Sunday, January 13, 2008

Location, Location, Location

Where do you pray?

The sermon at church today was on prayer and it got me to thinking. Here's what I thought about:

1. I have this post bookmarked that I absolutely love. In it, Holly talks about how we, as busy homemakers and moms of little ones, probably don't have time to sit and have an hour of quiet solitude and prayer time/Bible study every day. She talks about how God meets her where she is. I love this post--it's so true to my life.

2. That got me thinking about a Steven Curtis Chapman song. The song is called "Let Us Pray." I absolutely love these lines:

Let us pray without end
And when we finish, start again
Like breathing out and breathing in, let us pray.
Which of course, comes from this verse. So it's biblical.

3. In the sermon today Luke 5:16 was cited. Here it is in the NIV:

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
Now I don't know about you, but there aren't a whole lot of lonely places in my life. (That's a good thing, I know!) Even in the bathroom it's not uncommon to see a DVD case shoved under the door along with, "Mommy? When you come out will you turn this on for me?" When I worked I always had at least 10 or 15 minutes in the car after I had dropped everyone off at the sitter's house where I could be by myself. But no more.

How about this version? This is from the NKJV:

So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

The wilderness. Where it is quiet (except nature sounds) and you are alone. That got me to thinking, "maybe it is really important for me to have a place of quiet and solitude where I pray." But I don't want to look only at great blogs or Christian songs for my answer, so let's look at some scripture.

Matthew talks about how we should not pray to be seen and heard by men, but prayer should be private. Also, we are instructed against babbling on and on. And then Jesus gives us an example of how we should pray. There is a lot in this passage to chew on!

In Ephesians we are told to pray on all occasions. This tells me that I cannot wait until I can get a quiet time alone in order to pray. All occasions would seem to include "when I am preparing dinner" and "when I am folding laundry."

James gives us a simple answer to our troubles---pray.

I'm starting to think that there is a need for 2 kinds of praying: alone prayer time (as Jesus gave us an example of), and on-the-go as I live my life prayer time. How can you have trouble and pray on all occasions, yet wait until your scheduled prayer break with all the quiet and calm to pray about those troubles? Sometimes troubles come while you are living life--such as when one of your kiddos has a fever in the night. You know you are going to take care of that fever, comfort that child, and pray all at the same time!

So, I think the answer to where do I pray should be...everywhere. Absolutely everywhere. AND, I think I should seek out times of quiet sometimes too. I believe Jesus did that often. Combine those two times of prayer and sure enough, you are soon praying without ceasing.

Where do you pray?



Source of Judean wilderness picture here.

3 comments:

  1. I try to wake up early enough to have a quiet Bible reading time every morning. I, like you, don't get much time alone though because in the time in takes me to soak up a few Scriptures and pray a quick prayer asking for guidance and direction for my day, there's usually someone else awake and needing something. I had to learn to do as you describe here, and prsy as situations arise and as needed throughout the day. aone thing I do try to do: I write down the names of those I know who need prayer that I don't encounter on a regular basis (like Little Bit) and take a short time (usually Princess' nap time) to pray for their needs as well. You're right. It's a challenge and I think that God understands the complex lives of mothers who have so much on our plate. He is gracious toward us and I believe it's the sincerity of our prayers that matter most. (I hope I'm right! :-)

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  2. One thing I need to develop is praying "on the go" as I'm not really strong in that area. Over the last few months I have really needed that quiet prayer time. For me that means either in the office or in my bedroom when the kids are in afternoon rest time or asleep for the night. Both these doors have locks which, if nothing else, prevent someone from busting in and startling me to death! Also I have found that private praise time, in addition to prayer, has been vital in deepening my relationship with the Lord.
    -K.

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  3. Prayer is an area of my spiritual life where I have not only struggled with understanding but also with obedience. As the Word continues to reform my mind and so my actions, I've realized that prayer is a gift and grace from God. I'll get up early and literally go pray in my closet, or kneel at my favorite chair, or pray out loud in the car while driving. Realizing that God delights in obedient prayer has caused me to want to delight Him with prayer.

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I don't get to talk to a lot of actual grown-ups during the day, so your comments make me really happy! :)