Devote yourselves to prayer …
Summary: When Paul tells us to do something, it always helps to understand the words he uses. “Prayer” is a common word, but its definition is not so common.
In his letter to the church in Rome, Paul writes, “For we do not know what to pray for as we ought…” (Romans 8:26, KJV)
Think about that for a moment. Is he right? Do we know how to pray or not? Let’s look at what the Bible teaches about prayer.
In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul gives us our first clue. He writes, “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17, KJV)
Whatever prayer is, we know that it is something we can do “without ceasing.”
That is an interesting clue! How many things do we do non-stop?
We breathe non-stop. Our heart beats without ceasing. And some of us talk non-stop. (Okay … I might be guilty of that one!) What else do we do?
Well … we think non-stop. At least, most of us do.
That leads us to the next question: What do we think about all day?
If you are like me, most of my day is spent thinking about myself. Now — let me qualify that statement! I don’t mean I sit around admiring myself. Instead, I wake up in the morning thinking about my personal needs. What am I going to have for breakfast? What am I going to do? Do I have any chores to do? Do I have any appointments scheduled? What am I going to wear?
Those kinds of things.
We have a choice about what we think about. As it turns out, thinking about ourselves is not the best choice.
Remember how Jesus summarized all the “law and the prophets?” He said God wants us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” and our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40).
Isn’t it interesting that he mentions our minds? Are you seeing the same connection I am?
Is thinking about God a kind of prayer?
Should I be wondering what God wants instead of what I want? Should I spend my day thinking about God’s amazing love? What would it be like if, instead of thinking about my stomach, I thought about Jesus going without food for forty days because of his love for the Father?
Let’s go back to Paul’s statement about prayer. What does it mean to pray “as we ought?” What if we spent our days thinking about God’s love for all people and his forgiveness? What if we stopped for a moment and said, “Thank you, Father.” Does that qualify as prayer?
Application: Spend your days with Jesus!
Food for Thought: How do you define “prayer?”
How do you define “prayer?”
Some years ago I read the Thessalonians passage, and was struck by the huge implication of “pray without ceasing”. I knew I was reading the word of God as He empowered Paul to record, and thought, How can anyone ever do this? If we Peay without ceasing, how do we ever get anything else done? It world be a life as described by some as so heavenly minded, you are of no earthly good.
In time, in my minds eye, I pictured myself as a small child, holding my Fathers hand as we walked together. He determined our direction, He chose our pace, and I walked trusting Him, fully confident He knew the way, and was the source of security in my life.
At 80 years old, I am still that child, and know prayer is the act of reaching up, taking Gods hand and allowing Him to set the pace and direction for my life.
Thank you, Ron!
I love the imagery of walking with Father! 🙂
While there are several different Greek words in the NT that we translate as prayer – I try to keep it simple. To me it is simply being in communion with God and enjoying that relationship. We can always use an acrostic like ACTS (Adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication) to keep us disciplined in prayer. Or we can use the Lord’s Prayer as a model, expanding on the various points made in it. This helps us to pray “as we ought.” But one thing is sure – we ought to pray.
Thank you, Rich!
Those four points are a great reminder of our relationship with God.
I liked this devotion because prayer is important, and because it is important, one could become self-conscious about how it is done. I think a big mistake one can make in prayer is to treat prayer like a telephone call. That we somehow “disconnect” from the Spirit at the “Amen.” That somewhere in eternity there is a “prayer line” and once we “hang up”, God turns His attention to someone else, and we go to the back of the line. That is not what Jesus tells us:
Matthew 28:20 And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Like all things in our relationship with the Father, if prayer becomes a checklist item, it loses its meaning, value and effectiveness. Also, as far as I can discern in the Bible, there are times for spiritual devotion in prayer, and times for prayerful activity done in the Spirit. Devotion in prayer can be done anytime, or at set times, it doesn’t matter, but it needs to be honest. Prayerful activity is just us living our life in the Spirit, and in that we need to ask for God’s guidance, assurance, and presence. It is the honesty of our heart that God hears. The words are an expression of what’s in our heart. I think this is important in a relationship with God. To say to God things like “What should I do here?”, “What should I say?”, “Thank you”, “I am amazed at your goodness, your faithfulness.”, “I feel tempted”, “Forgive me Lord for that thought.” , “I feel scared…unmotivated…uncertain.” Putting God first is a very broad stoke. The finer stroke, a part of the broad stroke, is being honest with Him moment by moment. It is saying to Him that my relationship with you is first as I go about my activities.
Psalm 16:8 I keep the Lord ever before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
Chris,
Thank you for the ‘telephone call’ analogy! It is much more like a face time call that never ends! 🙂