Sweet Hour of Prayer
- Monica Flippin
- Feb 8, 2016
- 7 min read
I will always consider it one of the worst weekends of my life. Some twenty years ago, and I can still remember the overwhelming feelings of isolation and regret. A situation that promised adventure with new friends quickly turned into disagreement and disillusionment. Twenty-four hours can seem so much longer than it is. I was thankful for it to be over, and I was heading home as quickly as I could for the remainder of my weekend. What met me at home was even worse than what I had left behind.
I was aching for the comfort of home. Since this was before we carried cell phones, I had not spoken with my parents since Friday afternoon. They had no idea how my weekend had gone. When I arrived at home, I was not met by my parents but instead by a note left on the kitchen table that said my dad had taken my mom to the hospital because she was having chest pains. I checked the messages on the answering machine and learned that they were keeping my mom overnight for monitoring. I spent that night in a even worse position than I had the night before. With my arm under my head and my jacket over me as a blanket, I spent a sleepless night on the floor of the hospital room beside my mom's bed.
Thankfully, my mom was released that Sunday afternoon in time for me to ready my things for my return to my college dorm. I was exhausted and emotional. I was going to meet my roommate on Sunday evening and attend a worship service offered by one of the ministry groups on campus. When I returned to our dorm that night, I told her of the harrowing weekend I'd had and updated her on my mom. As we left for the worship service, we went downstairs and down the hall, and another of my friends stopped me. Lindsay and I were friends, but I had not seen her since the previous week. She had no idea what I had been through that weekend. She stopped me in the hall and told me that she started thinking about me that weekend and felt like she needed to pray for me. Caught completely by surprise, I just started crying. How could she have known how much I needed those prayers that weekend? She had to have been responding to a tug on her heart from God. God knew what I had been through, and He had never left my side. In fact, He had been recruiting people to pray for me. The thought of His love during this time and Lindsay's response in praying for me still leaves me in awe of His love and care for me. Twenty years after the event, it remains as one of the most moving and eye-opening times of my life.
Another lady, the mom of one of my dearest friends, once during a hard time in my life, wrote me a card to let me know that she was faithfully praying for me and my family. Later, she told me that every week, on Mondays, my family was especially prayed for during her quiet time with the Lord. What an encouragement that has been for me to know that someone is praying for me!
As we have discussed in previous blog posts, there are certain aspects of the Christian life that must be present and active. A while ago, I spoke about worship. Today, I want to talk about prayer.
Once again, if we refer to the Scriptures, we learn that prayer was a vital part of Jesus' life. If we are looking to model our lives as Christians after someone, we must look to Jesus. Time and again, we read that He prayed. Sometimes He prayed early in the morning, sometimes alone in the evening, before He performed miracles, and before eating. He prayed when He was in distress; He requested for His friends to pray with Him; He prayed for us as He was dying on the cross. Communication with His Father was a priority in His life, and He made time to pray often. He took time to pray even when He was ministering to hundreds, even thousands of people, and was no doubt tired. He made no excuses for not being able to find time to pray.
Today, we seem to live in one of the busiest times in history. We spend many hours each week commuting to work, working, taking our kids to various activities. We mark our calendars, plan our activities, and rarely make time for the sleep and exercise that we are told we must be getting. We have obligations to our family, our friends, our churches, our communities. We are busy preparing and organizing. We mark items off of our to-do lists only to have them replaced by others. Often, we feel like the poor hamster on the wheel, running, running, but not really getting any further.
Martin Luther was a German priest and theologian during the early 1500s. He is probably most famous for posting his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 that aided in starting the Protestant Reformation. Between his writings and teachings, and translating the Bible to German, Martin Luther was a man with many demands on his life. However, despite the many activities he was involved in, prayer was a central part of his life. He is quoted as saying, "If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer." How often do we struggle to get through even a 30-second prayer before we eat?
I confess that I fail often in my prayer life. I am distracted and tired, busy and stressed. Since writing is one of my preferred methods of communication, I have many times in the past filled pages of journals with prayers. Usually these times of intense prayers have fallen during periods of my life when things are tumultuous, and I am crying out for God's help. Last year, I decided to make a conscious effort to focus on my prayer life. I wanted prayer to become a habit in my life. I did not want to only come to God when I was in need. I wanted to be alert and active, earnestly praying for others, praying for my family, my friends, my enemies. I wanted to be cognizant of the needs of others, praying for our country, our leaders, our churches, missionaries, and the lost. I wanted a daily communion with God where I could praise Him and also confess my sins. So, one morning, after reading the Bible, I picked up my pen and a half-filled journal, and I started praying. That was three journals ago.
I started writing according to a "formula" I had read about. I would begin by praising God, giving Him both recognition and appreciation for His attributes. Then I would thank God for specific gifts and blessings and for His forgiveness. This attitude of gratefulness inevitably lead me to a time of confession. By recollecting and admitting my sinfulness, I am again praising God for His forgiveness. One of the most important parts of the prayer is praying for others. I want to pray for my family and friends, but I also listen for the names that God places in my mind during this time. I have been absolutely overwhelmed to learn later that I have been praying for someone during a difficult time in their lives. I always date my prayers so that even if the other person never knows, I can go back and see particular instances when God has been working through prayer. I have seen and felt firsthand how the hand of God moves when people are praying for each other. Finally, I take some time to pray for special concerns in my own life.
The most important thing I've learned in the past year is that I need to pray. Just as I communicate with Monroe and my children, I need to talk with God and to listen to Him in prayer. For years, I did not understand how I could listen to God in prayer. Taking the time to sit down and focus on Him has brought me to a place in my relationship with God that I never knew existed. It is something that, as with all relationships, is developing and growing with time. One of the best parts of this continuing relationship is watching and seeing where it leads me. So far, it has lead me closer to Him. And the closer I become to God, the more I realize my dependence on Him. My time in prayer is no longer a "habit" but instead has become a way of life.
A commandment, by definition, is not optional. Therefore, spending time in prayer is not optional. In order to grow with Him and in Him, we must take the example that Jesus gave us and make time for prayer. You can pray at any time, in your mind, or out-loud. Satan will try to distract you or even convince you that unless you pray a certain way then you are insincere or not dedicated enough. Take joy in the fact that you can come before the Maker of Heaven and Earth and speak with Him. Jesus has provided us the way.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
James 5:16
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