The Principles of Prayer XXIX

 I must confess, I’ve been guilty of yo-yo dieting throughout my fifty years on this earth. Actually, more like 35 years, since up until the age of fifteen, I didn’t think anything of it, and ate what I wanted, when I wanted, deluding myself into believing that you can flex flab. All told, I’ve probably lost and gained close to a thousand pounds. It’s not so much that I start feeling some kind of way when I decide to shed a few pounds, but that my clothes are getting tight, and I’m too cheap to buy a new wardrobe just to facilitate my growing midsection.

In hindsight, it would have been easier and less taxing on my body to maintain the first time I lost sixty or seventy pounds than to fall off the wagon and start the whole thing over again. That’s the thing about hindsight, though, you can only learn from the experience going forward because no matter how much we would like it to be so, time travel is a fantasy, and there’s no going back and doing it differently.

It’s in the latter stages of life that we get honest with ourselves. It’s once we come to the realization that we’re way past the halfway point of our lives here on earth, and that the bulk of our lived experiences are behind us, that we tend to become more introspective and prioritize the things that matter. The wise ones among us get a head start. They learn what’s important at an earlier age and commit to doing what they know they must to get the results they envision.

I have yet to meet anyone who, in the twilight of their existence, wished they’d spend less time in God’s presence, less time in prayer, and less time growing their faith. It’s always the opposite. They look back on the life they’ve lived and can identify countless hours they wasted on pursuits that did nothing to bring them closer to God, that grew their spiritual man, or that revealed more of Him in their daily walk.

No one’s lying on their deathbed wishing they’d spent more time at work. Many do so, wishing they’d spent more time with their family, friends, those they love and who love them in kind, and in becoming that mature believer who understands that submitting to the authority and sovereignty of God is not cowardice or capitulation, but the right attitude with which a servant approaches their Master.

The moment we realize that nothing in this world can give us what God can, the notion of casual Christianity dies a quick and sudden death. There is no replacing God with something else. There is no replacing fellowship with Him with entertainment, riches, or fame.

There are enough testimonies from early church history onward wherein men willingly and joyfully forfeited all things for the great high calling of being called a son or daughter of God, and not a one looked back on the decision and thought it too high a price to pay. When we begin to understand God, who He is, and what He has promised to those who become His, we endeavor to empty ourselves of ourselves and the world so that we may be filled with Christ.

Those yet still of the world may look upon our choices with derision, displeasure, or think us fools, but there is joy in being a fool for Christ, a joy they could never know or tap into while they still wander in the dark.

Why do you pray so much? Because I see the fruit it produces. Why do you spend so much time reading your Bible and studying the Word? Because it feeds my soul. Why don’t you take up golf, or some other hobby, to get out of your head once in a while? Because I find no pleasure in them. Everything in life is an either-or proposition. You determine what you devote your time and energy to, you choose what you pursue, and the beauty of pursuing God is that there will never be disappointment in it. You won’t be let down by the presence of God. You won’t be underwhelmed by feeling Him, hearing Him, communing with Him, and growing in Him.

Every day is a new opportunity to commune with the Creator of all that is. Nothing compares to it, nothing even comes close, yet, somehow, we always find reasons and excuses to put it off another day, convincing ourselves that tomorrow is certain, and not allowing for the possibility that for any one of us as individuals, tomorrow may never come.

I’ve had enough conversations with individuals who have dedicated their lives to prayer over the years to see a pattern emerging, and thankfully, it is a replicable pattern. As is usually the case, if you want to replicate success, do what other successful people are doing. If you want to replicate failure, find someone who is one, and do accordingly.

The first thing that every one of the individuals who had vibrant, consistent, and well-rounded prayer lives that I’ve spoken to has echoed was the reality that they didn’t set out to break some sort of record for most time spent in prayer, nor did they consider that they were more righteous the more time they spent on their knees.

The motivation for their spending time in prayer was the longing and desire to be in the presence of God. It wasn’t so they could brag to their neighbor that they’d just prayed for three hours straight, it was because nothing satisfied their soul the way being alone with God did.

The second thing that almost all concluded was that once they get alone with God, their prayers aren’t forced, or redundantly repetitive just because they want to see the minutes ticking by. Their aim was always sincerity, and a coming before God with qualitative prayers, rather than quantitative. This doesn’t mean their prayers were rehearsed or that they wrote them down, but that every time they came before God, they came before Him with the full awareness of whom they were communing with. If you do not know who you are addressing when you pray, then there is no foundation for your faith to rest upon.

Posted on 20 May 2025 | 11:36 am