Okay, let’s be honest.  When is the last time that you said something like, “all we can do now is pray?” A statement such as this usually comes in the midst of an excruciating circumstance such as a bad diagnosis from the doctor, a pending foreclosure on your home, or perhaps a potential layoff from your employer.  Of course there are a myriad of other possibilities that cause us to do all that we can to make the situation better.  Then, after we have exhausted our resources, our strength, our talent, our time, and our ingenuity, we pray.

What would happen if we prayed first?  Or, better yet, how different would our lives be if we lived with prayer and utilized prayer as much as we do our smart phones?  I’m determined to find the answer to that question this year and I invite you to join me.

“We must begin to believe that God, in the mystery of prayer, has entrusted us with a force that can move the Heavenly world, and can bring its power down to earth.”Andrew Murray

The disciples, who walked with Jesus on a daily basis in the flesh, didn’t have the whole prayer thing figured out perfectly.  If you recall, they asked Jesus to teach them to pray (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:1-13). I will commit a later post to the Lord’s prayer.  Here, however, let’s just establish the fact that we need to pray and we need to do it a lot more than we do.

Centuries ago, the early church fathers felt it necessary to have structured times of prayer throughout the day.  The number of times and the names given to them have changed throughout the years.  Interestingly, there are Christian monks who still practice these structured prayer times throughout the day.  Well, here is your invitation to enter into a long tradition of prayer throughout your day.  Here’s the plan:

1. Dawn Prayer                                               5 a.m.
2. Early Morning Prayer                              7 a.m.
3. Mid Morning Prayer                                 9 a.m.
4. Mid Day Prayer                                         12 p.m.
5. Mid Afternoon Prayer                              3 p.m.
6. Evening Prayer                                           6 p.m.
7. Night Prayer                                                9 p.m.
8. During the Night Prayers                       Varies (these are the times you wake up during                                                                             the night to get a drink or use the restroom)

Change the times to fit your schedule.  The point here is to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:16-18).  Feel free to encourage your friends, small group Bible study, church, neighbor, children, husband, wife, mom, dad, or anyone else you feel might need a boost in their prayer life to join you in this journey.

You are probably wondering how long you should pray.  I believe Spurgeon offers a sufficient answer when he says,

“…True prayer is measured by weight, not by length. A single groan before God may have more fullness of prayer in it than a fine oration of great length.” C. H. Spurgeon

While this is true, I don’t think we should worry about praying too long either.

“Prayer can never be in excess.” C. H. Spurgeon

I don’t know what you are going through as you are reading this blog.  You may feel like you have exhausted all options for improving the situation.  Can I encourage you instead of having an attitude of “all I can do is pray,” have an attitude that says, “I get to pray!”  And then, GO DO IT!  You and I, fallen, imperfect created beings GET TO TALK TO THE CREATOR DIRECTLY!!  Let’s take advantage of this privilege.