Do you struggle with prayer?
Prayer is a struggle for almost everyone I have encountered in life, especially me. As a kid, I was never really taught the importance nor the discipline of prayer. I never spent lengthy times of prayer with men who discipled me. I really have only heard of a few messages on prayer – and none that have stuck with me. This is not to say that I am blaming anyone but me for the current state of my prayer life. But how sobering that the average Pastor only spends 7 minutes a day in prayer.
Prayer is likely something you could improve on. So can I.
To begin, here’s a couple of verses that haunt someone like me:
“and when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” Mark 9:28-29 (ESV)
The first thing these verses impress upon me: the disciples were in a life-on-life discipleship relationship with the Creator of the Universe, Christ. And yet, that was not ‘enough’. Jesus, though an empowering physical presence, was impressing upon His disciples the power of prayer. This was undoubtedly due to the faith component that is absolutely critical in ministry, but also because Jesus was not going to be around for much longer. The disciples would need power and that power was going to be through the Holy Spirit as they surrendered to Him in prayer.
A personal take-away: if we want God to bless our lives and families prayer is a non-negotiable essential to daily life, not just reserved for a few minutes in the morning. A church take-away: prayer needs to be the essential fabric of every aspect of our church. Prayer literally is the oxygen of an effective, living church.
Also of importance in the above verses is Jesus’ teaching here on the importance of prayer as a tool. This is not intended to cheapen prayer or turn it into a wand, but rather, the importance of seeing prayer as one of the necessary components to see ministry happen. Jesus is saying that there are certain things in ministry that can only happen by prayer. That is sobering. Jesus here is referencing one particular ministry aspect, but that leads me to believe that there may be others. Use some sanctified imagination and picture it this way:
“Dealing with that particular type of sin? It can only happen by prayer.”
“Looking to see more lost people come to church? It can only happen by prayer.”
“Hoping for healing in your marriage? It can only happen by prayer.”
“Looking to springboard a new evangelistic effort? It can only happen by prayer.”
Jesus didn’t give us any more ministry efforts that can only happen by prayer. Maybe then we should play it on the safe side and “pray about everything” (Phil. 4:6).
My personal take-away: prayer is the not so secret ingredient to things I want to see happen in my marriage and my kids. It speaks of dependence on God to do things that He can only do, which, according to Jesus, is everything (John 15:5). A church take-away: the things that we want to see happen in the church can only happen by prayer. What would happen to our churches if we took that seriously?
Finally, I find it very interesting what Jesus said: “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” Just how did Jesus know this? Obviously Jesus, as God, knew everything, but there were some things that Jesus discovered experientially and learned (Luke 2:52). Maybe Jesus had to learn that in this particular ministry effort (the context is dealing with demons) success can only realized by prayer, even for the Son of God. Jesus knew that the secret to effective ministry was prayer; this is why he was always looking for opportunities to do it.
My personal take-away: Jesus utilized private prayer, prayer with his disciples, fasting and prayer, long days filled with prayer, short powerful prayers, prayers outdoors, prayers in moments of need, prayers to connect with His Father. I need to make prayer the habit of the daily grind, not just during my Quiet Time. A church take-away: prayer before seasons of ministry, prayer before intensive ministry that is about to take place, prayer for the execution of the vision, prayer for the totality of the ministry at all times.
Prayer should be interwoven into the fabric of life. Prayer can do what many things simply cannot. Though, it can be a struggle, prayer must be prioritized in all the moments of personal and church efforts.
How about you? In what ways are you impacted by the prayer life of Jesus or how prayer is presented in the Scriptures?
Scott Foreman is the Executive Pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Mullica Hill, New Jersey. He and his wife Rachel are raising four boys by God’s grace.