Blog Roadmap
- What Is Prayer Time (What should we use it for)
- Why We Have No Time To Pray
- Using Our Daily Routines To Free Up More Quality Time In Our Busy Day
What Is Prayer Time? (What should we use it for)
First, let’s talk about what prayer time isn’t. Prayer time is not a time for mindless chanting. Nor is it the time for passive rituals where you can check off a box and feel good about yourself.
Please don’t waste your time trying to be good. You’ll never meet the standard. For only God is good. Even the best of us falls horrifically short of being anything close to good.
Jesus didn’t come because we were good. Jesus came because no one could meet God’s standard. And so Jesus was sent to meet the standard Himself. Your good deeds and piety mean nothing if you don’t know Him. And even if you know Him a little, Jesus grieves for all you joyless Christians. He is not interested in what you can do for Him. Jesus actually wants you to be in a relationship with Him.
There’s a reason we’re called human beings and not human doings. You were created to delight in God and for Him to delight in you. You were never meant to be a Christian workhorse. Or to be some self denying robot who joylessly does good deeds while you’re dying inside.
Jesus wants us to have life to the full. Apart from Him we can do nothing. So He commands us to abide in Him.
Abiding in Him is part of your being. This abiding means knowing Him in a special, personal way. It means being able to rest in His presence. And to enjoy communing with Him every day. Often many times a day.
Jesus is a God worth knowing. No matter how hard you try, you’ll never be as wise or as powerful or as loving as He is. But, you can certainly be like Him. To be like Jesus means you have to know who He is. The Bible says we are to seek God’s face. So it’s far more than having head knowledge or being able to spout out Bible verses.
To know Jesus means communing with Him like He’s a friend. It’s getting to know His personality. It’s learning what grieves Him and also what gives Him joy. And it’s spending quiet thoughtful moments alone with Him, listening as well as talking.
This is where your prayer time comes in. Your prayer time is a safe space you create each day, so you can spend time with this amazing King of the Universe. It’s the time when you talk to Jesus. It’s the time when you pray for wisdom, seek understanding and ask for passion and purpose. It’s also the time when you pray for others. (Including your enemies)
But prayer time is more than presenting God with a gimme list. Yes, like a good Father, God loves it when you ask Him for things. Answering your prayers is one of the many ways He shows you who He is and how much He loves you.
But answering your wish list is not enough for Him. Like all good fathers, God wants even more for you. Good fathers want their children to grow. And asking for things is just part of that growth.
If you want to grow, it’s also the time to express gratitude and awe for who Jesus is. For the more you know Him, the bigger He gets! And the easier it is to stand in awe so that when the hard times come, you’ll be able to remember He’s still your savior. He still has your back.
Your prayer time is where you ask the King of the Universe “What makes you smile?” It’s where you can say “Lord, show me how to love my colleague?” Or “Help me delight in the things you delight in” Or “King, please help me fight for the things you want me to fight for.
Why We Have No Time To Pray
There’s only one reason why we don’t have time to pray. The reason is because we don’t make the time.
Let’s be honest here. We’re always able to free up time for the things we care most about. So even on our busiest days we still put food in our mouth, still manage to brush our teeth, and still find the time to take a shower or drive to work. Somehow, we find time throughout the day to call our spouses or boyfriends, send a reply email to the boss, or make it back home to watch the season finale of Game of Thrones.
But this is not a guilt trip. We’re all at different stages of spiritual growth. Some realize that prayer time is vital. Others just feel guilty about not doing it. Either way, I want to make this easy for you. Jesus Himself said “My yoke is easy, My burden is light. So lets talk about the low hanging fruit. Yes, the easy stuff!
Using Your Daily Routines To Free Up Prayer Time
The good news is you don’t have to put your life on hold to have good prayer time. If you’ve already carved out time for your daily routine, why not use this time to pray as well?
Examples of Common Activities Where You Can Commune with God:
- In your morning walk or daily run or during hikes
(Talk To Him instead of listening to Ted Talks) - In the shower (A great time to sing praise to Him for all He’s done)
- While brushing your teeth and flossing (for those who floss daily of course)
- While drying off from your shower while on your bed (me)
- While driving to and from work
- While doing chores (folding laundry, sewing, washing dishes, vacuuming, cleaning, gardening)
- While doing errands
- While on the bus or waiting for the train
Conclusion
Your prayer time is that safe space in your routine where you and the Lord can have a two way conversation. Spending time with Jesus is the only way to grow. And it’s during this time that you reach out to the Lord and abide in Him, as He abides in you.
This is the time to seek His face. To know His character. And to ask for help too. Your prayer time is when He will talk to your heart, and commune with your soul. This is what you were made for. This is what leads to a full life.
There’s no excuse for missing out on this relationship. And why would you want to? The Lord delights in you. So why not use the time you already have to get to know Him better. There’s so much to gain. And so little to lose!
Songs On Our Relationship With Our God
Made To Love (Toby Mac)
Singing Over Me (Building 429)
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