Prayer Life Essentials

“Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life of the saint.”  Oswald Chambers

I sometimes struggle with prayer.

As a Christian writer, it is hard to author a post admitting I struggle with a basic function in our faith. But honestly, I struggle with it sometimes.

At times, I struggle how to pray, what to pray, and does prayer even matter.

At times, my pea-sized brain can’t even comprehend prayer—the whole supernatural aspect of praying to God, hearing God, and waiting on God.

So what’s a believer to do when she struggles?

Get back to the basics, of course!

And perhaps you may need a little help, too, if you have times of questioning or struggling.  I think it happens to the best of us. When it does, I believe there are three Biblically based essentials of prayer life that can help us when thoughts get jumbled up or we feel our prayers are going nowhere.

CONNECTION

Like the computer I wrote this on, and the device you are reading it from, without an Internet connection, you wouldn’t receive. I could pound on the keys in front of me all day long, and keep hitting send, but without a connection the words go nowhere.

And that is where prayer life begins. The connection is paramount. I MUST be plugged in, turned on, and linked to the One who I am talking to.

For God himself says,

• “Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears them.” John 9:31 NKJV
• “If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.” Proverbs 28:9 NIV

Listen these aren’t my words, they’re God’s! I wish it said that all prayers from all peoples were heard—all the time—but they simply aren’t. It is all about connecting first in faith to the One who hears our cries.  We must check ourselves of sin and being in alignment with him first, before we go to the throne with requests.

EXPECTATIONS

I want all my prayers answered exactly the way I ask, all the time. Period. That is my overarching expectation. After all, God is huge. He made the universe, so my little prayers should be a nothing burger to him, right?

Why can’t he heal my friend’s cancer,

Why can’t he renew a loved one’s marriage,

Why can’t he save the dying child?

Why can’t he do those and more? He’s God. He can do anything. But the question from us should not be, why can’t He, the question should be, will He?

When my expectations move from what I want, to what HE wants, my prayers change.

I will never understand pain, or suffering, or death, or every negative aspect of our lives. Therefore, my focus must be on HIS will instead of MY will. Then, I can understand that sometimes he won’t meet my expectations. And it is His decision. It is His leading. It is His plan. The big, big, plan.

He asks of us not to understand, but to trust. And when we trust, our expectations are raised—not for a better outcome but for a better communion.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. Isaiah 55:8

PERSISTENCE

Many times I give up way too easily. If I don’t hear back in a few minutes, I think God isn’t listening. If I pray for weeks on end without a note of acknowledgement, I get disheartened. If I make it to a month of the same prayer, I’m really stretching it. So why then should I continue?

Because I’m told to!

Pray continuously … 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Prayer requests will never have a time limit. Time is of our minds, not God’s. What we see as a day, he sees as a second. What we see as a wait, God sees as a working. Prayer is rarely a one-and-done activity. We must put aside the thought of a conveyor belt type system—one side in, another side out.

With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 2 Peter 3:8

Prayer is valuable. Prayer is essential. Prayer is our lifeline.

If you struggle at times like me, we have to remember that when we get back to the basics, the rest fall into place. Prayers to our Father have so much more impact when we understand how to come before Him and then what to do when we are there. And, oftentimes in the midst of our connection, something even greater happens—OUR hearts are changed, not the situation at hand.

God does answer the believers’ prayers—just not always as we request, when we ask, or how we want it. And that is the wonderful mystery of the Almighty God.