Read 1 Corinthians 12:21-31
This passage is about spiritual gifts, but it also illustrates a truth about the body as a whole. We are all members of the body and we all have different parts to play. This is true as well when it comes to prayer. Prayer is important, but so is scripture reading, so is feeding the poor, so is giving to others, so is volunteering in a ministry. But consider this...we all give differently to the church...don't we? We all have different ministries...don't we? We all ready different parts of scripture for different lengths of time...don't we? Then it make sense, that in our prayer lives we will all respond to the call of prayer differently...won't we? We are all called to pray, but how much we pray is determined between the one who prays, and the Lord he prays to.
It would be nice if we were all Billy Graham's, but we aren't. Similarly, it would be nice if we were all prayer warriors, but we are not...nor do we have to be. Sometimes it's hard for people to wrap their heads around this, but there it is. Some of us are called to pray 5 minutes per day, but serve in some ministry 10 hours a week. Some of us are called to pray an hour a day but only show up on Sunday for worship. No rules means No rules. Everyone should decide how much prayer they are going to do. Everyone needs to decide who close they want to get to God at this point in their life. Hey, if God had his preference, he wants to spend His whole day with us...that'll wait for the end of Revelation.
Free yourself from the expectation that your prayers have to be long, or short, or sound great, or use proper english, or sound professional, or sound knowledgeable, or anything else. Hey, your prayer between you and God is YOUR business, no one else has a right to judge that you aren't spiritual cause you don't do this or that. We've all read the works of the Prayer Giants, but not many of us are called to pray like that. Some of us are called to be a simple Christian who prays 5 minutes per day for their family, friends, church and pastor. That's something you need to decide between yourself and God. There's a reason why a lot of the psalms were sung by David, he was gifted in that area and that's how God wanted to use him. And we are blessed because of it. Have you had a talk with Jesus about how much time you need to be spending in prayer? Have you come to the place where you are sick of the guild associated with not praying enough? You don't need to live up to other's expectations of you, by that, I mean the ones not grounded in truth. Here is the only question you need to answer, what does God expect of me in this area?
God loves you, and wants to hear from you frequently and daily. But he knows where you are at. Sometimes prayer can be hard and there are many lessons to learn on the road to maturity. We don't looks at a 7 year old and expect them to concentrate for hours...we give them a small window and then change activities. Same with us...at times we will spend a lot of time studying the word, sometimes less time...we will pray lots on some days, maybe not so much on others. But we do pray, we do seek to be closer to God. Your experience with prayer will deepen as you grow in your faith, be patient with yourself and take it slowly. Too much prayer too soon in your walk may not accomplish what you think it should....and it can be discouraging for some. Better to start small with good quality, then go long without purpose.
Lord, teach us to pray. What lessons we need to learn, teach us. Give us confidence in prayer that you are listening. Give us patience in prayer that we can wait on you. Give us guidance and wisdom and direction that we might follow you into wholeness. We long to enjoy our relationship with You 24/7. Help us in our prayer life to be real, and find time in the presence of the living God. We pray in Your name, AMEN!
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