The Practice of Prayer (1)

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. Daniel 6.10

The promise of prayer
Prayer is the most characteristic Christian practice. Prayer opens to us the privilege of continuous communion with the eternal God, in Whose presence we discover mercy and grace to help in our time of need. Since we are never without need of mercy, given our inveterate sinfulness and our ungrateful ways, and since apart from the grace of the Lord, we can do nothing, Christians know that their best interests are served, and their greatest hopes and joys are realized, in the presence of God in prayer.

Of course, we cannot all give ourselves up to a life of perpetual prayer and nothing else. Someone has to make the coffee, raise the kids, keep the lawn looking nice, bring home the bacon, and the zillion and one other tasks and duties that make up our everyday lives. But prayer is the kind of discipline that we don’t always have to be going to – like a gym or a particular piece of workout equipment – in order to participate in it. Prayer is a discipline that goes with us, like a song, or like breathing, observing our environment, or feeling the warmth of the sun. Prayer is essential, delightful, and wondrous even though at times it can be lonely, difficult, and agonizingly unfruitful.

But we cannot do without it. So we take seriously the teaching of Scripture to pray always and in everything, so that, increasingly, prayer can have primacy of place in our lives. We submit to those preconditions of prayer which, as we meet them, help to ensure that our prayers will realize the promise of mercy and grace to help in our time of need.

So when we actually enter into prayer, how should that go? What does the work of prayer entail, so that we may gain the maximum benefit from the discipline of it?

Like much else in life, we improve our use of prayer by practice – by faithfully coming to the Lord in prayer, seeking His face, pressing near to His presence, opening our souls to His inspection, and resting in the promise of His unfailing mercy and grace. But, as you may remember from your days in sports, or learning to play the piano, we don’t always feel like practicing. We practice because we need to, not because we feel like it. Just so, the work of prayer begins in faithfulness, not in feeling.

Resolve, not feelings
You will not always feel like praying. You will be too tired to pray, too sad, too distracted, too unbelieving, or just too content doing whatever else you’re doing. So in order to gain the promise of prayer, of mercy and grace to help in your time of need – which is always and in everything – you’ll need to rely on something other than your feelings to help you engage in the discipline of prayer.

This is why it’s so important to settle it in your mind that prayer matters, that it must be the defining discipline of the life of faith. You will never be in your walk with Lord more than what you are in your time with Him. If your time with Him in prayer, and in His Word, is minimal, formalistic, dutiful, and dull, your Christian life will look pretty much the same.

So you need to make up your mind concerning the primacy of prayer, then anchor that idea into the firm footing of your conscience, so that you know and are convinced of the importance of prayer, of praying always and in everything, and you will not allow your feelings to tell you otherwise, ever.

Helps
I doubt Daniel felt much like praying when he heard that the king had put a ban on prayer, except as he permitted. But Daniel was resolved to pray. He prayed three times a day, always in the same place, although it’s likely the contents of his prayer differed from one time to the next.

So though he may not have felt like praying, Daniel had committed to meeting the Lord three times a day. Therefore, in his mind, he was able to overcome whatever hesitant feelings he may have had and keep his time with the Lord in prayer.

If we want to pray like Daniel, we’ll need to plan our prayer times daily – morning, evening, and noon perhaps. Make up your mind to keep those times of prayer, and make sure you always bring something with you to them. Be attentive to the Lord’s presence throughout the day, and respond as often as you can with some word of acknowledgement, thanks, or praise.

Find a prayer partner or two to pray with you, perhaps once a week. Daniel and his three friends provided powerful spiritual support for one another through their prayers together, as we see in Daniel 2. Prayer partners can hold us up before the Lord throughout the week and join us in seeking Him on a regular basis. Having a prayer partner or two can greatly enhance your ability to remain faithful in the work of prayer.

Finally, make the most of the times for prayer provided by your church’s service of worship. Sadly these days, our times for worship contain fewer and fewer opportunities for prayer. However, when you are praying in worship, whether in formal or silent prayer or as you are singing to the Lord, throw yourself into the work of prayer wholeheartedly, focusing on the Lord and paying attention to all the words.

If we can strengthen our resolve to pray, the faithfulness we need for gaining the promise of prayer will enable us to discover in the practice of prayer that continuous presence of the Lord for righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, and for mercy and grace to help in our time of need.

For reflection
1.  Why do you suppose you sometimes don’t feel like praying? How should we try to deal with such feelings?

2.  Would you say that you follow a prayer plan? Would it be a good idea to do so? Explain.

3.  What’s one thing you could do to firm up your resolve to pray more consistently?

Next steps – Demonstration: Find someone who will agree to be a prayer partner with you. Download the Soul Friends brochure (click here) and make a copy for your prayer partner.

T. M. Moore
Each of our “next steps” exercises is tied into goals and disciplines involved in working your Personal Mission Field. If you have not yet identified your Personal Mission Field, watch the brief video showing you how to get started right away (click here). Learn how to work your Personal Mission Field by finding a friend and signing-up for our Mission Partners Outreach.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.