A HEART FOR PRAYER

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words (Romans 8:26).

When you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen . . . (Isaiah 1:15).

Each New Year's Eve my church has a prayer vigil from noon to midnight; there is not a better way to watch the new year come in, asking our Father in Heaven for his provision in it.  Each participant commits to pray for the duration of a specific thirty-minute segment.  I always choose the final segment, eleven thirty to midnight, and I go to the church building to pray because that is where the Church gathers for worship.  The building is old so there are some creaks and groans that heighten the prayer experience, reminding me of some of the very dear saints, and perhaps, not so dear saints who have gone on before.

Often the prayer-vigil participants will worry how they will pray for thirty minutes.  When they express their anxiety I am reminded of a quote said to be by John Bunyon, "In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart."  Though one might not have the words, one must have a heart for prayer.  It is reassuring to know that our Advocate, the Holy Spirit, prays for us when we do not have the words.  Prayers filled with cliches are evidence of words without a heart. God will not listen to prayers from insincere and/or unrepentant hearts!

There are times when the last thing one feels like doing is praying, but that is the time when it is most important to pray.  My son, Paul, says that during those times he begins by reciting the Lord's Prayer, or some other inspirational scripture.  Beginning a prayer time in this way centers the thoughts, "primes the pump," and touches the heart, directing it to God.  Prayer beginning in the depths of despair can end in the heights of glory if one simply has the faith to be obedient in prayer.  Read the whole of Psalms 22. Even when you do not feel like praying you can have a heart for prayer if it is begun in obedient faith. 

Grace&Peace;
Tom