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As we focus on prayer and God's word in the new year, we asked several people in our congregation about their prayer life. Read below to find out more from Sharon Albonico. 

As we focus on prayer and God's word in the new year, we asked several people in our congregation about their prayer life. Read below to find out more from Emma Radigan. 

Amongst the Christians in my context, the title of prayer warrior doesn’t belong to everyone. Only a specific few have this title. This honor. Those I minister among treat it as though it’s a special gift. Thus you’ll hear them applauding so and so, ‘he is a great prayer warrior for the Lord.’ The title is usually the possession of those who arrive early for church. They pray for the church program ahead, and the people attending. They’re also often known to pray late into the night. Sometimes through it. But while these are good disciplines, I doubt they’re special gifts of the especially spiritual.

Nowhere in the Bible do we read about some believer being applauded or afforded this special title. Instead, God instructs all believers to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17). No one has a “special anointing” of the Holy Spirit that sets them apart from others in the area of prayer. Rather, every Christian should be a prayer warrior. This is the truth of the matter.

To demonstrate that, below we’ll consider what the Bible teaches about prayer in the life of believers.

Prayer and Communion With God
In Mathew 6:5-8, Jesus warns believers against using prayer to appear religious before others. Praying in order to be seen is, in his words, usually hypocritical (Matthew 6:5). But worse than that, he continues, if you pray for a human audience and praise that’s the only reward you’ll get. Sure, by praying impressively for the crowds you’ll receive attention, just not God’s. On the other hand, a quiet prayer directed to God rather than passers-by, will reap spiritual blessings (Matthew 6:6).

Following this warning, Jesus instructs us in how to pray. And the first line of that familiar prayer tells us a lot. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9). Here prayer is about at least two things. The first is God’s glory (cf. Matthew 6:5, 7). The second is communion with our heavenly Father. Through prayer we prioritize God’s fame and fellowship with him. We speak with him, longing for his name to be made great.

Like any relationship, the believer’s relationship with God demands communication. He must speak to us. And we must speak to him. Therefore all believers are expected to pray. So we ought to make a conscious decision to pray, setting time aside both privately and with others to speak to our God (Matthew 14:23; Ephesians 6:18). Through prayer we can express our gratitude to God; ask him for guidance; and find comfort.

Devotion to Prayer Is How We Grow
In his teaching on prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, note that Jesus doesn’t say ‘if you prayer’ but “when you pray” (Matthew 6:5). That is, prayer isn’t optional. It’s not some kind of add-on to the Christian life (Colossians 4:2). We saw this already, above. But do we really need to make a concerted effort? Is it even right to speak about prayer as a discipline?

Born-again Christians pursue godliness. This much is said in countless ways throughout the Bible. We put off sin and put on righteousness. But one of the fundamental ways we do it is simply by prioritizing prayer. Committing or disciplining ourselves, to “continue steadfastly in prayer” is in itself a means to greater godliness. For devotion demands sacrifice. By devoting ourselves to prayer we practice putting the Lord and his people before ourselves, while also being obedient to him.

Our devotion to God through prayer produces good results; it:

Develops a richer relationship with God
Provides understanding of God’s character, as we experience communion with the God who is love (1 John 4:8)
Strengthens us to avoid temptation (Matthew 26:41).

Pray Selflessly
In Ephesians 6:18, Paul writes, “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on pray for all the Lord’s people.” In some senes, prayer isn’t about us at all. Or it shouldn’t be. We’ve already seen that it’s about God’s fame, but it should also be concerned with his people. This is a mark of Paul’s prayers. “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved” (Romans 10:1).

Prayer ought to be unselfish. Selfless. No believer who is strong in the faith stands alone. Others stand behind them, praying for them. Praying for each other in spiritual challenges is how we overcome. We all need to be covered in prayer. This isn’t only a biblical mandate to pray, but an act of compassion and love. “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).

“When You Pray”
Being a prayer warrior means taking prayer seriously, learning from God how to pray and what it is. Prayer isn’t the prized possession of a few. It’s something each of us has the privilege of enjoying through our communion with God. So devote yourself to it, especially praying for others.

The Gospel Coalition. Anyone Can Be a Prayer Warrior. November 27, 2024. Thembelani Maqajana.

https://africa.thegospelcoalition.org/article/anyone-can-be-a-prayer-warrior/

As we focus on prayer and God's word in the new year, we asked several people in our congregation about their prayer life. Read below to find out more from Elin Searfoss. 

