What would remain if Christians didn’t use short prayer to ask for things, repent, and stand in the gap for someone else? It’s a great question worth pondering. The truth is, likely nothing. It’s a sad fact but that is likely what we would see.
If we took a trip back in time to the very beginning we would not hear Adam and Eve asking for all those things when they talked with the Lord. They lived in a perfect world. There was no opposition to comes against. There wasn’t any need that they didn’t have already.
What’s interesting is that they still took time and spent it with God. None of that time relied on them going through their list of needs or wants. They communed and prayed with God on a daily basis.
Use Prayer For What It Is
Prayer quickly slips over to becoming religious when that time of communion is used outside of God’s original intention. That’s why we can feel like we hit a wall when praying. Oftentimes it just feels like there is no life in our prayers.
Prayer is not about how long you pray or how often. It’s about spending time with the Lord and letting Him lead you. Don’t be mistaken, your prayer won’t get answered just because you prayed non-stop of 10 hours over and over again. That’s not what Jesus said prayer was.
It’s About Relationship
To better understand how prayer works think about a close relationship that you have. How much time did you spend with that person yesterday? On a regular basis, all things considered, how much time?
Now, imagine if you took that amount of time and just dropped it down to 30 minutes a day. Where do you think that relationship would be in a week? A month?
God is available all day, every day. Prayer can be done all throughout the day, whenever it comes to mind. Of course you can certainly set aside predetermined times to commune with Your Father but, all things being equal, He is there any time you need Him.
That being said, do not minimize prayer to a certain time period. Keep the Lord in mind all throughout the day and just talk with Him. Listen too, and He’ll lead you.
If anyone asks how long you pray, now you can respond, “All day.”
Continual Communion With God
Prayer is communion with God plain and simple. Since He is always with you, you are able to pray any time of day. You can pray while driving. You can pray while jogging. You can pray while riding on public transit.
We find that in the Bible that people raised their hands while praying. Some stood to pray while others knelt. Some looked up and some looked down while communing with God.
Don’t make a religious form out of these things and require that a strict regimen be followed in order for prayer to be made. You too can pray with your eyes open or closed. You can raise your hands or keep them at your side. Kneel if you like or stand. All in all, you don’t even have to talk out loud. Prayer should be constant communion with the Lord, all day long.
Set Aside Time To Pray
As mentioned above, there are special times when you can pray to the Lord. Even though you can pray throughout the day, we should follow Jesus’ example of stepping away from the busyness of life and praying with the Father. The face-to-face time in prayer does help build intimacy into your relationship. What you’ll also discover is that if you don’t set aside time, life can get so busy that there isn’t any time left for God.
It’s essential and appropriate to take time away from others and be alone with God. It’s important for Believers to commune with Him in the midst of the day as well as intimate times alone. Don’t limit yourself when it comes to prayer. Walk and pray with God every single day. He loves to spend time with you.
Praying is not just about praying by yourself either. You can certainly pray with other people like you will find at websites such as DailyEffectivePrayer.org. God is also all about Christians praying together in order to support one another.
Don’t Overcomplicate Things
There are some Christians who make praying something spectacular. They honestly believe that in order to pray to God you need to have your hands clasped together and you need to yell at the top of your lungs. That’s simply not true. If you believe that that is what prayer is, you’re never going to an effective prayer warrior.
Keep prayer simple. How do you know you’re hanging out with a good friend? It’s because you just enjoy being together. You don’t have to pretend to be someone else. You can spend hours together hanging out without saying a word and still have a great time together. There’s a similarity here that ties into time in prayer.
Even Short Prayer Is Hanging Out With God
Think of praying as hanging out with God. The Father desires that all of us get to the point where we are just hanging out with Him and talking. He desires our fellowship even when there’s nothing being said. Really, He loves you and just loves spending time with you.
You can be looking at the sunset or going for a drive. You can spend time reading the Bible and then stopping to talk with God about it. Reading the Word is prayer for many Christians because they do it with their heart and not only their mind.
When you fellowship and commune with the Lord, think on His Word. Ask questions about it and then listen. He’ll give you revelation upon revelation. There’s simply no better time in prayer than that. God bless you.
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