Stop Being So Productive and Learn To Pray

There's a young man I know who is very productive. In everything he does, he strives for success—and he often achieves it. He's a national champion triple jumper at a liberal arts college who is majoring in sociology and minoring in religion. He's deeply connected to other believers through college ministry, decently committed to a local church (though I'd counsel him to take membership more seriously!), and dedicated to sound doctrine and defending the faith.

He has one glaring heart issue—his prayer life is very weak. 

There's another young man I know in his mid-20's. He's not married yet, but he's searching for a wife. He works a full-time office job at a local factory and is pursuing a master's degree in teaching. In his free time, he hangs out and talks theology with the family who leads a small group in his community. Sometimes, he attends Bible study with his father at the home of an older couple down the street from his home. As a musician, he often spends his evenings and weekends working on songs that are rich with theology and glorify the Lord. He loves to read his Bible, and he's starting to build a decent theological library.

He, too, has a very weak prayer life.

One other guy I know is in his early 30's. He's a husband, father of 4, co-pastor of a small church, teacher, music producer, Christian rapper, tutor, track coach, writer, and mentor—it's exhausting to even write this list! He's also studying to be a health coach. He spins all of these plates, though there are times you hear a loud crash coming from the kitchen. In addition to this busy life he leads, he has an insatiable hunger for learning and usually reads and listens to 30-40 books a year. Making music and reading help keep him sane in the midst of all the chaos, but his doctor recently said he needs to get his stress under control and tone things down a bit. He's well-read on the topic of prayer, loves the Puritans, and his blog is actually about the importance of being devoted to Christ.

Ironically, this friend has a weak prayer life as well.

What About You?

If you're a close friend of mine, you'll know that the 3 guys are actually me. Each description is a different snapshot of my life since I've been a Christian. In the earliest days of my walk with God, I was a teenage boy with just a Bible and prayer. As I "progressed" in my faith, prayer has often been crowded out by less important duties and desires. Everything in me wants to defend myself and say, "My prayer life wasn't THAT bad!". I want to add a million qualifiers about how I did pray, just not as much as I want to. That is true, but it doesn't change the reality that my prayer life has indeed been very weak. There are seasons that prayer has been strong because I had nowhere to look but up. There are also seasons where prayer has been on the back burner. When I look back on the past 14 years of my faith, I see a man who has spent hours and hours making beats, reading books, hanging with friends, studying theology, staring at a mini-computer sending instant messages to my friends, and scrolling newsfeeds.

However, when it comes to prayer—one of the most basic aspects of my walk with God—I've struggled. My prayer life looks a lot like a roller coaster. Fits and starts, peaks and valleys dot the landscape of my prayer journey. But God is gracious, and He is calling me to more prayer. Is He calling you to do the same?

I'm not going to heap my sin on you. Some of you are genuine prayer warriors, devoted to prayer every day. I want to be like that. I don't want to spend an average of 1260 minutes (3 hours a day) on my phone each week while averaging a mere 35 minutes (5 minutes a day) a week in prayer. I want to be in prayer 36 times more than I'm on my phone, not vice-versa. God deserves more than that. Satan is overjoyed with that.  My flesh is weaker because of it. The more I preach, read, and learn about prayer, the more I realize that I haven't prayed much. I haven't prayed enough. I need to pray more. I'm admitting it. 

God is Better

If I could say anything to those 3 guys above, I'd say this: Stop being so productive and learn to pray.

Literally. Your soul depends on it.

Your family will be better off with a praying husband and father. Your church will profit more from you being a prayerful leader. Your employer will be better served if you take your prayer life seriously. Every realm of your life will be significantly better if you will simply commit yourself to being steadfast in prayer (Colossians 4:2). I don't mean easier, more successful, or perfect. Your circumstances may actually get worse, but your soul, frame of mind, and outlook on life will be shaped by that time in the presence of God. Your fruitfulness and soul satisfaction are tied to an abiding relationship with Christ (John 15:1-17). John 15 is one of your favorite passages, but you need to heed the words of your mentor: Don't be the guy who writes about abiding in Christ but doesn't abide in Him.

God is better than whatever is keeping you away from prayer.
He is better than your bank account.
He is better than your reading goals.
He is better than hip-hop success.
He is better than a fruitful ministry.
He is better than getting a book written.
He is better than being healthy.
He is better than your outreach efforts.
He is better than the church you want to plant.

If you want true satisfaction you must pray! The joy and happiness you work and long for is found in Christ alone. Be with Him. Don't waste your life, slaving away at dreams that won't ever satisfy you while Christ is standing at the door knocking. Be with God. He waits to be gracious to you and exalts Himself to show mercy to you as He did Israel (Isaiah 30:18). He is your shield. He is your rock. He is your help. He is your hope. He is who you will see and savor for all eternity when the Savior returns. Be with Him. Live today in the presence of God, and you'll have the longing for heaven that you have always desired and dreamed about. 

Perhaps this note-to-self will benefit you as well. By grace, in the Spirit, let's be a praying people.

Photo by Rakicevic Nenad from Pexels