When it Comes to Prayer, Make a Plan

The battle is won from a place of stillness.

Leaders lead through a mirror. In other words, before teaching others, and before suggesting spiritual practices to others, we first examine our own practices, honestly. Am I being faithful or hypocritical? Am I practicing what I preach or am I hiding behind a degree that sounds oh so pious?

If we’re being honest, we may not always like our answers to those questions. But we should definitely be asking them. ‘One step forward and two steps back’ isn’t just an expression for other people. An awareness of our own spiritual health – or lack of spiritual health – will influence what we do or don’t say to others. And, by the grace of God, should motivate us forward on the pilgrim path.

Of the various practices we could discuss, the focus of this article is prayer.

Let me guess. When the topic of prayer is mentioned, you instantly say to yourself, ‘Yes, that’s important.’ After all, Jesus says so, and what God’s Son says goes. At the same time, you may have a few other thoughts as well.

First, you may feel as if you already know everything you need to know about prayer. If that’s you, have a slice of humble pie. You don’t.

Second, perhaps you feel stuck. If that’s you, know that you’re in good company. Stuck-ness is a regular feature of life in a fallen world, not only for the rank-and-file, but for leaders such as you and me.

Third, perhaps you feel that you want to go deeper, but feel guilty about where things are at. You sense that you should be further along. Maybe the pervasive busyness of our times has cluttered your mind; perhaps you’re slipping in sin and the Serpent’s got your tongue.

Lord, make us zealous for prayer. Make us desire it so much that the desire to commune with you always burns within us…

No matter your response, I think that this article will be useful and edifying not only for your personal discipleship and leadership, but for those times when you look intently into the mirror longing to see eyes looking back which are more fixed on Jesus than they were yesterday.

An article on prayer could be very, very long. After all, prayer is like the ocean. The more you explore, the more you discover. So, I’m going to limit myself to three points.

First, pray for your prayer life.

Seems strange, doesn’t it? But if we pray for other things, why not this?

Various biblical authors tell us to do certain things. We are told to love others, to be holy, to stand in truth, to cultivate humility. Since Paul encourages his readers to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) why wouldn’t we ask God for help to do just that?

“Lord, make us zealous for prayer. Make us desire it so much that the desire to commune with you always burns within us…”

Second, commit to childlike honesty.

One of the downfalls of being a leader is that you think you need to be an expert. Granted, we should definitely have training and expertise in certain areas. Training is good. Our learning contributes to our leading.

When it comes to prayer, one of the many temptations is to hide. We can hide behind fancy words which sound like they are coming from someone else’s mouth, or perhaps a prayerbook from the seventeenth century. We can also hide behind standardized formulas which have, over time, lost their meaning to us.

Jesus is well-known for commending childlikeness. “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child…” (Mark 10:15) Children are dependent on others, needy; they usually can’t survive on their own. They also haven’t yet learned how to hide like adults – not in the same way, anyway. When it comes to their words and feelings, they tend to be more cumbersome and overt. Should we be reverent before God? Absolutely. But also honest.

One of the prayer giants of our time is Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk. In Contemplative Prayer, he writes: “We do not want to be beginners. But let us be convinced of the fact that we will never be anything else but beginnings, all our life!”^[i] To those who might feel the invisible pressure that accompanies titles like “Reverend” or “Pastor,” these words from Merton may be a cool breeze on an otherwise hot and sticky day.

Leaders usually need a plan to keep them tethered to the radical things of God in a bruised and bruising world.

Third, make a plan.

Speaking of monks, they have a plan. Monastic communities observe the liturgy of the hours, also called the Divine Office. They stop whatever they are doing seven times a day to pray, sing the psalms and worship God.

I know what you’re thinking. We’re not monks. We don’t live in a cloistered community and don’t have the benefit of a literal wall around us. True. There are deadlines to meet, Sundays to prepare, decisions to make, photocopiers to kick (Is that just me?!), and parishioners to visit.

