The New Testament lays a greater stress on prayer than it does on the evangelization of people. There is a deeper need to prayer that there is even for people to be converted, and I don’t say that lightly because there is a fierce need for conversion. But conversions wont happen unless we are praying and the Bible says that from the beginning to the end” Bishop Sandy Millar

We have a big vision for the re-evangelization of the nations and the transformation of society. And the GOOD NEWS is that God has promised to give us precisely these blessings; describing them in 2 Chronicles 7:14 as the healing of the land, hearing of prayers, and the forgiveness of sins. The BAD NEWS is that promise is conditional upon our humble and fervent prayers.

"When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:13-14

Three of the most important words in the passage may well be the most inconspicuous words too: WHEN… IF… THEN

WHEN…
Before God promises blessing, He Promises problems. His people are not immune from the droughts and plagues, which, to an agrarian culture, meant disaster at every level: environmentally, financially and socially.
IF…
We are currently experiencing environmental, financial and social crisis but sadly so many of God’s people are placing their hope in products, personalities and programs instead of doing the one things that God’s requires: that we turn to Him in prayer. There is a big IF that acts as a hinge, connecting the prediction of problems (when) with the most incredible promises of healing and salvation (then). We want God to say “If problems come, when you pray, then I will act,”  but actually He says the exact opposite: “When problems come, if you pray, then I will act…”
THEN…
When challenges come, if God’s people will respond with prayer that are humble, hungry and holy, He promises to answer us by sending forgiveness and healing. The hinge of history, it seems is the bended knee.

“God is not deaf, He listens; more than that He acts. He does not act in the same way whether we prayer or not. Prayer exerts an influence upon God’s actions, even upon his existence.” Karl Barth
So as we re-think prayer in light of this scripture its again unpins that it is something essential that we are to engage in .
Adapted from the Alpha Prayer guide

why is it so difficult to prayer

Recently, I was with a bunch of people discussing different spiritual disciplines, which help foster spiritual growth. Most, if not all of the people, spoke of how they find prayer to be one of the most difficult things to do. This may not seem surprising to you, but it was surprising to me as the group of people I was having this discussion with where all seminary students - people who had devoted a large portion of their time to the study of Scripture and all things theological.

After all, surely if you are in seminary school you would be praying a lot, right? Well… this doesn’t appear to be the case.  This led me to ask the question, what are the reasons that so many of us struggle with prayer? Wanting to understand how other people thought about this, I emailed a number of my close Christian friends and asked them this question. Again, I was somewhat surprised by the answers they gave me. Here is what a few of them said:

Why is it so difficult to pray?


Let’s be honest for a second. How many of you struggle with prayer? I’m not talking about the odd request that we rattle off to God when we wake up or before we go to bed.

I mean more than a few minutes a day that are set apart for intercession.  I mean prayer that changes our hearts towards what we are praying for, or prayers that are filled with power to change the world.

My instinctive response would be…”not often enough!” I would guess that most of your responses would be the same. Most people, in particularly leaders, just seem to be TOO BUSY to pray. But maybe it’s more of an excuse and there are deeper reasons that we find it difficult to pray.
“I guess the obvious answer is busyness that seems more pressing which often leaves me physically too exhausted to be in good shape for a flourishing prayer life. The problem with this reason is that busyness only appears to be the problem but it isn’t. I can make time for other things that are important, like school work, hanging out with mates, watching sport etc. so i guess one of the roots of the problem is that prayer often just isn’t that important to me. Very sad but my actions validate this point.”
“Time.”
“Ability to focus (distraction - I have a million things going on in my head all the time)”
“Grappling with prayer in terms of its power/does it change situations/or is it my wishful thinking/or is it to deepen my relationship and dependence on God? “
“Fatigue.”
“The main reason I don't get around to praying is because of the emotional and spiritual effort of focusing my mind in prayer. It always seems to hang over me as a burden and I can never stay focused for very long, so there is an implicit sense of failure that I feel regarding my prayer life, as if I am not "putting in enough hours."
“I always feel too busy to pray, since I never really feel like doing it, I always choose some other responsibility to give my time to.”
“Procrastination and people.”

I’m not sure which of these responses you identify with most, but I know that most - if not all - resonant with me in one way or another. These responses ultimately evoke more questions. What are the underlying reasons that elicit these responses? Why do so many of us have the same frustrations and attitude and how can we think differently about prayer? Are some of us just good at praying and other not, or is this a discipline that needs to be practiced?
This leads us to question - what is man’s responsibility and what is God’s responsibility? This then leads us to enquire more about the sovereignty of God and our part in participating in His ultimate will. All in all, the matter of prayer becomes quite complex.

