“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:16b NKJV
The pastor took his place behind the pulpit as the congregation rustled about, settling in for the upcoming sermon. As he started, the pastor opened with a simple direct question to his hearers. “If you prayed for at least 5 minutes yesterday, please raise your hand.” And it was then the discomfort started. Weak trepid hands raised around the church, some high, some low, and some obviously embarrassed to have their hand stayed at the waist. But the next question only got tougher. “If you prayed for 10 minutes yesterday, please keep your hand raised, if not, please lower them.” Awkwardness filled the air as it seemed people had lost control of their hands. Some lowered them a few inches, some were paralyzed in indecision, and some hands fell. By the time the third question was asked by the pastor, not a hand remained to indicate they had spent 15 minutes of a 24-hour period petitioning and praying to the Lord. As you encounter the real life story above, I challenge you to place yourself deeply within it. Ask yourself the same graduated questions, even to the point of raising and lowering your hand. For it is only in the honest admittance of our Godly weakness that we can truly seek Godly strength.
God graciously grants us the most powerful tool kit that has ever existed, a spiritual tool kit that is. And within that tool kit lies the power to move well beyond a mediocre Christian life into one of rarified air. You see, Jesus came to not just offer us the promise of an abundant life in heaven when this earthly body expires, but right now in this very day. (John 10:10) And just how do you assemble this abundant life that is full of joy, peace, harmony, purpose, and goodness? Well, in the same way you assemble anything, you use the right tools.
Within the Godly tool kit lie the most powerful tools the world has ever known. The Bible, the very Words of God given to guide us, teach us, correct us, encourage us, and prepare us, lie in our tool kit, ready to be picked up and put to use. The Holy Spirit of God. Every one that calls upon the name of Christ as their personal Lord and Savior is anointed with the very power of the Holy Spirit, the working of God available to those that walk righteously and listen to His Spirit that beats within an obedient heart. The power of fellowship, primarily found through the local church, also lies in that toolkit. Fellowship is God’s tool to sharpen believers by allowing them to share the burdens of others, serve others with their spiritual gifts, and walk through the highs and lows of the Christian life, not alone, but hand in hand. But way down in the bottom of that tool kit, buried by our unuse, lies possibly the most powerful tool of all…prayer.
Do you believe that God is omnipotent, that He is all powerful and can achieve anything He desires with His creation? Do you believe that God is omniscient, that He is all knowing and knows all that has, is, and will ever occur within His creation? Do you believe that God is omnipresent, that He is everywhere all at once as He monitors and manages His creation? Friends, if you are a follower of Christ and can offer an emphatic yes to each of these, then I have a powerful question for you. As your life seems to, at times, to be spinning out of your control…who are you talking to about it? Friends and family or the God that holds His universe together with a mere fingertip?
In my journey to ever increase my usage of the amazing tool of prayer, it brought me to realize several things about how I approach it. I better understand today that a rich and robust prayer life is not one long prayer a day…but a thousand small. You see, I have a nasty habit of thinking that I can control anything in or surrounding my existence. And the truth is I cannot. And by talking to God about everything I encounter, it keeps me in remembrance that He is in control, not me. Considering this, God revealed 4 simple steps to me to aid me in remembering to be in constant prayer to Him throughout each and every day.
1) Pray when you start. Even before your feet hit the floor in the morning, go to God and ask for His mercy, blessings, correction, guidance, instruction, and purpose in your day. Talk to God before you talk to the world. Go to the throne before you go to your phone. And remember, a prayer does not need to be long, complicated and flowery, you’re not giving God your words, you’re really giving Him the dependent posture of a reliant and dependent heart.
2) Pray when you wait. The average person waits in lines 6 months of their lives, what are you doing with this time? Use it to pray and mediate upon the Lord. Talk to Him as the heavenly Father that He is. Tell Him you love Him, tell Him your concerns, ask Him for His favor upon others in your life. What else do you have to do as you wait at the Dr.’s office, in line at the store, or in traffic? As you wait, instead of picking up your phone to scroll social media, pick up the tool of prayer and approach the throne of God.
3) Pray when you have a decision. The average person makes between 33,000 and 35,000 decisions a day. Sure, many of them are miniscule, but how many are not? And are you going to God with them? You see, this is where I falter in thinking that in my mastery of the small decisions, it somehow enables me to master the medium and even larger ones that perplex me…not true. Go to God and ask Him for His guidance in your daily decisions that are well above your pay grade. By the way, He can already see the outcomes of those decisions, why not seek His counsel on them all?
4) Go to God when you end. As God ushers you into peaceful slumber at the end of your day, let your prayer to Him be the last thing you recall. Thank Him for His love throughout your day, praise Him for His faithfulness to hear your requests…simply tell Him you love Him. Let the last thoughts of your day echo your thoughts from throughout your day. And no matter how bad your day was, praise Him, because it could have been far worse without His hands upon you.
Friends, today I challenge you to be brutally honest in the assessment of your prayer life. If you think it isn’t the best it can be, it’s not. And herein lies the blessed ability to improve it and go to God a thousand times a day. Commit to go to the Lord throughout your day, readily admitting that He holds the keys to all. Give up your decisions, give up your ambitions, give up your desires to the Lord…for in His hands is the best place for them all to be.
I pray you reach down today and pick up the amazing tool of prayer and put it to good use in assembling the abundant life Christ promises ~ Dan
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6
“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” Colossians 4:2
“pray without ceasing” 1 Thessalonians 5:17
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