I’ll be the first to say I stink at prayer. I know, I know… you’re going to say “how can you stink at prayer, you’re a pastor?” I understand. I know it seems weird. I’m not saying I don’t pray, or I don’t enjoy prayer. I’m not saying I don’t understand it or I need help understanding why we pray. I’m just saying I stink at prayer.
Over the weekend I read an interesting article in LeadershipJournal.net by Greg Boyd entitled “Learning Imaginative Prayer”. In the article he said…
I first encourage people to make a date with Jesus simply to enjoy the beauty of Christ. Intercession is important, but so is resting in Christ. While in a space conducive for prayer, I have them ask the Holy Spirit to help them experience Jesus; to make him become real to them.
Now, I’m not saying I buy into everything the guy was saying, but he got me thinking. The idea of “Imaginative Prayer” is something that I’m willing to try. I know I need to spend more time just resting in Christ and I can see how it could help someone who is easily distracted, like myself, stay more focused. Here are a few other things I’ve been doing over the past few years to help me focus while I pray.
1) Keep a “to do” list next to me as I pray. Often, while I’m praying, little things pop into my head that need to get done in the course of the day. Pausing to write it down allows me to get it out of my head so I can get on with my prayer.
2) Praying Outside. God has wired me so I feel closest to Him when I’m out in nature. Some of the most meaningful times of prayer come for me when I’m out hiking or just spending time in God’s creation.
3) Short Prayers. I used to think if you were really spiritual you could stay in one place and pray for hours. While I’m sure this is a good thing, it’s not the way it works in my life. I have learned to pray throughout my day. I try to live out 1 Thess. 5:17 “pray without ceasing”. When God brings something to my mind I need to pray about in that moment, I pray. It’s not now I’m typing, now I’m praying, and now I’m typing again. It just becomes a continuous stream in my life.
So how does this work for you? How’s your prayer life?
Pete
Thanks, Pete. I stink, too.
On that note, I’m going to bed. Maybe, I’ll pray, realizing that prayer isn’t mechanics, it’s communication…..that God isn’t nearly as interested in what I say, as He is in the openess of my heart.
Thanks, I needed that.
I’m right there with you Pete. For me prayer has to be part of my daily interactions. I have a hard time with long prayers, but being aware of the need for conversations with God keeps me in prayer. Whether it’s saying a quick prayer as I see a fire truck fly by or actually saying a quick prayer when I tell someone that “I’m praying for them.”
It personally appreciate being able to have those random moments with God and I think it keeps Him at the front of my mind.
it’s funny, i blogged about the same topic last week. i stink a prayer. i get so easily distracted, and satan jumps all over that and makes me feel guilty for getting distracted…which is doubly non-productive. it’s like i have a mental post-it note of dozens of situations i want to spend time talking to Jesus about…
and i’ll have to admit, this post makes me want to bust out some old-school ccm as though i’m not still under thirty or something…
“I’ll say yes with good intentions
to pray later making mention of your needs”
it happens. i don’t like it. but i also don’t want to be so legalistic as to think i have to write everything down for it to “count”…
http://rebeccamoon.blogsome.com/2008/04/03/rain-and-reflection/
I can’t count the number of times I have preached about, taught about, shared a devotion about, or thought to myself about the need for praying as Scripture teaches us. It’s so easy to get caught up in the daily “operations” of being a church minister that I forget to do the most important thing I can ever do: pray. Thanks for this great, thought provoking, and convicting post.
I struggle with prayer.
Always have…
I am an outdoorsy person as well, but I have always enjoyed focusing on God’s greatness when its a perfectly clear night, and the sky is full of stars…wow! I love it and I can talk to God more than I do at any other time. I guess I am so amazed nothing else can get my attention. Ever since I was real young I remember feeling my strongest connection with God when being able to focus on the stars and the night sky…Weird I know, but that’s me.
I feel this dude, i couldn’t agree more. Like you said, my brain is just always going and its hard to slow down for those few moments to just be with Him. One thing that has helped me is posturing myself for prayer. Nothing super-spiritual, but kinda how I’ll lift my hands when I worship, i’ll get on my knees as I pray. I do it just so I can focus on what I’m doing this for and that God is so much bigger than I could ever think. Great advice man, thanks for being real
cd
One thing that helps me focus is saying my prayer out loud. I think it’s harder for my mind to jump around when I’m speaking.
I’m also finding that praying with someone else helps me focus.
Lately I’ve also been meditating on specific traits of Christ that I especially need. For example, I struggle with extending mercy to others, so I’ve focused a lot on Christ’s mercy while praying, asking the Holy Spirit to fill me with that same mercy.
Lastly sometimes I pray that God would help me want to pray because sometimes I’m just not there.
