It's not an option!

It was the quiet of the dawn around 5:30. Bev was already up preparing for her day and I was awake. My habit in those first moments of consciousness is to talk with the Lord; simple prayers, often just phrases, that reflect my concerns of the particular day. They are childlike prayers when I present myself to my Lord, inviting Him to work in me and through me. But yesterday, I was more childish than childlike! I awakened thinking of my father's critical illness. I was angry; raw, unfocused, aching anger. Piled on top of those emotions there was disappointment, there was fear, and there was a terrible sense of inadequacy to meet the present challenges in my life. I was tempted to refuse to pray! "Why should I talk to You," I thought, "when You keep silent and allow such pain? Just leave me alone!" I was not sure if I was forsaking God or if He was forsaking me, but I felt alone, without serenity.

Just about every Believer I know experiences those kind of moments. Financial stress, people that do us wrong, relationships that fail to live up to their promise, physical pain, illness, aging, guilt ... are common to us all, at one time or another. Sometimes these things come at us all at once like a powerful wave that threatens to engulf us and sweep us away. It is quite common to grow fearful on those days. Since fear and anger live very close to one another in our emotions, one flows into the other and we tend to be angry and afraid at the same time. When we are in that place, the devil exploits the moment by tempting us to turn against the very One who can restore our peace.

Yesterday, when my fears fueled my childish anger with God, His wonderful Word sprang to mind: "Pray without ceasing!" (1 Thess. 5.17) By bringing Truth to me, the Spirit was waging war on my behalf, inviting me to defeat evil with obedience. "Pray all the time, that's an order!" is what God was saying to me. He doesn't tell me to pray nice prayers, or short prayers, or long prayers, or eloquent prayers; but He does tell me (and you!) to keep our lines of communication open. When we stop talking to our Father, we break the sweet fellowship that is the one thing we need most to quiet our fearful hearts and calm our angry minds! In another passage, the Word instructs us that we must not "worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel." (Philippians 4:6-7, CEV)

When prayer is difficult, when there is little delight in sharing our heart with the Lord, there are ways to remain faithful to His command to pray always.

Use the words of another! When words fail me, I turn to the Psalms or a borrow a song. In a time of sorrow recently, I sang, "Does Jesus care, when my heart is pained, too deeply for mirth and song. As the burdens press and the cares distress, and the way goes weary and long? Oh, Yes, He cares! I know He cares. His heart is touched with my grief!" -public domain

Let others pray for you! Yesterday, in a meeting with several fellow Pastors, I soaked up their prayers offered for my Dad and me. I murmured my agreement as they shared the burden.

Pray simply, using a single phrase! When tempted, I might pray over and over, "Purify my heart." When standing near a suffering saint, I sometimes repeat, "Lord, have mercy." Even the name of Jesus, whispered to Him reverently, again and again, is a prayer.

Let the Spirit lead! The Word gives this promise of His Advocacy on our behalf. "The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will." (Romans 8:26-27, NLT)

Prayer is not an option. When we pray, we open up our lives to the power of God and, in ways that defy our understanding, we become co-laborers in His work of building His Kingdom here on earth. Pray first, not last. Pray often, not seldom. Pray boldly, not tentatively. Pray faithfully, knowing that He is faithful, even when you cannot discern His ways or hear His voice.
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"But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you. Hear my prayer, O LORD, listen to my cry for help; be not deaf to my weeping. For I dwell with you as an alien, a stranger, as all my fathers were." (Psalm 39:12, NIV)
"You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book." (Psalm 56:8, NLT)
"I will fulfill my vows to you, O God, and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help. For you have rescued me from death; you have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light." (Psalm 56:12-13, NLT)