So let’s recap… the main things that seem to be hindering prayer are:
BUSYNESS
LACK OF TIME / PROCRASTINATION
LACK OF DESIRE TO PRAYER
LACK OF FOCUS
FATIGUE
QUESTIONING THE IMPLICATIONS OF PRAYER (does prayer really change anything?)
It is clear through Scripture, literature and observance of the great disciples of faith, that prayer is critical and if not practiced we become ineffective in our abilities and in our daily lives. This doesn’t mean to say that God won’t use us, but maybe not to the full extent of how He could.
Next we will look discussing and overcoming these challenges and how we can develop a fresh vision for prayer!

a praying people

  

Many gold nuggets of truth were spoken at the Alpha International Week at Holy Trinity Brompton, 2011. Check out this video for highlights of the week. One of the key take home points that stood out for me and many others was the tremendous emphasis on prayer. If there was one thing to which I would attribute the success of Alpha, it would be prayer.
As we study the bible and look at church history or talk to believers today about where the church is most vibrant, we read and hear the same thing: the key to more power is more prayer.
I came away from the conference with a heart for intercession and a heart to pray more myself and with others.
Over and over I asked myself the question, “What does it mean to be a praying people?” And evening more importantly, “What does it mean and look like to be a praying leader?”

Robert Speers says, “The evangelization of the world depends first upon the revival of prayer”. So the question is… what are we doing to develop a revival of prayer? 

 I firmly believe this is an area in which we can all grow, and therefore I want to take us on a journey over the next few weeks on the theme of prayer. Over these weeks I will explore the development of a fresh vision for prayer and how it can tangibly influence the advance of the Kingdom here on earth. After all, prayer is the ONE thing that underpins everything we do.
I will also look at some of the hindrances we might have as modern day busy people and describe some of the practical individual and corporate models of prayer that might be useful for you to employ in your individual life or use as you lead other students in your various ministries.

the ART of REST...

Over the past while, I have become increasingly aware of how busy our lives have become. There are many things that demand and compete for our attention. As leaders most of us can identify with having diaries and calendars full week after week. When I ask people, “how are you doing?” they usually respond, “BUSY”. I certainly know that this is often my go-to response. Telling people that I am busy gives me a sense of purpose, it makes me feel that I am actually doing something with my life.

But could I make better use of my time?
Rethinking what I do with my time has made a big difference in my life.

Asking a few simple questions may help us think about being more intentional with our time.

-When it comes to how we use our time, what does normal look like for most people?
-What do we need to do to be in control of our time?
-What makes you STOP?
-How can the concept of Sabbath benefit your time management?
-How can I better my life by intentionally choosing what fills my day?

Many of us take work home and allow it to fill every spare second. If it’s not the house phone or cell phone or TV, it’s email, Facebook or Twitter. There are many things competing for our attention, and if we are not careful ,they will distract us from finding true rest.

In order to explore the concept of true rest, consider the Biblical concept of Sabbath. Sabbath may seem weird by today’s standard. But there is something beautiful and deep within this Jewish custom. Sabbath is a day that is set apart for God for our benefit.

Sabbath is a gift.

We find these words written in Scripture.


"'Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord. Lev 19:30

"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Exo 20:8

“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God” Heb 4:9

Then he (Jesus) said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27

In these verses we see that Sabbath begins as a command. Breaking the Sabbath is breaking the command. This law was given to Israel for their benefit.

We find in the Jewish story that keeping the law brings life and God’s blessing, and not keeping it brought a curse and resulted in being cut off from God.

In the New Testament, we see Jesus coming to fulfill the law, to uphold it and supersede it. We see clearly in the book of the Hebrews that Sabbath is really about finding rest and peace in God.

It’s for our benefit.

In the Gospel’s Jesus’ words are powerful and teach us that it really is... for OUR benefit.

So if we know this, why is it then that we struggle with the concept of Sabbath?

Why are we unable to stop DOING,
and just BE?

Time and time again I have turned to the words of Jesus in the verses below. The Message translation really brings Jesus’ words to life.

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me-watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." Matt 11:28-30 (Emphasis added)

Setting a Sabbath day is about finding structure and understanding that the structure of grace is about flow and rhythm.

How are we discovering and learning the unforced rhythms of grace?

Are we taking a day a week to,

disconnect,
from the things that distract us
and
reconnect
with our creator and sustainer?
The One who is the life giver, the peace giver, the One in which we find true rest?

In the word of Jesus, we find that he is primarily talking about relationship, our relationship with him.

Sabbath is relationship.

Building our relationship with God is finding rest in him. It is about

RE:PENTING
RE:CEIVING
RE:NEWING

Think of a beautiful piece of art you know... Do you think that artist decided one day to pick up a paint brush and suddenly paint a masterpiece? Or do you think that he or she tried many times to develop beautiful art?
The artist would need to practice in order for it to be good, right?

In the same way, Sabbath keeping is something that needs to be practiced. It takes a conscious decision to turn off or shut down the things in life that fill your time and space on your Sabbath? This is hard when you first try it, but it will get easier along the way as you learn the art of REST.

Easter in Vancouver

Isaiah 53 from Westside Church on Vimeo.