02/19/2024
There are so many things in our everyday world that can distract us from prayer, and this is nothing that is new to us today. In the earliest days of the church they struggled with distractions as well. We like to think that we live in a busy modern world, and that finding time for prayer today is something new, or at least occurs more often than it did in the time of Jesus, but that simply isn’t true. There are two ways that we can be distracted, the first is in finding time for prayer, and the second is having our thoughts interrupted so that we can’t concentrate on them. Do either of these things sound familiar, and what can we do about them.
“Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”
Acts 6:2-4 KJV
There are so many distractions in our daily lives that draw us away from prayer, and they are sour things that attempt to stifle the joy in our walk. We all know this to be true, but just because they occur regularly doesn’t mean that we should give up and give into them. Prayer is something we should place high on our list of spiritual behaviors we should concentrate on it each day, and this requires us to order our lives to make the time, and to calm our thoughts, so that we can block out the cacophony of the world and focus on the silence, Word, and presence of God. We just read what the 12 disciples were doing when they appointed deacons; they were making time for their own prayers, and allowing themselves to focus on them.
“Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 KJV
Prayer isn't separate from life... Prayer IS life. When good things happen we thank God, when temptation arises we pray for faith, when we are sick we lift our hands for healing, when we don't know what to do we seek guidance, and when death occurs we ask for God's Comfort. Everything we experience in our lives from the most monumental to the trifling, calls us to prayer. There isn't a breath we take that doesn't exhale without cause for prayer. Therefore the disciples weren’t wanting to transfer their problem with concentrating on prayer to someone else when they chose the seven men to become the first deacons. No, they were selecting holy men who would have the available time, and the focus of faith, required to continue on in prayer while doing these additional tasks. This was to become their added calling just as ministering, and prayer, was to remain the focused calling of the twelve.
When I was younger I tried to live two lives. In the one, I was in control and walked my path alone. Every little thing that went awry caused me stress and anxiety... But then there was my second life. On Sundays and Wednesday nights I would bring up those things that worried me, or in which I had failed, and told God that I might need some help. It was like I used God merely as a safety net. My life was not flowing smoothly as it should have.
God doesn't want us to come to Him on occasion; sure He is glad that we come to him when things are bad, but He wants us to come without ceasing... in all things. Our faith isn’t something we pick up and put down, no, it is meant to lubricate and make smooth, our relationship with God, and one of the pillars of that Godly relationship is prayer.
So here is my point... When something arises in life that attempts to draw you away from your calling and prayer, and to draw you into a "I have to fix this now!" mode... then take a breath and let it out with a prayer. If the elementary school teacher tells you that your child didn't misbehave today... Take a breath and let it out with a prayer of thanks. If the stock market is crashing and you are fearful about your investments... Take a breath and let it out with a prayer for rescue. If your workday seems never ending... Take a breath and let it out with a prayer for strength and a way to reduce your workload. We are meant to pray in all things, for all things, and about all things. If we do this then God's peace and joy will be at hand, and our lives will (mysteriously?) smooth out, and maybe you won't need that self-help book on how to deal with stress and anxiety anymore! This is what the twelve disciples were doing when they distributed the work of the church to deacons. They weren’t transferring their problem with time and prayer, they were attempting to solve it; they were applying the lubrication of faith to a situation that was overwhelming them.
God doesn't come and go, He is with us always and in all things... We are the ones that come and go! God doesn’t become overwhelmed by life, no, that would be us. God doesn’t find that he is too busy to talk with us, no, that is also us. So let’s try this for a week; let’s keep hold of His hand and in everything in our daily life let’s exhale a prayer. When we have completed our week then let’s sit down in a quiet place and look back on where we were when we started, and where we are now; how we felt then, and how we feel now. Do we feel like we made progress in our prayer life, and feel altogether less stressed? If so then let’s thank God for being there and for giving us the strength and focus we needed, but if we still aren’t able to find enough time, or the ability to focus in our prayers and calling, then let’s stop where we are and pray for guidance in making changes, just as the twelve did. Sometimes we simply need to reorganize, but there are also times when we have to let something go so that others can grow. When we have smoothed out the bumpy road we have been travelling, and find that our prayer life is straight, true, and made smooth by the lubrication of faith, then let’s thank God, and never let go of His hand that is leading us. Can we do this for a week?
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
Prayer:
Father, thank you for smoothing out my prayer life, and focusing me on you more perfectly through my ever increasing faith. Thank you also Lord for giving me the reassurance I need when your breath becomes a wind of change in my life, and what I have become comfortable with in my service to you is redirected when the road before me is made straight, yet takes me in a different direction. Take my burdens Jesus, remove the anxiety and weariness of the world from me, and give me rest in you so that all those things that distract me from my faith and prayers will be removed, and my unceasing desire for constant prayer will be made perfect in you. Oh God hear this my prayer, and lead me always. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who was and is, and is to come. Holy are you who removes every obstacle that stands between us, and makes my way toward holiness, and righteousness, smooth, and straight as you focus my prayers like a magnifying glass focuses the light of the sun. Give me comfort in all you ask of me, and make even the quiet times in my prayer closet pleasing to me. Your silence is but a pause for my mind, and is meant to be a time when I become fixed on you, and all you have done. I pray that you will be pleased with my prayers, and find the perfect calling for me today that serves, and suits your will for me. You call me, and you call me out, and I trust you in both as I follow your desire for me, and my life draws closer to you; seeking the quiet and often silent, peace in your arms… forevermore.
Amen.
““Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.””
Matthew 11:28 CSB
“The Lord says this to Cyrus, his anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him and disarm kings, to open doors before him, and even city gates will not be shut: “I will go before you and level the uneven places; I will shatter the bronze doors and cut the iron bars in two. I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches from secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord. I am the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.”
Isaiah 45:1-3 CSB
Rich Forbes