Prayer - because we want to

Do you think Jesus prayed a lot because he wanted to pray, or because he thought he should pray?

This question caused me to stop and reflect recently.

Because I have really struggled for a long time to move my prayers from the “should” category to the “want to” category.

I can remember so many suggestions and exhortations from ministers and other Christians to set aside a specific time to pray each day. To designate a prayer chair, or to go to a certain place at a certain time each day. To get up early and ‘spend time with the Lord’. Prayer should be this, or prayer should be that, but it should be time dedicated solely to God. Done quietly, purposefully, sitting still.

For some people, I know, this works great, and much joy and peace and victory comes through this daily ritual of prayer.

But I struggle.

I resonated with some words that John Ortberg recently had to say – he also struggled to ‘set aside time to pray’. And when he did, and was praying, he felt tired, or not fully present.

That’s me. After a minute or two I can’t think what to say, and if I quieten myself to listen for God, my mind just wanders off in a million directions, or I fall asleep! I recently drew up a circle of prayer – a list of people that I want to pray for regularly. Those closest to me I pray for often, and as the circle moves out the frequency lessens. I go to my list at the beginning of each work day, and it’s really helpful, but even if I have 10 people to pray for, I can’t seem to go for more than a minute or two!

John Ortberg consulted a prayer coach who gave him this suggestion: “For the next week, don’t pray. Instead, take 30 minutes each day, and go do something you love to do. Something that makes you feel alive. And invite Jesus to do it with you.”

The next day, he went to the ocean, took his shoes off, and started to run, and invited Jesus to cone along. “And I found the strangest thing. When I thought I was supposed to be talking to him I found it effortful and difficult. Now that all I had to do was invite him, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I found myself effortlessly talking with him about ideas for sermon series, about concerns over my children, about needs of my church…and sometimes I just found myself wanting to point out pelicans and the waves to him.”

This is how I prefer to pray too. My mind works better when my body is moving, so each morning as I exercise, I invite Jesus to be present, and as my mind wanders over the various aspects of my life and the people in it, I lift these to God. These are the times when God gives me ideas, and revelations. Where my concerns seem to get lighter. Where my praise is richest and most heartfelt.

Prayer is a real mystery. I don’t know how it works, I just know it works!

And what works for me may not work for you.

And I guess what I’m trying to say is don’t let anyone give you the formula or the recipe or the prescription for what prayer should be. Explore all the different ways suggested. Give new and different things a try. If you’ve got something working for you now, stick with it. But remember there’s no set way, no set time, no set length, no set format.

It’s just communication with the Divine. An intersecting of soul and Spirit.

So find what works for you.

If that’s incorporating your prayer time into an existing activity that you already do each day, that’s fine! It could be driving, walking, shopping, drinking tea, doing yoga – anything where you usually have time to just let your mind wander.

Invite Jesus into it. Allow your thoughts to interact with His thoughts.

Enjoy prayer.

May for all of us prayer become a “want to”, not a “should”.