“Transformation: Prayer” 1 Thes 5: 16-18 Col 4:2 Eph 6:18

One of the things that we do as a people of faith is pray. We pray during worship and before meals. We pray when we are at Bible Study and when we get a request on the prayer chain. We pray before we go to bed at night. Prayer is part of who we are. 

But what we sometimes miss is what is happening during all of this prayer. Pray has the power to transform us because it deeply connects us to God. But the opposite is also true - when we stop praying, because we feel like we are too busy or because by the time our head hits the pillow at night we are too exhausted to pray - we can start to feel disconnected from God.

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, is known for one of his many quotes - this one about prayer. “I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am to do it.” How many of us feel like Mr. Wesley? How many of us would take this as personal advice in our own lives - the busier we are the more time we spend not checking things off of our to-do list, but praying? My guess would be not many of us.

And yet we find words like those in this mornings scripture. To rejoice always, and pray without ceasing. What does that look like with flesh on it? I’ve told the story before of Brother Lawrence who wanted to join a monetary, only some of the other brothers didn’t particularly want him there so they gave him the hardest, messiest job in hopes that he would quite - washing all of the dishes. Think about the piles of dishes he must have faced after every meal - from cooking and feeding that many men. But a funny thing happened - Brother Lawrence took this job that no one else would want, and which was intended to drive him away, and instead made it into an opportunity to pray without ceasing. As he tackled those piles of dishes several times a day, every day, he took it to be an opportunity to talk with God in prayer. It became his own personal time of worship where he could grow with God.

We don’t often think about it this way, but prayer is an act of worship, both privately and publicly. In prayer, we worship God by praising and thanking God - or in the words of 1 Thessalonians - giving thanks in all circumstances. 

When I was in college I was a small group leader for a group of young women who met weekly to study the Bible and pray for one another. However, in order to be a small group leader you had to also be part of a small group that fed your soul and be part of a monthly training for all small group leaders. It was at one of these monthly trainings that I was introduced to the ACTS method of prayer. Adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. In other words praising God, confessing when we sin, giving thanks to God, and bringing our requests before God. Do you notice what is last? Bringing our requests before God. Yet, how often is this the only thing that we do in prayer? Coming to ask God to meet our needs and the needs of those we care about, while disregarding the act of worship through praising and thanking God in prayer. At all times. 

God wants to hear our requests, but God is also surely due our honor and praise. And God wants to hear our requests, but we also need to come to God in prayer when we sin. Its one of the reasons we pray the prayer of confession together every week - because we need to get into the habit of confessing before God. 

How could our prayer habits and our very lives be transformed if we approach prayer through the ACTS method, or joys and requests, or any other form of prayer that incorporates praise and confession into our requests as well?

Prayer should also become a habit. In Colossians we find the instructions to devote ourselves to prayer, but some translations read make a habit of prayer. Habit is a funny word that can sometimes rub us the wrong way. We can be tricked into thinking that a habit makes something less meaningful. But how many of us ate breakfast this morning? Brushed our teeth? Got dressed? Those are habits that have become part of our daily routine. Part of who we are and what we do each day. 

It is said that it takes 21 days to make something a habit. 21 days of incorporating something into our daily lives to the point where we wouldn’t imagine our lives without it. What if we committed for 21 days to pray every day, at the same time, as much as possible, until being deeply connected to God through prayer is something that we could not imagine our lives being without?

The truth is we are busy people. Are days are full. Sometimes too full. We have countless things and people that place demands upon our time until we feel so time strapped that we push God right out. So what if we reclaim some of that time to pray? For 10 minutes over lunch? Or 30 minutes at the beginning of the day before anyone else gets up? On the way to and from work? 

In one of my parsonages I had a little corner of a back room that became my prayer closet. I would go there every day, and light a candle, and simply be silent. Simply be in attitude of prayer before God. Now my favorite time to pray is before bed. I know that I go to bed at roughly the same time each night, so I carve out time to praise God in prayer before falling asleep. 

Another way that I am consistent in prayer is through prayer partners. I have three folks who I pray for and who pray for me. We are scattered across the United States, but whenever I get an email or text or phone call from them asking for prayer, I stop and pray. That’s part of my prayer habit. To commit to pray for them at times of need.

Friends, prayer isn’t about being long winded or having the best words to use. Its about connecting deeply with the heart of God. Even if you can only do that for 5 minutes at a time throughout the day. We sometimes make prayer too difficult. We want to pray, but we get tripped up on how we think prayer should sound instead of simply being in the presence of God. 

But we cannot talk about prayer without talking about one the questions that has plagued Christians for centuries - why do some prayers go unanswered? Friends, I don’t have any better answers for this than the countless theologians that have dedicated their lives to this question. Sometimes prayer goes unanswered because God’s answer is no. Sometimes they go unanswered because we have unconfessed sin in our lives. But more often then not, they go unanswered because we do not fully understand the ways of God. But the danger of unanswered prayer is that it can trick us into thinking that God is not listening to us or has left us. But that simply isn't the case. God loves us and we have the blessing of being able to pray to our God, whenever we want, and know that we will be heard and deeply loved.

There is no right way to pray, friends. Pray is our time with God and that is going to look different for each of us. What is important is that we be a people of prayer. A people who consistently pray, but for each other, as instructed in Ephesians, but also a people who see prayer as an act of worship - an opportunity to glorify God. Let us be a people known for praying. Let us be a people who pray at all times. Amen.