Prayer

I've been thinking a lot recently trying to figure out stuff for church. Trying to figure out how to get the congregation involved, how to reach the community, how to disciple people. All the stuff that goes with being a senior pastor. Last night I was laying on the couch, and I was reminded of something one of my professors told me at the begining of my last semester of college.

Going into the Spring of 2009 I had what many students claim to have. Senioritis. For those of you freshman, sophomores, and juniors, who think you have it, even to you high school seniors, wait until you get to the last semester of college, then you'll find out what senioritis really is. I had it. I was totally unmotivated. I remember turning in a test early in the semester and my professor asked how I thought it went, I remember telling him, "I honestly don't care." He laughed, knowing how I was feeling.

It wasn't just with school though that I was apathetic, it was life in general. I had been "in training" for almost four years, and I was ready to get to the battle. I remember that my biggest concern though was that I wasn't even motivated to read the Bible. I was a pastoral ministries major, and I didn't want to read the Bible for my own personal growth. It almost felt like homework.

I met with a few of my professors just to talk to them about it and get their wisdom. Doc Sanders said something I'll never forget. "There are going to be times like that, you're going to go through them, and it's ok. Just keep praying. As long as you're praying you'll be fine." He wasn't saying that it was ok to ignore the Bible for life, he was saying that prayer is the most important thing. And honestly, I believe he's right.

In prayer we communicate with God. We talk with Him. We praise Him, open our hearts to Him, present our hurts and requests, and ultimatley seek His will for our lives. He gives us guidance and encouragement. Sometimes in prayer, we just need to sit in silence and listen, saying nothing at all, simply sitting in the presence of God. You know a relationship is good when you can simply be content sitting in the presence of the other person, and it's true of our relationship with God, simply His presence is enough at times.

In my own life recently I've noticed that prayer has been lacking. My Bible study time is doing well, I'm studying 1 Timothy and working from Genesis-Revelation looking at the heart and character of God. Honestly, I've been like, "I'm studying the Bible, that's enough." But it isn't. I don't feel like I'm getting everything out of it that I could be, why? Because it isn't supported by constant prayer. Reading the Bible isn't enough, it has to go with prayer.

Without prayer nothing happens. Without prayer we miss out on so much. I have a post-it on my computer at work. It has Acts 6.4 on it, "But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word." Prayer is listed first, why? Because it's the more important of the two.

Jesus prayed constantly, and He was God. That means I need to pray just as often as He did, more so if I can. The thing I've realized recently is that I can't buy into the lie that reading the Bible is enough. The enemy will do anything to keep us from praying, even if it is filling our prayer time with Bible reading! In prayer our relationship with God grows deeper and more intamite. Bible reading does this too, but not the same way as prayer.

Read the Bible, I'm not saying to stop. Pour your heart and energy into it's pages, find strength and encouragement from it's stories and promises. But don't neglect prayer. Don't "let your praying knees get lazy" as a country song says. 1 Thessalonians 5.17, "pray without ceasing"

Peace be with you