Hey Pete! Thanks for the comment!! I was flattered, for sure! After designing tons of boring corporate websites all day long, I had to branch out and do something fun with mine! Looking forward to seeing the new CP website and I’m sure we could come up with some awesome ideas for yours around here too.
Sorry I’ve been a silent blog stalker for awhile now!
Church was really incredible this morning. I feel so blessed by all of you and your commitment to letting the Lord use you as instruments to further His glory!
Keep up the great blogging.
When I pray instead of saying heavenly father I start by saying My God My Dad then it seems like I m talking to my dad and my God. I wrote a blog on payers thhat are in the Bible but I make personable and sometime when I prayI just talking to him like he is next to me and I can see him
Prayer has just begun to surface in my life. One day I awoke to find the need and want for prayer. It has come naturally and I feel closer to my spirtual being. Interesting that I don’t feel distracted when I do pray. I like and enjoy the feeling of prayer that I find myself thinking and concentrating on the very thought of it.
For me I find that praying is like running or exercising, the more I make time to build that discipline in my life, the more natural it is.
i also have to keep paper next to me to jot down the random things i think of, otherwise i can’t seem to focus on praying at all.
my mom is a real pray-er. she prays for hours on end. while i think that’s awesome, it’s always left me feeling rather inadequate in the prayer dept. like i’m just not “spiritual enough” cause i can’t do that. (AND i’m a missionary! GASP!) so you’re reminder about short prayers being just as important was really good for me to hear.
Hey Pete!
My prayer life is in a continual state of evolution. It looks different today than it did last year.
There are times though when I feel like it is dissolving. When I start feeling like that I know it’s time to mix it up.
I wish I had a better grip on this serious discipline.
I get distracted easily, too! Praying out loud helps- also sometimes in the car I make it a point to turn off the radio and just talk to God. Of course, this doesn’t work for some because it can distract you from the road, which isn’t good
I think it is about “savoring”. Slowing down and just “being” with God. Time set aside to hang out with Him without a time limit and without an agenda.
Brother, we all struggle with prayer. I think that the worst is to compare oneself with others. Each of us is unique, and hence the way we communicate with God is unique as well.
I pray early in the morning at my place, and/or later while biking to my office. And I still think that often I don’t really get to the point. As Paulpeterson said, my prayer is changing all the time. There was a period of restoration and healing, and I prayed twice a day, and weeped twice or more times a day, and this for more than one year! Now it’s different, I know God is there, he listens and speaks …
Be blessed!
thanks for stopping by my blog! Oh – and it’s nice to see that even a pastor has issues with prayer. I posted about this problem about a month ago (although my question was “When praying, is it a sin to call Jesus “dude”?
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I used to only set aside time at the table, time in bed or time in the morning for God. As I have come to believe that “everything is spiritual” I pray all day. It could be a 5 second prayer. This way God is with me all day, not just when it is convenient for me.
Dear Pete: Thanks for this great post. I, too, stink at prayer. Is there anyone who would ever say “I am GREAT at prayer?” Like you, I also feel really close to God outdoors and that is often where I pray. And I usually use prayer beads – usually an Anglican/Protestant rosary, which has 33 beads, one for each year o Jesus’s earthly life. And because I usually find it hard to think what to pray, I, too, usually pray a simple prayer on each of the beads. My favorites are “Be still and know that I am God,” from Psalm 46 and, from another Psalm “I life my eyes unto the hills. From where is my help to come? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” I love prayer beads and wish more people – not just Catholics – would use them. I have blog about that! Thanks for the great post. I am going to link to it on my blog – http://kimberlywinston.wordpress.com.
Well, I hope I don’t stink at prayer. I pray outloud, in my car, on my knees or on my face (literally). Since I opened up to praying on my knees or on my face, life has never been the same. The best prayers are when I ask God to show me what is on my heart, or what He would have to be on my heart…..and my prayers take a direction I could not have seen coming. I feel like He leads me in prayer. And my closest connection to the Father is when I seek Him and not seek what He can do for me.
First time visitor to your blog, I like!
God has recently placed upon my heart that when I pray, I’m to focus on Him, The Blesser, rather than the “blessings”.
Also, I use to think the more flowerey and grandiose the words, the more effective the prayer….no, no, no…oftentimes, less is more!!!
Pray without ceasing…..All through my day I am constantly looking for GodStops, S-savour T-the O-observable P-prescence.
It might be in the eyes of a person, it might be in circumstances that is a divine intervention, it might be in the written word or the spoken word. The acronym is from Beth Moore but going through the day thinking about GodStops always keeps me in His presence.
Seems to me that you don’t stink at prayer!
Great post.
Mags
great post. You know what… i stink at prayer too. I cant concentrate.. and sometime i just dont know what to say…