Struggling to live a prayer centered life is difficult. Like any task that takes discipline and centering it is hard to do. Things that are hard to do make us want to quit sometimes. Even a good thing that is difficult, like focused prayer, is still the right thing to do.

That being said, I just wanted you to realize a prayer centered life is worth striving for. It can change your whole perspective on life.

Just because it ain’t easy doesn’t make it wrong

I saw a poster recently that said,

There is not an elevator to success. You have to take the stairs

Joe Girard

I don’t know what has happened in our culture or lives, but somewhere along the way we started always taking the easy way out. We don’t like to take the stairs. As a matter of fact if something is too hard we just don’t do it.

Prayer is essential to our faith

Personally I have noticed that when I don’t want to do something I get busy. I usually get busy doing something that doesn’t really matter. Like moving furniture around my house.

Yeah, I know, it’s a crazy thing, isn’t it? The other day I needed to go down to my basement and take the laundry out of the dryer. I hate to fold laundry. Never have liked to fold laundry.

I went up and down the basement stairs at least four times. Each time I got to the bottom of the stairwell I realized there was something else I needed to do upstairs. After the fourth time I spoke to myself and said, “stop this”. I knew I was avoiding something I didn’t want to do. Being still and listening are things I usually don’t like to do, but they are essential to a healthy prayer life.

We need to understand what prayer is not too. My husband and I binge watch shows on BBC. It is our guilty pleasure. On one the most recent programs the lead character said, “I don’t pray I wish.” After he made that comment I realized that we may actually feel that way about prayer.

Struggling to Live a prayer centered life can be something we don’t want to do, really

See, praying takes times and it takes us slowing down a moment or two. We get so used to rushing from place to place and constantly doing that slowing down seems counterintuitive. The truth is we just find it difficult to slow down and practice prayer.

Sitting and listening is hard

Who wants to just sit. They may seem like a real problem for some of us. I am raising my hand on this one. Sitting, listening are actions I make a goal out of every year and every year I feel like a failure at them.

If we are really honest with each other prayer is hard. I would rather do laundry than just sit and pray. A friend of mine that is Buddhist told me one day, “the hardest thing I will do today is sit and be still”. Even in his life of meditation and contemplation being still is difficult.

My desire is to have a rich and full life of prayer with God. Just me and Him, right? Doesn’t everyone want that.

Remember Mary, I really love her. She is broken and relevant to my life. Jesus says to her,

The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things,

Jesus at the home of Lazarus

Struggling to live a prayer center life was part of Martha’s problem. I want to defend her. She is me, but Jesus tells her the things she was doing were about her and not about Him. Jesus wants us to be about Him. If we are struggling to pray and talk to God we are missing out on Jesus.

Martha liked to be busy. It helped her maintain a certain amount of scurrying about and not so much sitting and listening. She actually thought her way was the better way of life, but Jesus clearly tells her something totally different.

What does having a praying life do for us?

Praying for ourselves sometimes may seem selfish or self-centered, but it’s not. It is a necessary part of keeping our life under the control of the Holy Spirit. As a matter of fact we are commanded to do it. We are actually told to “pray without stopping” in Thesselonians.

Goodness, I have gone weeks without praying, seriously. I am not boasting about my sin here, but I am putting it out there to tell you the truth. There is shame in making that statement. Especially because I know the truth and the blessings that come from a prayer filled life.

Just like other people I let being busy take my life over. The business can be really good stuff sometimes too, but if my relationship with Jesus is taking second place that is a problem. Martin Luther said,

“I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”

Martin Luther

Good grief, I think I’m doing great by spending 5 minutes in prayer.

The Brain is an organ that needs exercise

I don’t want to sound too scientific here, but you joined a gym to get into shape. Well regular prayer will cause us to have more regular prayer. Not only that, but we will get better at it.

Practice

The brain is like a muscle, it needs to be exercised. Now, I didn’t say it is a muscle, I said it is like a muscle and needs to be exercised. We can learn to sit and pray, sometimes even in silence. Spending time in prayer allows our brain moments of silence.

I don’t know about you but my brain needs to be slowed down sometimes. Taking the time to be silent and pray will beget more prayer. The simple act of prayer will help us to do it more and more as we practice.

What prayer is

Prayer is a conversation with God. It is not some rote poem or other religious stance. Because it is a conversation with God, what better way to get to know Him. Remember, you can’t really know someone till you have a few conversations with them.

God, above all other things wants you to know Him. He has pursued you to this point in your life. He never gives up on a relationship with you. Prayer offers that relationship to grow and deepen.

The goodness of God is something people like to talk about. Maybe you have heard that before, “God is good” Now, I not refuting this statement, but you can’t really know how good God is if you never talk to Him. Just like any relationship, we need to know the other person intimately to recognize their character.

If you know God intimately you never have to question His character or motives. He will never be completely comprehensible, but you can better understand His reasons.

What God Is Not

If you are struggling to lead a prayer centered life maybe you do not understand what God is not. He is not a Cracker Jack box full of surprises. God’s end purpose is that all men be saved. Yet we kind of make Him into a soda machine, put a few prayers in and get a few surprises back.

Really, that kind of god is what mankind have been seeking for years. The Bible and history books are filled with men giving something up to God and expecting something in return. That’s not our my God works.

As a matter of fact the true God has been wooing and pursuing you since you came into this world. No other faith can say that. A prayer centered life is not about you praying and then receiving. It is about a rich and full relationship with a God that wants to be intimate with you. Now that is a big hole in everyone’s life that needs filling.

How can I stop the struggle and start the prayer centered life?

So what can we do to lead a richer, fuller prayer life with God? Acronyms are not necessary for a rich prayer life, but they can help us get started. In a chapter of the bible called Matthew 6:9-15 Jesus tells us, “Pray like this.” Jesus gives us an example of prayer to The Father there for us to follow. Here is my suggestion following Jesus’ example.

ACT Now

A. Adoration Give God what He deserves first. We aren’t promised another day beyond this one. If nothing else we can offer adoration for the world around us that is beautiful. There is something we can give adoration for.

C. Confess I never get it right everyday, everytime. Here is my chance to say so. To a perfect God my attempts are faulty. God gives you the chance to confess all the faulty thoughts and other ways we fail in being perfect.

T. Thankfulness I am thankful for the way God provides and all that He does for me. The more gratitude we show to God the more our heart will change toward thankfulness.

N. Needs or petition is what some people call it. Here is the place after we have given God what is rightfully His we make our request for us and other known.

Make your new prayer centered life about Jesus

When we make our prayer life about us it is just wishing for something, like a genie in a bottle. Christians don’t use their prayer life for wishes. It’s about my time with God in a real relationship.

Growth is so important to all of us. We shouldn’t be satisfied to remain child like.

Dedicate some time for your prayer life. Try to make it first thing in the morning. Change whatever you have been doing before and ACT Now.

Honestly, I struggle to do this too, but today I am committing to change the way I have done things before. Let me know if you struggle with your prayer life. How have you improved yours? Praying for You, Janet

GET A PRAYER GUIDE HERE

This prayer guide is for your children. Just a little guide to pray for them. Click on the link

Prayer Matters