Why Don’t We Pray More?

Last week was amazing and crazy, full and empty, glorious and heartbreaking. No “big” event took place. In our family we are in a state of many points of indecision and pending choices. Waiting for God to direct us and light the path. So we wait.

The waiting can be excruciating.

Piece by piece, God would reveal something. Another piece of the puzzle.

God brought a woman into my life who prays fervently for me and my family. Can I just tell you that no one has ever given me a greater gift than that. I take that back. Jesus- my salvation- that was my greatest gift. But for God to draw someone’s heart in such a way that they fervently pray for you?

I know prayer is crucial in our walk with the Lord. I’ve read many books on prayer. Heard sermons on the topic. All the time, “I’ll pray for you.” Or “let’s just pray about it.”

My mentor is a living example of the enormous power of prayer, and I am asking myself, “Why in the world have I not utilized this power in bigger ways?”

Billy Graham once said one of his regrets is that he didn’t pray more. This is shocking because we know he was a praying man.

That is the thing with prayer. It’s an endless supply of God’s power. It’s a line of communication that never fails, never disconnects. As you taste it, you want more.

I told my husband last week that I’ve never in my life felt more in the center of God’s will. He paused. I paused. How to articulate that thought? Nothing has changed in our state of waiting on all fronts. The only thing that has changed with me is that I’m spending far more time in prayer than I have before. It’s that sitting with the Father, knowing He’s right there with me, hearing me, speaking to me. Then I move on and time after time, my jaw drops through the day as I see God over and over again.

It’s as if the more I pray, the more I see God. This seems so common sense. But we get busy, we race from here to there, we desire to serve and love, to share and give. And all these wonderful things, but sometimes we miss the very best thing. God in our ordinary. I am seeing the more I pray, the more I see God.

Do we want to see a miracle? Pray for God to open our eyes. God is performing miracles all the time.  He’s the same God who parted the Red Sea. He is still the God who healed the blind and made the lame walk. That same God resides in us and works through us.

Prayer is opening my eyes to see miracles masquerading as ordinarily normal. Prayer is changing my heart and my desires. Prayer is changing how I see relationships and people.

God has given us a gift of prayer. Access to Him around the clock. The more time we spend talking to Him, the more madly in love we fall. Nothing in this world can compare to that.

Prayer is the thing we often feel we don’t have time for. Yet, it’s the thing that fuels our ability to do life to the level we desire.

The boys are seeing a shift as well. I see it in their prayer life. I once heard a wise mom say, “We can’t lead our children in faith further than we ourselves have gone.” If I spend my time in prayer only blessing meals and saying bedtime prayers with them, how will they see the living God who is actively working in the cracks of the day?

Zachary jumped in the car after school one day and the tears were on the edge of spilling, “I just have so much homework. I’ll never get it all done.”

Initially, I responded, “I’m sure it’s not that much. You will get it all done.”

This didn’t help as he began to tell me how I didn’t understand.

“Well, let’s just pray.”

“Mom, please don’t close your eyes while you pray and drive.”

Smiling, I assured him I’d put safety first. We thanked God for our school and the loving people in our lives. We thanked Him for the beautiful day and the gift of a safe and loving home to do this work. Then we asked Him to increase Zachary’s productivity, give him clarity and organization of thought, order his time in such a way that he does an excellent job staying focused and giving it his all.

After getting home and settled, Zachary appeared in the kitchen wearing a new face. Radiating with excitement, he said, “It worked! I can’t believe it, but I’m done with everything.” Thirty seconds later I heard the steady dribble of the basketball on the driveway.

We had bigger issues to pray through. One in particular that will affect our entire family. We discussed it with the boys, who initially were not happy with the issue at hand. Much disagreement voiced around the table.

“Let’s begin to pray. I trust that God will direct our hearts and draw us into unity over this decision.”

Within days, trickle by trickle, I saw hearts changing, unity forming. Amazing. Only God. Only through prayer.

My tendency is to think of all I’ve missed in my christian walk by not praying more. But I am not going there. Instead I’m thanking God for His gentle hand lifting open the lids of my eyes to His glory and the gift of constant conversation with the Creator of my soul.

P.S. One of my favorite books on prayer is by Timothy Keller. Prayer – Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God. Remember when I said last year, I finished few christian living, non-fiction books because they began to beat me over the head with the message and by mid-book, I’d gotten it. Not this book. I checked it out of the library and quickly realized I need to own it, mark it up, and read it again.

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