James 5:13–14 says: “Is anyone among you afflicted (ill-treated, suffering evil)? He should pray. Is anyone glad at heart? He should sing praise [to God]. Is anyone among you sick? He should call in the church elders (the spiritual guides). And they should pray over him.. . .#8221; Based on this verse, how should an afflicted person respond to these problems? He should pray. A very simple, three-word solution: he should pray. The Bible does not give us twenty-five paragraphs about what we need to do, it merely says, “He should pray.” So:
We carry burdens we donot need to bear—and life is much harder than it has to be—because we do not realize how powerful prayer is.
• When you have a problem, pray.
• When you have a need, pray.
• When somebody hurts your feelings, pray.
• When you are offended, pray.
• When you are sick, pray.
• When you feel like giving up, pray.
• When someone you love is suffering, pray.
• When you are discouraged, pray.
• When you don’t know what to do, pray.
Whatever situation you find yourself in, you should pray—and pray before you do anything else.
One time, a member of my extended family did something that really hurt me, and I felt rejected as a result. After it happened, I was sitting in the car and I felt so much pain in my soul that I simply said: “God, You’ve got to comfort me. I need You to comfort me. I don’t want to feel like this. I don’t want to get bitter. I don’t want to develop resentment. I’ve experienced this same kind of pain from this person before and I don’t even want to let it bother me. But I’m having trouble handling it and I have to have Your help.”
Do you know what happened? As though God reached down from heaven and touched me, all my bad feelings went away! But how many times, instead of turning to Him in prayer, do we turn to other people and say, “Well, you will not believe what they said, and you just won’t believe what they did, and now I’m hurt, and I’m so sick and tired of the way they treat me, and it’s just not right.” We tend to do everything we can think of, and nothing ever changes the situation. We would be so much better off if our first response to every emergency and every kind of emotional pain was to pray. If we will pray before we do anything else, we will experience major breakthroughs in our lives.
God promises that we will overcome in life, but many Christians do not seem to have much victory in their lives. There must be a reason so many of us are living beneath the level of victory that is available to us. The Bible says that God causes us to triumph in every situation through Christ (see 2 Corinthians 2:14), so we need to be walking triumphantly, genuinely displaying a victorious lifestyle to the world and causing people to be hungry for what we have. I believe they will want what we have if we will be the believers God intends for us to be.
If our first response is to pray, we will see the power of God come into our lives in ways that will leave our mouths hanging open in awe.
I really think the missing ingredient in our personal lives and in our witness to others is the power of prayer on a large scale. Yes, people do pray; there are neighborhood prayer groups and there are prayer meetings in our churches and there are spontaneous moments of prayer that take place in coffee shops and on athletic soccer fields and over the telephone. But right now I am talking about our personal prayer lives. I am not including all the things that present themselves as prayer needs: national crises, current events, natural disasters, wars, or the many very serious prayer requests we receive by e-mail. I am focusing on the issues that go on in our lives and the things that happen to us. Are we praying about every situation that comes our way? Are we praying especially for the ones we know we cannot do anything about? If our first response is to pray, we will see the power of God come into our lives in ways that will leave our mouths hanging open in awe.
As we close this chapter, let me give you just one example of a family who did not pray as their first response. One of our little granddaughters used to wake up in the middle of the night—every night—screaming at the top of her lungs. She was a picky eater, so I suppose she must have gotten hungry after she went to sleep. For two-and-a-half years, she awakened, screamed, and woke up the rest of the family. For all that time, no one in the house had a good night’s sleep. All of us knew what was happening, and we responded with, “Well, boy, that is such a shame. Well, I wonder what’s wrong with her? Well, maybe we ought to do this, or maybe we should do that.” Then we proceeded to look at each other and say, “What do you think we ought to do?”
You would not think it would take a preacher two-and-a-half years to think about praying for a situation, would you? But we kept on reasoning and talking about the situation until somebody finally received the revelation that we needed to pray. For two-and-a-half years, all we needed to do was to get four or five of us together and just say: “Now we agree, in Jesus’ name, God, show us what’s wrong here. Show us what we need to do. We ask You to heal this little girl and cause her to sleep well at night.” When we prayed, she started sleeping peacefully every night. We prayed a simple, sincere prayer—and God answered us. We should have thought of prayer first!
SUMMARY
Prayer really is an awesome privilege, but at the same time, it is so simple. Prayer does not need to be long or drawn out, and one word or a quick phrase can bring miraculous results. Prayer is not difficult or complex, and when we pray we don't need to follow all sorts of rules and regulations or to make sure we get the words “right.” We only need to approach God in the righteousness that is ours through the blood of Jesus and believe that He hears us when we pray from a sincere heart. Prayer is a tremendous privilege, not an obligation.
