In and Out of Prayer

Learning How to Pray

I Pray.  I don’t pray as often as I’d like, but I do pray.  A while back at church, I was in a small group called “War Room” and we were studying from “The Battle Plan for Prayer:  From Basic Training to Targeted Strategies.” The authors, Stephen Kendrick and Alex Kendrick of War Room fame (the book and the movie).  It was the second semester offering of the War Room class and as far as I knew, no one knew if this class would be offered continuously so I figured I’d better take it before it goes away.

My prayer life seems a bit redundant in that I find myself praying for the same things all the time. Most times I don’t really feel like I know what to pray for but also how to pray.  I find that my prayers seem more like a conversation with God and not praying to God.  I’m okay with that, except for the redundancy thing.  I find that I’m not as in tuned with God as I had once been and for the longest time, I’ve tried to get back into a relationship with God when I was led by him with such unquestionable clarity.

Thinking back to the days when every time I opened my eyes, no matter what time of the day or night, I’d find myself in long conversations with God.  I think back to our middle of the night conversations and how I enjoyed it so much that I didn’t want to go back to sleep even though I knew I had to get up for work in just a few hours.  Now I find myself praying to God that I will remember to pray  often and yet still I forget.  I pray every morning that God will place it upon my heart to pray throughout the day every single day of the week just because.  No special reason for it, simply just because.

I recall a discussion once suggesting that there is a time and a place for prayer and I guess for some people,  that may hold true.  However, even though my prayer life is not what I’d like it to be, it’s my belief that any time is the right time and the right place for prayer. That does not mean that it has to be an audible prayer, I’ve certainly prayed inside of my head in the most unusual circumstances. Nevertheless, when I feel compelled to pray, I want to do it every time no matter the time and no matter the place.

As I do often, I’m thinking out loud again.  And just like my sometimes predictable self, I get stuck on a word that just won’t go away and this time, that word happens to be prayer.  My musings reflect my current prayer life and the longing for a more intentional relationship with God through prayer.  Although I’m sharing my thoughts here, it’s still a very personal matter and a very personal choice.  It’s one of the things I struggle with, yes I said it…. struggle.  We all struggle with something and whether we admit it or not, struggle often has an “s” at the end.

It’s both my hope and my prayer, that I progress and begin to put into practice the lessons that I learn about going to God in prayer and praying in a way that is pleasing to him.  After all, that’s really what prayer is all about…….. less about us and more about him.  Until such time, I can rely on readily available prayers in the Bible and prayers that can be found in a book titled “Staying Focused” by Author Marietta Seay.

I’ll get it right.  I just know that I will.  Until then, I thank God that I know to pray for my prayer life to be in tune with his will.

photo credit: Meister Eckhart If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough via photopin (license)
“Every day presents another opportunity to hit the reset button on your life.”  Charita H. Cadenhead