015 - Prayer Habits, Part III

For many of us, prayer can easily become an apathetic aspect of our relationship with Jesus that we don’t actually give much thought.

But the truth is that God desires so much more intentionality and focus from us when we pray.

As we continue in this series of course-correcting some of our prayer habits, I want to remind you that God doesn’t have a perfect definition of prayer. He just wants to connect with us meaningfully and honestly. The goal of this series isn’t to shame you or guilt you into praying the “right” way. The goal is to help us recognize where we’ve gotten a little off-track in the way we pray SO THAT we can adjust and find more joy and meaning in the time we spend with God in prayer.

Habit #3 - Praying it safe.

I got into a habit recently of praying this as my nighttime prayer:

Dear God. Thank you for this day. Please help me to have a good day tomorrow. And help me to sleep well tonight. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Seriously. I’m preaching to myself when I say that it can be easy to let our prayers become repetitive. Monotonous. Even safe. And while I really do believe that God is happy to hear my voice any time I pray, I know that the above prayer does nothing to deepen my relationship with God. I’m praying out of habit, even obligation, and not out of a desire to really connect with my Father.

In 2020, we’ve all been faced with situations that put us entirely out of our comfort zones. For me, it’s been a new job in a new city, navigating social unrest and political chaos, and a global pandemic and all its repercussions. I know for some of you, it’s been the loss of jobs, loss of homes, loss of loved ones. I wish none of these things had infiltrated our lives this year. But if I’m honest, the prayers I’ve prayed surrounding these events have been some of the deepest prayers I’ve ever prayed, and I’ve said Amen feeling so connected to God and more at peace than I could have imagined.

It’s true that God cares about the small aspects of our day. He cares that we have good days, that we are well-rested, that we have what we need. But I think sometimes we forget that when we pray, we’re praying to Almighty God, Creator of the universe. There is nothing He cannot do, and He deeply desires to do good in our lives. Our prayers shouldn’t keep God in a small, manageable box or be simple enough that we ourselves can accomplish them without His help. Because our God is big, we can pray big prayers that cannot possibly be answered outside of His involvement.

New Habit to Form

I think the new habit to form here is not praying bigger prayers, although that’s definitely a takeaway. For me, it’s believing in a bigger God. Not just a God who can help me sleep well, and believe me, I really need Him to help me sleep well right now. Not just a God who can help me have a good day tomorrow, although both He and I certainly want me to have a good day tomorrow. But believing in a God who can bring peace to our pounding hearts, who can bring unity where there is unrest and healing where there is hopelessness. And our prayers will begin to reflect our faith in Him to do what He - and only He - can do in our lives.

As I said above, it was during some of the most raw and vulnerable prayers I’ve prayed this year that I truly felt the power and presence of God. When we pray out of obligation, but are really relying on ourselves to take care of what we need, there’s little reason for God to show up in bold, miraculous ways. But when we come to a place of surrender, recognizing that God is so much bigger and more powerful that we can even imagine, we begin to rely on His involvement and intervention in our lives like never before.

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Published in the 015 - October 27 issue of TuesdayTribe

Written by Hannah Hladek

Photo by Kelli McClintock on Unsplash