Step Four: Pray

Know that I am probably the least qualified person to give this advice. Prayer to me feels obligatory most of the time. When a group bows to pray, I see heads go down and eyes close and it feels like everyone is checking into dream land. It seems subjective and I would rather hear from God through scripture. However, that just isn't the way a relationship with him works in the Bible.

I've experimented with different prayer formats over the years. Bowing, sitting, laying, out loud, in my head, written, sung. I've heard the youth group prayer talk (A.C.T.S.) and I've even read most of the book Too Busy Not to Pray. For a while earlier this year I set a goal of praying for at least ten minutes each day. Five as if I were in the throne room of God, worshipping at His feet, and five as if Jesus were in the room just to hang out with me. I find those different dynamics helpful - but even the ten minute goal proved too lofty for an amature such as myself.

Recently I read in Jesus Driven Ministry by Ajith Fernando that prayer isn't as rigid as a minutes per day discipline but at the same time cannot be avoided if one hopes to bear any fruit for the Kingdom. He likened it to staying connected to God. "Connecting" with God has never been a strong suit of mine - but I can always tell when I'm disconnected. I decided to try to become a more habitual and effectual pray-er and instead of trying to connect, I just asked God why I was so disconnected. If you are a prayer novice (or just feel like one) I recommend that you start there. If you do that however, you must be willing to obey God no matter how trivial or life-altering his response (which will definitely come). In my case God responded quickly and I sensed exactly what needed to be done if I wanted to stay in step with Him. I hope that this pattern which is weeks old at best grows into something around which the rest of my day is built.