“The crisis of our prayer life is that our mind may be filled with ideas of God while our heart remains far from Him.” Henry Nouwen
Over the years I’ve wrestled with this one question – “Why is prayer so difficult for me?”
Diet, working out, sleeping, bible reading – all areas of my life where I can be incredibly disciplined in. But ask me to pray for an extended period of time and it feels like an uphill battle with the wind in my face. Why is that? What is it about prayer that is such a struggle? I have good friends who can’t get enough of prayer. Ask them to pray for less than an hour a day and that would be like taking candy away from a kid. But that’s not me. It’s never been me. Why is this??
If I eat healthy, I’ll feel the results. If I work out daily, I see a difference. When I practice healthy sleep rhythms, I’m more efficient and effective throughout the day. Spend time in God’s Word, the encouragement I get from that is tangible. But ask me to pray, well like I said above, it’s a real struggle.
As I’ve wrestled with this for some time, I’ve come to realize that my struggle to pray is rooted in one reality: I’ve been approaching prayer all wrong.
I’m a results guy. If I don’t see results quickly, I don’t want to keep going. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but if you apply ‘results thinking’ to your life of prayer it will largely lead to struggle. And here’s why…
PRAYER IS NOT ABOUT RESULTS BUT ABOUT PRESENCE.
Are there results of a healthy, dynamic life of prayer? Absolutely! But prayer was not gifted to us by God in order to get results. No, prayer is about being in His presence. Prayer is an invitation to stop doing and enjoy being. God’s invitation to ‘Never stop praying’ is an invitation to ‘never stop being with Me.’
I still have not mastered the art of just ‘being’ with God in prayer, but what’s helping me turn the corner in my life of prayer is this one humbling and overwhelming reality – God wants me to be with Him!
That is true for you as well. So whether you set aside 10-minutes or 110 minutes for prayer, please remember with me that prayer is ALL about being in the presence of God. And one tangible 'result' is that His presence changes our presence.
"Be constant in prayer." Romans 12:12 (ESV)
