pausing to pray...

but you, when you pray, enter into your room. and shutting your door, pray to your Father in secret; and your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly." matthew 6:6

i remember when i was younger...reading that verse...and being so hard on myself...because i hadn't spent time in prayer...in my room...praying to the Father in secret...my day had gotten away from me...i couldn't understand how people did this...made this a "regular" routine...

but all the while...i was talking to the Father...maybe it wasn't the standard...on my knees...in private...for that allotted hour...but throughout my day...while driving...or doing whatever it was i was doing...

when i finally buckled down and felt the sense of release that i did upon reading Jesus' instructions in matthew chapter six on how to pray...i was so relieved when i realized Jesus didn't require me to hold a weekly all-night prayer vigil...

now don't get me wrong...while i really wanted to get that point...i don't want to give you the impression that all we ever need to do is throw up 3-sentence prayers here and there...there is another component to a truly vibrant prayer life...

a common problem i see and have experienced myself is we're so busy each day that we don't pause to pray...for ourselves or others...we don't plug into God...until a crisis happens...even then...sometimes...we're so used to dealing with things without praying that it can take awhile for us to remember to turn the problem over to God...so developing a pray-as-i-go-through-my-day mindset is important...

equally as important as taking God along with me through my day and my to-do list...is to set aside and spend time with Him...to commune with Him...to read scripture...to pray...and to listen for His response...to be still in His presence and worship Him...this kind of thing can't be done on the run...

plus...some issues we face in life...for whatever reason in the spiritual realm...cannot be solved with one or two quick prayers...we have to persist praying with faith...we may need to gather others to join us in praying...and to intercede on our behalf...it's always necessary too...to keep in mind that God may not answer in the way we expect...

em bounds writes..."we would not have anyone think that the value of prayer is to be measured by the clock." he also asserts...however, "the short prevailing prayer cannot be prayed by one who has not prevailed with God in a mightier struggle of long continuance." i believe what he is saying is that when we find God faithful in the issues of life that have required much prayer and faith...it provides a foundation of trust...experience and relationship on which our short daily prayers can rest...

when i look at the life of Jesus and His prayer practices...i see lots of brief prayers He prayed...i also see instances when He spent extended time praying and communing with God...for instance...in mark 1:35 we find Jesus alone in a solitary place...very early in the morning...praying...and in mark 6:46...after miraculously feeding 5,000 people with just five loaves of bread and two fish...Jesus leaves His disciples and goes up on a mountainside to pray...matthew adds to mark's account that Jesus remained there alone until evening (matthew 14:23).

so let's examine our prayer life for a moment...could you benefit from learning to pray quickly during your day as needs arise? is a set-apart time of leaning deeper into God with stillness and prayer what your soul is truly craving? whichever it is...or both...decide to make it happen...we can start with a quick prayer for God to guide us in this...

i can't think of anything better...then staying connected with Him through prayer throughout my day...