Prayer

Prayer is a topic of which I do not have any authority to write on. Dean C.J. Vaughn said, “If I wished to humble anyone, I should question them about their prayers.” This statement rings very true in my own life. I shudder to think about how little I talk to my God. When I do talk to Him, I often am not focused on Him but drift off in thoughts. I guess I could relate it to a man trying to talk to his wife during a football game between his favorite team and their rivals where the clock is ticking down in the fourth quarter of a tied ball game. Incoherent is probably the best word to describe it. I often find myself apologizing to my King for daydreaming instead of fellowshipping. I would love to spend three hours in prayer with God as Martin Luther wrote about. But I am not strong in my faith as I should be. Although I have around fifteen to thirty minutes allotted for prayer after Bible reading in the morning, I do not think that they are all ever directly used for solely communion with the Father. I wish that I could say they were. I do pray during the day randomly, but I cannot say that I pray without ceasing as Paul tells us to do in Thessalonians.
I do know, however, that I am continuing to grow in this area of my life. More time is spent in prayer now than several years ago. I think that should be our goal, to grow. I do not think that I need to make an argument for prayer as we all know that we need to do it. We know that Jesus set the example of prayer by His all night prayer meetings with the Father and by His forty nights of prayer and fasting before starting ministry. If Jesus needed a night in prayer to pick His disciples, certainly we need many nights in prayer for our smallest decisions.
How often we find ourselves praying only when we need God. After 9/11/2001 the US put up many signs saying God bless the USA and said they were praying. But how soon have we forgotten the God we need. Only when tragedy strikes do we turn to Him. I am not just criticizing the country, but also myself. When I preach, I need to pray for the power of God. I know of one time where the sermon was going horrible I felt, and I almost just stopped in the middle of a sentence and started praying. But just that little glance towards Jesus of prayer for His power turned the whole sermon around. But I waited until things were going bad. Instead, I need to look to Him for everything. I need His power and presence in my life to ever do anything for Him. This power comes from humble prayer before Him.