a lot of time talking to each other about evangelism. We read books, take classes, and attend conferences on how to reach people for Christ. Perhaps if we did more of the kind of praying Paul suggests, we would have more of the results Paul had.

Praise and thanksgiving are key.

My quiet time became more meaningful and fulfilling when I began spending more time praising and thanking God. For me, this includes singing to the Lord as well as worshipful prayers.

There is a fine line between praise and thanksgiving. The main distinction comes in that we praise God for his attributes and thank him for his actions. In other words, we praise God for who he is and thank him for what he has done. We praise God because he is eternal, all-seeing, all-powerful, infinitely wise, holy and just, loving and gracious, awesome and majestic, and more. We thank him for his creation, his redemption, his Word that guides us, his provision of our needs, his unfailing promises, answered prayers, and the long list of his gifts and blessings we see in our lives.

Learning to enjoy personal worship will enhance your corporate worship experience. When people tell me they do not get much out of worship services, I ask them about their personal worship during the week. In most cases, they have little or none. I encourage such persons to read the book of Psalms and meditate on the words of great praise choruses and hymns. This will enhance anyone”s vocabulary for personal worship.

Growing churches are praying churches.

Sound leadership principles are essential and effective church growth methodology is important, but man”s machinery cannot replace God”s might. The early church experienced explosive growth because it was a praying church.

The book of Acts is a book about prayer. Nearly every chapter in the book mentions it. Every major decision made by the church in Acts was made at a prayer meeting.

The question isn”t “What do I want?” or “What do we want?” The question is, “What does God want?” God promises his wisdom to those who ask him for it (James 1:5).

Brian Giese is a retired preaching minister living in Kewanee, Illinois.