When was the youngest that you remember praying for yourself? What was that like?
I grew up in the faith and I really don’t remember when was the first time. There isn’t a time I remember not praying. It always felt safe and tender to pray; usually at bedtime.

Who is someone who has positively influenced your prayer life and how?
My husband. He helped me grow into a wider array of prayers, especially repentance prayers.

What are you currently working on (or how are you growing) in your prayer life?
Frequency.

What motivates you to pray?
Joyful desire for closeness with God.

What time of day is best? Where?
Still bedtime, in bed. But any time of day and night are so good.

Do you typically give thanks before meals, even when alone?
Absolutely.

Favorite thing you've been taught (or learned) about prayer?
That God knows better than me and his answer will be best, even if it’s not what I wanted.

Do you do better with lists? Other ways that you organize? Or just always better free?
I’m in a season of mothering chaos and any and all lists disappear. So right now, free.

One or two favorite time(s) of prayer that you remember?
When I was huddled up in my closet, scared to death about possible chemotherapy treatment, and trying to negotiate with God. It’s my favorite because it was the beginning baby step of my journey to full surrender to His will.

“Lord, help us!” flew out of her mouth a split second before we were nearly rear-ended by a car.

“Which card, Lord, would be the best for my grieving friend?” she asked in the card aisle at Target. 

“Lord, I trust you. I trust you. I trust you,” her soul cried as she went about her daily duties and thought of her daughter in a difficult and dangerous circumstance. 

These women modeled to me the heart of a child walking hand in hand with their Father, sharing their heart with Him, blurting out their spur of the moment thoughts in spur of the moment places. They modeled prayer. There is a time for the discipline of prayer – a set aside time devoted to a prayer list or concerns. I need that, too. But I’ve been thinking about child-like prayer.

You know why the dye-filled, sugar-laden, colorful cereals are on the bottom shelves in the grocery lane, don’t you? (If not, go shopping with a child. You’ll find out right quick). Do you ever feel like that child when you try to pray? You know what I mean? Distracted. Tempted by what I think I need. Zero focus. My mind darting from one colorful box of cereal to another. How am I supposed to pray when I can’t even stay focused? Perhaps that is the place where relational conversation with our Father in Heaven is forged. What is distracting? Use that as a “rabbit trail” of pressing into the love of a Father who already knows what’s distracting and talk to Him about it.

What is worrying or causing anxiety that keeps you from “focusing on your prayer list” (or reading scripture)? Talk to your Father, who “inhabits eternity” and “who knows the end from the beginning and from ancient times, things not yet done” … oh, and who already knows what worries you, who has allowed the circumstances causing worry, and who waits to hear all that you are thinking. He wants relationship with us, His children.

I don’t think that children come up with the right words, said the right way, with the exact right attitude before they relate with their parents.  At least mine don’t. They ask, they share, they complain, they laugh, they say what’s on their mind. There isn’t a formula or a perfect method, and perhaps that’s the point of child-like prayer. 

The point isn’t always about affecting an answer; it is often more about the process. Sometimes I’ve had the thought that if I pray correctly, with the right attitude and words, blessing will follow. Here’s the problem with that. Prayer becomes a formula for getting the cereal on the bottom shelf, and not about getting more of my Father. It makes prayer about me. What’s worse is God’s character becomes defined by how He answers, not by who He says He is. It is no longer about relating with my Abba. 

The process of talking with God throughout the day and night as needs, worries, joys and gratitude come to mind brings friendship with the Lord - the One who does all things well, the One who always does what’s good (He gets to define “good”), the One who calls the stars by name, and the One who knows every hair on your head and every feather on every sparrow. The process of childlike prayer begins to get at the heart of “My Father, Who art in Heaven”. It begins to acknowledge that, “…the power of prayer does not reside in the place where it starts but in the place it reaches” (Alec Moyter). 

Of course, like a child asking for cereal, we ask our Father for needs and wants, but the cream is in the fact that we have a Father to ask. He is better than the cereal. Like my friends, we too can cry out for help, ask for direction, and rehearse the nature of God in difficult situations as we share our heart with Him and blurt out our spur of the moment thoughts in spur of the moment places. No formula needed. No perfection required. Just a child, distracted as they may be, enjoying the process of walking hand in hand with their Father.