Prayer is an obvious subject to tackle but one we have avoided until now. Why? Firstly, embarrassment. If you want to embarrass a preacher, ask him about his prayer life. Talk to him about his driving, his preaching, even his Christian witness maybe and, though aware of deficiencies, he will cope. But come to his prayer life and see how uncomfortable he gets! Even Spurgeon said 'I usually feel more dissatisfied with my prayers than with anything else I do'.
Then there is the question of whether there is anything worth saying. I knew a man who thought books on prayer a waste of time. 'If you can pray, you can pray. No book is going to put it in to you.' Certainly there is no magic formula for successful praying but surely good practical things can be said to help those willing to learn. So let's mention one or two things that might help those who want to give themselves to seeking God's face.
1. Expect prayer to be hard work
Christians are often surprised when they realise how reluctant they are to bow before the Lord in prayer. We love the Lord, we want to serve him, so how is it we are so often reluctant to pray? There are obviously various factors. Remaining sin; that prowling lion the Devil; the lure of the world. However, perhaps the main thing is that prayer is an expression of faith and helplessness. As Calvin says,
'In prayer two things are necessary - faith and humility; by faith we rise up to God and by humility we lie prostrate on the ground'.
Humility does not come naturally and, as Thomas Watson says, the reason why so many prayers suffer shipwreck is that they split against the rock of unbelief. Trying to pray without faith is like shooting without bullets. Lack of faith combines with persistent pride to keep us from the throne of grace even though it is the very best place for us. While unbelief lurks and pride asserts itself prayer will continue to be difficult work indeed. They must be banished.
2. Exercise Christian wisdom in order to overcome distractions
Once we have begun to overcome pride and unbelief we still have to struggle against distraction. It helps to remember certain things.
• Prayer demands self-denial. While you pray you will miss doing something else. It may be sleep or the newspaper or interesting conversation but you will have to forego something. Without self-denial you will never pray. Be like Mary and choose the better part.
• You may need to warm your heart to begin. We have a place of prayer but no heart to pray. That should not daunt us unnecessarily. This is one reason why it is good to combine Bible reading and prayer. Besides prayer itself, reading the Word is the best and most obvious way to stir yourself to prayer. For some time George Muller, the 19th century Bristol orphanage founder, began each day with prayer. However, he became dissatisfied with this and began to start instead with meditation on the Word, after a brief prayer. He would then pray on the basis of what he had read, interspersing meditation and prayer throughout the time. It transformed his prayer life. Many other men of God have done something similar.
• To overcome distraction there is much to be said for praying aloud. People tend not to, especially if they are conscious others might hear, although praying aloud is not the same as loud praying. It helps one not to wander in one's thoughts and encourages orderly prayer. It also gets the timid used to the sound of their own voice for praying in public.
• Kneeling is another thing that can help. In Scripture people pray in various postures. If we stand we may tire; lying in bed is not a helpful position. Kneel, if you can - it is a reverent position, ideal for prayer.
• Using a notebook is another practical thing. If we come to prayer, especially in the morning, and things that need to be done come to mind, things we have to remember, the best thing to do is to write them down, forget about them until later and give yourself to prayer.
3. Do not be too quick to assess how well you have done at prayer
One other thing is that our times of prayer will vary. Some days will be easy, on others we will feel we have hardly prayed at all. However, we are poor judges. It may well be that what we think of as our best efforts are spoilt by pride while those we think our most feeble are more valued by the Lord, who alone is the judge. Do not waste time on assessing how you have done. Self-consciousness is unhelpful anyway. As O Hallesby says in his classic, Prayer, answers to prayer are not dependent on our emotions or thoughts before, during or after prayer.
4. Look for answers to prayer
If a man comes into a shop, chooses his goods, pays and then walks out without them something is wrong. Yet Christians come to God in prayer without expecting or looking for answers to those prayers. Sometimes the problem is that the prayers are so general it would be difficult to say whether or not they had been answered. However, even those who pray quite specifically can sometimes forget to look out for answers. It is sometimes suggested we write down our requests and then check off answers to prayer. I have not found this helpful as some things are time bound in character whereas others may not see answers for many years to come. What ever we do we should have the psalmist's attitude, I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation (Psalm 5:3), `Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees'. How glad he is when believers refuse to kneel or rise when they have hardly begun. A Puritan, asked about how long he prayed, replied 'I pray until I have prayed'. That ought to be our attitude. What a difference it might make if God's people daily gave themselves to earnest prayer, praying until they had prayed.
Originally published in Grace Magazine
