One-on-One in Prayer
Recently, I’ve been thinking about the grueling task of prayer. That may sound harsh, but let me explain. One wise woman, whose heart was one of prayer, spent many years of her life on the mission field in Africa. Her name was Mary.
One day she said, “The hardest part of my day is my prayer time.” I was taken aback at that statement but after thinking about it, I knew she fought many a battle on her knees.
As much as I’d like to give Mary credit for this thought that prayer is grueling—I cannot. You see, the Bible asks us to “Pray without ceasing.” When I adopt an attitude to pray without ceasing, it can actually mean that everything I do is prayer. That could sound rather grueling. But is it?
“Every Moment Holy” is a name of a book someone gifted. It’s filled with prayer for all moments of the day—even the mundane task of changing diapers. It infers that Holy ground is what we walk all day long.
Sometimes we avoid prayer as we think it means we must set ourselves aside. Although this is one form, the business of the day may hit full force and pressing into prayer is needed right then and there. How can we be still in the midst of the tumult and embrace a quietude of heart in prayer? Perhaps it’s actually pretty simple and not so grueling after all.
Prayer offers perspective, forgiveness, comfort, direction and time with Him. It can be in the car as you drive, in our hearts as we work, or as we walk down the grocery isle. Being astute to Him in all places allows us to pray without ceasing and while that is true, there is also wisdom in the form of going to a quiet place—away from the fray. When we set aside time for prayer, it allows us to hear what it is He desires to speak. It allows His words to wash over and it gives us time to listen.
Remember when He spent time alone with His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane? Remember when He went away with His disciples—away from the crowds? It was a time to re—member Himself with His Father. To be able to put on the mind of Christ in the moments of still as in retreat so we may to re—member ourselves into the body of Christ, to be one with Him—is what prayer invites us to. He invites us to enter in—always and in all ways.
My mother-in-law gifted me a small wooden plaque one year in the midst of raising a pile of kids. It simply said, “Jesus is as close as a whispered prayer.” These words carried as they were strategically placed where I’d see them many times throughout the day. My days were sometimes grueling— but not my whispered prayers. They offered reassurance that He was in the midst of the muddle at any given moment both good times and bad. Whether I chose to whisper in my hour of need was up to me—but He was ever-present and is everpresent (Psalm46:1).
Galatians 2:20 speaks about what it is we seek when we pray. Prayer helps us to put on the mind of Christ. “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
We are invited to pray without ceasing because the mystery of faith is bigger than our finite minds can comprehend. May we pray without ceasing as we pray for those both seen and unseen, for ills known and unknown, for grace and mercy and trials and temptations which we face and those we will face.
I pray for you. Please pray for me. Amen.
