21 Days of Prayer: Day 13 - Kjell & Vivian Johanson
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“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Matthew 6:5-6 (NLT)
Our prayer lives are vital to our growth in Christ. The Son knows the Father and has imparted vast wisdom and insight on all ways to connect to Him. Of all the ways to get close to God, prayer seemed to be crucial to Christ. Like any good Rabbi, He has left us with good instructions on how we ought to pray. It is imperative that we take every instruction and command regarding prayer from Jesus very seriously!
Today, we will focus on a particularly challenging aspect… to pray quietly. Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 6 might seem simple and straightforward enough when He tells us to pray in our room with the door closed and no one around. The point is that we are not seeking glory from others for our illustrious prayers but rather seeking God’s glory. However, if we were to take this literally, it would seem like we are to never pray out loud in the presence of others at all. This cannot be the case as we see Jesus teach His disciples to pray, is recorded multiple times praying aloud, and urges us to pray for others. So what does He mean to ‘pray in secret’?
Clearly, our prayer life is meant to be dynamic and versatile. It is something to be practiced daily, and as Paul would put it in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Never stop praying.”. To some, this may seem impossible… “How in the world am I supposed to ‘never stop praying’!?”. With work, school, family, friends, hobbies, chores, sleep, exercise, and so many other things occupying our day, most of us are left to keep our prayer lives to the last bits of the day or very dire circumstances. But Jesus’ heart is clear. Prayer is the lifeline to our Heavenly Father. If we forgo prayer, we forgo the Creator, who hears and helps those who pray. Prayer cannot be solely relegated to finding a parking spot when we are running late or for a loved one who has fallen ill. Those two things are definitely a part of prayer, but prayer is so much more.
A huge aspect of prayer is found in Christ’s command to us within Matthew 6. Be quiet. Jesus wants us to be secluded from others when we pray physically, but there is another aspect to this verse that rings true metaphorically. When we pray, our minds are to be still. We need our thoughts to align with God… which means getting our thoughts off ourselves and our priorities and onto more heavenly things. Our minds cannot be racing with the worries of this life. We cannot run through prayers at the end of the day because we are supposed to. The half-hearted prayer of someone drifting into sleep can be heard by God, but there are more effective avenues to communicate with The Creator of all things.
So when YOU pray, get alone with God. Abandon your phone, music, and any other deterrents. Isolate yourself physically and mentally. Make a mental note of the burdens weighing you down or the to-do list racing through your mind and place them in a bag marked “for God to worry about.” Bring yourself to a calm center as you begin to think of God. Think of how grateful you are for Him. Begin to list His blessings. And if you get pulled back into the worries of this life, don’t stress about stressing; just continue to put it back in the bag. Sit before God silently for as long as you can. It may be ten seconds… start there.
Your job is not to hear a special word or transcend into a new spiritual realm. Our job is much easier and simpler. We are to make space for God. Create opportunities for Him to move and work. I have found that whenever you make a space for God, He will fill it. If this is all new to you, do not worry. Your prayer life is not a switch to turn on and off but rather a muscle that can only grow from being worked on. Give it time, put some effort in, and practice. The more you work on calming your mind and removing the busyness of life, the simpler and easier it will be to pray quietly.
Another important part of your daily devotional is spending time with God in prayer. The Woodlands Church Prayer Board lists prayer requests submitted by our members and provides a way to send them some encouragement by using a button on the page to let them know that you prayed for them. Whether you use the Prayer Board, or pray from your heart, the goal is to build the habit of incorporating prayer into your quiet time.
Need prayer yourself? Let us know by submitting a prayer request on the Woodlands Church Prayer Board.