Prayer is not only the greatest power available to us, it is also the simplest and best way to handle everything that comes our way. Prayer should always be our first response to every situation. No matter what happens, we need to run to God before we do anything else. James gave us terrific advice—advice we should follow—when he wrote, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.” And whatever situations we find ourselves in, let us pray.
Prayer Points
• Prayer is the greatest, simplest privilege of our lives as believers.
• The enemy has told us all kinds of lies about prayer, but the truth is that prayer is as easy and natural as breathing.
• Prayer does not have to be long in order to be powerful. In fact, some of the most powerful prayers we can pray are concise and to-the-point.
• Prayer does not have to be complicated. It only needs to come from the heart and it does not require us to assume a certain position or adhere to certain “rules.”
• Prayer does not have to be eloquent. We can communicate with God the same way we talk to other people.
• We do not have to be perfect to pray or for God to hear our prayers.
• Prayer is the easiest and best way to deal with any situation. We need to pray before we do anything else in response to the things that happen in our lives.
3
Just Like Breathing
Ephesians 6:18 says that we are to “pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty.” In other words, Paul is saying that we are to pray in every circumstance, following the Holy Spirit’s direction, using different types of prayer in different situations. To pray at all times is to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17, NKJV), but how do we do that? We do it by keeping an attitude of thanksgiving and total dependence upon God as we go about our everyday lives, turning our thoughts toward Him in the midst of doing all the things we have to do. I believe that God really wants us to live a lifestyle of prayer and that He wants to help us stop thinking about prayer as an event and begin to see it as a way of life, as an internal activity that undergirds everything else we do. He wants us to talk to Him and listen to Him continually—to pray our way through every day with our hearts c
onnected to His.
ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
We can pray anytime, anywhere. Our instructions are to “pray at all times, on every occasion, in every season” and to “pray without ceasing,” but we know that we cannot spend all day long in a corner communing with God. If we did, we could not live our lives. Prayer needs to be like breathing—regular, easy, second-nature—and we need to just pray our way through life as part of the way we live. In fact, just as our physical lives are sustained by breathing, our spiritual lives should be maintained by praying. We can pray out loud or we can pray silently. We can pray sitting down, standing up, or lying on the floor. We can pray while we are moving or while we are being still. We can pray while we are shopping, waiting for an appointment, participating in a business meeting, doing household chores, driving, or taking a shower. We can pray things like, “Thank You, Lord, for everything You’re doing,” or, “Praise God, I need You to help me,” or “Oh, Jesus, help that lady over there who looks so sad.” Actually, this approach to prayer is God’s will. The devil’s will, which can lead to the sin of prayerlessness, is for us to think we have to follow a certain model or prescribed method.
We often hear about a prayer need or think about a situation and say to ourselves, I need to pray about that later when I pray. That thought is a stall tactic of the enemy. Why not pray right that minute? We do not pray right away because of the wrong mind-sets we have about prayer. It would be easy if we just followed our hearts, but Satan wants to complicate prayer. He wants us to procrastinate in the hope that we will forget the matter entirely. Praying as we sense the desire or need to pray is simple, and it is the way we can pray continually and stay connected to God in every situation throughout the day.
I once listened to a tape, “The Half Hour,” by Pastor Tommy Barnett. In that message, he encourages us to use our time wisely—to be productive with the time we have instead of murmuring about not having enough time. He said that he has written all of his books in one-hour increments, usually sitting in airports waiting to board flights.
When we start honoring God with the little time we do have, He will multiply it.
That should be a great encouragement to people who feel they are too busy to pray. Sometimes people say, “Well, I just don’t have thirty minutes to pray.” That’s all right, because when we pray without ceasing, we can accomplish a lot in thirty seconds. When we start honoring God with the little time we do have, He will multiply it.
We really do live in a time-crunched world and just about everything we do seems to be urgent. The enemy has been extremely successful in his scheme to keep people from praying and spending time in the Word by keeping us so terribly busy. We live under incredible pressure and we run from one thing to the next to the next to the next—to the point that we neglect the things that are really important in life: family, our health, God, and building up our spiritual lives. Then we get more and more stressed out—and the only way to deal with that and get life back in order is to get with God. It’s true; we really cannot handle life apart from Him. We cannot handle the pressure, the confusion and the stress without Him. Our marriages will suffer, our children will suffer, our finances will get messed up, our relationships won’t thrive—if we do not spend time in the Word and in prayer. God will strengthen us and enable us to handle life peacefully and wisely if we start praying about things instead of merely trying to get through the day. The Bible says that when we take time with God, He renews our strength and enables us to handle life and not be weary (see Isaiah 40:31). But we have to start by using the time we have.
Whether you are a busy mother, a schoolteacher, a pastor, a computer technician, an executive, a mechanic, or a brain surgeon, you are busy! You not only have the requirements of your job to fulfill, you may also have caretaking responsibilities with family or extended family. You have social obligations or church activities; you have shopping and cleaning to do and bills to pay. And somewhere, in the midst of everything else, you would like a few minutes to breathe!
