F for Effort?

[This week's blogs are reflections based on Pastor Sam's sermon series on the Lord's Prayer.]

How does one develop a prayer life that models the prayer of Jesus?

Today, let's consider the aspect of effort in prayer.

“And when He had sent them away, He departed into a mountain to pray... and about the fourth watch of the night He came to them” (Mark 6:46)

This past Sunday, our worship leader (Isaiah) shared his experience of being corrected and directed by God. The worship team's Saturday rehearsal fell flat because, although they were committed and exerted a lot of effort, they had failed to hear the gentle prompting of God to skip the rehearsal in order to minister for an event occurring during their rehearsal time.

In human logic, the worship team was correct to decline to minister. They had not rehearsed. They had not been told about the event until, literally, the last minute. They had one hour available to work together as a group and needed to maximize the time. But God's logic was different. Yes, His ways are not our ways.

So here we are, Sunday's over and we are still reflecting on prayer. What do we mean when we speak of effort in prayer? Definitely not our own effort. Left to ourselves, we are rarely inclined to “be like Jesus” and spend upwards of five or six or nine hours in prayer. Dude, that's like having another job.

YES! That is the job to have, that is the place to exert yourself, to wring yourself out. Effort in prayer is generated with the help of God Himself, who draws us in, who invites us to participate in His plan and program. It is not easy. That is why we must exert effort. “The kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12). Never forget we are at war. The strategy of the devil is to convince people that the effort of making time to pray the will of God is unnecessary. The strategy of the kingdom of God is to stay clothed in the armor of God, and to pray all kinds of prayers (see Ephesians 6:18).

Jesus is the perfect example of effort in prayer. At a time when most of his contemporaries were sleeping, he was praying through the night watches. He, in His human nature, would stay awake. Not staying awake for a party or last-minute packing for a trip. Not staying awake to be among the first shoppers at a store sale. Not a one-shot deal. Jesus made a habit of subjecting His body to the discipline of all-night prayer.

Jesus's effort in prayer was underlined by the locations of His “prayer closets”. Here are two of the verses from yesterday's blog:

“And it came to pass in those days, that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” (Luke 6:12)

“And in the day time He was teaching in the temple: and at night He went out, and abode in the mount that is called the Mount of Olives.” (Luke 21:37)

Not just prayer for hours, prayer all night, but also prayer in locations that required some hiking. Out in the wilderness, up in the mountainous regions. As our worship leader shared, sometimes God calls you to meet with Him in a particular place at a particular time. And meeting those criteria demands effort on our part.

Do we hit the mark? Do we even try to hit the mark? I guess each of us will have to answer for ourselves. I am reminded of a line from Keith Green's classic song Asleep in the Light: "Jesus rose from the grave, and you can't even get out of bed."

God help us all. Because, without His help, we can't sustain this practice of prayer.

Tomorrow we'll look at the third aspect: consistency.