Prayer: The Simple Soul Necessity[1]
I am prone to forget the wonders of God. Intellectually, I know that I have been called to heavenly heights, out of this world, out of my flesh, and into the life eternal. Color returns to my eyelids when this truth reaches me heart. Life becomes true and real, as I am lifted up outside of myself, enjoined by His heavenly mission, not my disconcerted efforts at an earthly one. But when life drags on and I am left to myself, the intellectual calling stays in my head and does not reach my heart, nor does it reach my eyes, my ears, my legs, or my hands. I remain stationary in faith. I become a contented Christian, not a Christian who bears the spirit of contentment. The only one that can pull me out of the rut of inwardness is God. Therefore, I am called to pray,[2] and to “pray without ceasing.”[3] (1 Thess. 5:17).
I need the discipline of prayer in my life because I am prone to forget the stuff that matters most. Prayer is like a chiropractor for the soul, re-positioning my heart to godliness and re-aligning my attention where it should be, on what matters most. As one does not see a chiropractor without first making an appointment, I need to make regular prayer appointments with my Creator God.
Generally speaking, my prayer appointments are first thing in the morning (usually in the shower), at lunch, during my daily devotional, and before sleep. My daily devotional, in particular, is when I find my prayer to be most fruitful. I prefer to read a Psalm before I pray, using the scripture as a guidepost for my prayer, letting providence teach me as it will. In addition, I enjoy writing tiny prayers in the margins as I read other scriptures, or stopping halfway through a verse just to meditate, praying out loud for the Lord to work something deep into my heart.
The more swept away by something, the more I’ll pray to it. If I am swept away by social media, YouTube, video games, or God, it is no surprise that I will spend time on those things, giving them my attention––in a sense, my “prayers.” All earthly subjects eventually bore me, just as they do anyone else. I need a new hit of wonder to keep me engaged with them. Sometimes praying to God appears boring, too. The difference between the two is crucial: my earthly meanderings on the Internet have a tendency to let me down, but God has never let me down. Moreover, the difference between the two is that there is a difference between the two: God is real and so is this world. I have to make a choice: do I want to become more like the world, or more like God (i.e., Jesus)? If the former is my goal, then there is nothing I “ought” to do except stay alive, letting the vices and immoralities of the world swallow me whole. If the latter is my goal, and I want to become more like Jesus, then I ought to do what He did. Unsurprisingly, a hallmark of Jesus’ life was how much time and attention He gave to prayer. Jesus recognized the hazards of life in a fallen world, so He kept re-aligning His spirit with the heavenly one. The rationale remains the same: since I will spend 100% of my day within the jurisdiction of Satan (i.e., the world), I need to be intentional about getting out of this world via prayer.
My time in prayer has never been wasted time. God has always been the subject that I keep coming back to. More than that, God has always been the person I keep coming back to. Forever He will be that for me––I pray.
[1] Cameron M. Fathauer (2020).
[2] Prayer is expected of the Christian. See e.g., Matthew 6:7. (“And when you pray . . .”); Matthew. 6:9; Luke 11:9, 18:1.
[3] 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Cf. Colossians 4:2 (Paul’s call to “continue steadfastly in prayer”).
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