So, practically, how do you pray amid so many demands and so much to do?
For example, if you are an exhausted stay-at-home mom who cleans house and changes diapers all day, then just take one minute to be still and say, “Oh, Jesus, I love You. Strengthen me right now. God, I need some energy and some patience. I am worn out. Give me grace, God. Help me walk in the fruit of the Spirit with my children because they are on my last nerve. Help me receive my husband properly when he comes home from work. Thank You, Jesus. Somebody’s crying now, Lord, so I’ve got to go!”
It is okay to talk to God that way! It really is. That kind of prayer may not sound like what you are accustomed to hearing at church, but it’s just as effective if your heart is sincere. It’s continual prayer; it’s the kind of prayer that is woven through the fabric of your day like a bright thread in a beautiful tapestry.
Men, if you have a day when you cannot find time to pray in the midst of trying to provide for your family and withstand the pressures at work, then pray in the midst of whatever you are doing. You might get under your car to change the oil and take an extra ten minutes to say, “Oh, hallelujah. Lord, I worship You. Thank You, God, for Your goodness to me. Make me a godly man and a godly husband and a godly father. Make me a real man of God. Help me lead my family well. Help me manage my time. Help me walk in love. Forgive me for my sins. Thank You, Jesus. Dinner’s ready. She’s calling me, so I’d better go. Thanks, Lord!”
If you are a single person with a high-powered career and days when you have more work to do than hours in the day, then use your time in the car to thank God for blessing your work and to ask Him to give you great ideas that will help you and benefit your company. As you walk to the restroom or ride the elevator, whisper, “Jesus, I’m so glad You’re my Savior. Thank You for being there for me. Help me be a good witness in this office and to be kind and encouraging to all the stressed-out people around me! Lord, help me keep my peace when the pressure gets high. Thank You, God, for Your grace!” Take advantage of the time you do have instead of complaining about the time you don’t have.
People who pray at all times lay their heads on their pillows at night saying, “Thank You, Lord, for this day. Thank You for all You’ve done. I praise you, God. You’re wonderful. Watch over me tonight. Give me good dreams. Teach me, God, even as I sleep. Thank You for watching over me. I bless Your name.” Those people, when they wake up in the middle of the night, mumble, “(Yawn), I love You, Jesus” before curling up to go back to sleep. Then they wake up in the morning with a prayer on their lips, saying, “Thank You, Lord, for a new day. I can’t make it through this day without You, God. Oh, Jesus, I’m so thankful! I praise You, Lord, for helping me walk in Your will. Please give me wisdom today. I magnify Your name. You’re awesome, God.”
What I have just described to you, I practice continually. I believe God wants all of us to pray that way—to just offer up little acknowledgments of Him, make brief requests, and offer short thanksgivings. Just think about how you would feel if your children said, “I love you, Mom!” or “I love you, Dad!” every time they walked by you. If one of my children stops by my office and says, “Hey, Mom, you’re awesome! See you later!” it makes my day. Just letting people know you think they’re great is the kind of communication that develops relationships. When we treat the Lord that way, our relationship with Him goes deeper and grows stronger, and we stay connected to Him through “anytime, anywhere” prayer. And He loves it.
I believe God wants all of us to pray that way—to just offer up little acknowledgments of Him, make brief requests, and offer short thanksgivings.
I am not suggesting that we do all of our praying while we are busy doing other things. We do need to honor God by being willing to set apart time just for Him, but praying our way through the day is equally as important as devoting set-apart time to prayer. Do both if at all possible, but when you cannot do everything you want to do, then “do something, lest you do nothing!” Don??
?t just feel guilty if you miss your set-apart time; go ahead and pray your way through the day!
“IN THE SPIRIT”
In addition to praying at all times, Ephesians 6:18 also instructs us to “pray in the Spirit.” Simply put, “praying in the Spirit” means letting the Holy Spirit lead us as we pray instead of just praying anything we want. Different groups of people throughout the body of Christ interpret “praying in the Spirit” differently, and I will address that later in this book, but in its broadest definition, it means to follow the Holy Spirit in prayer, praying the things He leads us to pray. It means focusing on what He wants us to pray instead of what we feel like praying or think we should pray. This may require waiting quietly in God’s Presence until He places something on our hearts.
Many times we are so wrapped up in our busy lives and so conscious of our problems that we do not think to do anything other than tell God all “our stuff?” when we talk to Him. We often invest so much time and energy praying “our” prayers and treating God like a supernatural dumping ground where we unload all our junk. We tend to pray “our” prayers—prayers for what we think would make us feel better, what we think we should pray for, or what seems to be appropriate, instead of praying what God leads us to pray.