Taking Time

 January 14, 2024

In tonight’s discipleship group, we talked about prayer, and touched on a matter that has often bothered me. Prayer is not primarily about asking God for things, even good things like healing, the salvation of others or success in ministry. Prayer is primarily about loving God, listening to God, spending time with God. 

This much I understand, but here’s my dilemma: When I take time to give thanks, to meditate on God’s goodness, to praise and worship him, I feel the constraint of the clock and my prayer list. It feels superficial to simply read through the prayer list, but after taking time to worship and listen to the Lord, I run out of time to pray in any depth for someone’s healing or for their salvation. So if I don’t take the time to simply be with God, I can make it through my list, but it feels robotic and empty. If I take time to be with God, I can’t go into any depth in my prayer list.

I’m a bit embarrassed to admit all this; after all, I’ve been a pastor for over 50 years. You’d think I would have had this nailed down by now. Wrong! But in tonight’s group, Nate commented, “If you don’t get through the list, it’s OK. God already knows the people and the needs on your list; you don’t need to remind him.” Actually, God knows better than I what needs prayer and how best to pray.

This doesn’t mean I’m going to rush through my prayer list, but being reminded that God already knows frees my mind to take the time to be in God’s presence and listen to his voice. I suspect in doing that, he’ll remind me of those who need my prayers, and teach me best how to do it.