But it isn’t only monks who make a plan.

We humans are easily distracted. We are also highly impressionable. That is why a structure or plan keeps us tethered to the rhythms of God, including prayer.

‘But,’ you might say, ‘that doesn’t sound very spiritual.’ Doesn’t it? As I’ve written elsewhere, devout Jews observed the three-times-daily pattern of prayer. Jesus would have done so. The book of Acts also gives evidence of this practice continuing in the early church. Regardless of whether someone felt like it or not, they paused three times a day to recite scripture and pray.

Ryan Skoog, Peter Greer and Cameron Doolittle published a book called Lead with Prayer. They interviewed scores of world-changing leaders and their spiritual habits. These leaders were men and women from around the world and from various Christian backgrounds. Do you want to know what they all had in common? A serious, consistent commitment to prayer. That’s right. It wasn’t cohesive strategic plans, well-financed ministries or super-talented co-workers. It was a serious, consistent commitment to prayer. Oh, and they had plans to make it happen.

These ‘plans,’ weren’t always called plans, of course, nor were they all the same. One person’s plan is to take an hour-long walk each morning and pray very openly and honestly with God. Another person got up early, read the Bible, and spent time praying before anyone else got up. This wasn’t infrequent or haphazard; it was planned, daily.

One person developed a habit of praying at 4 a.m. (much like monks who observe Vigils in the middle of the night). Another person created a schedule of psalms so that a few different psalms were said throughout the day; they based their prayers on the topics that were mentioned in the psalms. One individual prayed through certain Bible passages, but they always made a point to do it on their knees as a reminder that they needed to yield to God as a servant.

Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work. – Oswald Chambers

Personally, I have developed a plan that includes certain prayers in the morning, in the afternoon and before bed. I utilize the Lord’s Prayer, the Great Commandment, and selected psalms. Psalm 1 is used in the morning, Psalm 112 in the afternoon, and Psalm 91 at night (a psalm especially useful in spiritual warfare). I say extemporaneous prayers based on the needs of the day or moment, but the structure exists to keep me on track. There are times when the plan goes off the rails, especially when there is a pastoral emergency or when one of the kids gets sick. But that’s okay. It’s a plan, not a straitjacket.

You should also know that prayer has not come naturally to me. I’m not one of those people who has a spiritual gift for prayer and can do so for hours. ‘Oh, has two hours passed already?’ That’s not me. Since it can be difficult for me I have discovered that a plan helps. Not only has it changed my schedule, but it has changed my heart.

Francis and Lisa Chan have a knack for snapping us out of our slumber and reminding us about how radical it is to follow Jesus: “If we are not making decisions in our lives that seem weird or radical to lukewarm people, we probably need to evaluate what’s going on. Believers on a mission are going to look a little crazy to most of the world, just as the training regimen of an Olympic athlete looks a little crazy to us.”^[ii]

That’s a good reminder. The word ‘disciple’ looks a lot like ‘discipline.’ That doesn’t sound very trendy. But that’s okay. Jesus could care less about trends. He cares about the Kingdom of God. In his kingdom, and for his kingdom, leaders usually need a plan to keep them tethered to the radical things of God in a bruised and bruising world.

To summarize, pray for your prayer life, commit to childlike honesty and make a plan.

I’d like to end with a statement by Oswald Chambers, the ever-quotable Baptist teacher: “Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work.”^[iii] When I first heard it, it was one of those quotes I admired because it was catchy and memorable. That guy knows how to use words. At the same time, I resisted it. Isn’t the “greater work” actually getting things done? Isn’t prayer just something we need to get out of the way before we take action? I’m a man of lists; let’s get on with it.

Over time I have come to realize that my initial hesitancy to Oswald’s statement was because I doubted whether prayer was as effective as Jesus said it was. I’ve changed. Prayer does actually alter things. In his wisdom and sovereignty, God has chosen to use our prayers to govern his creation. Prayer is words, but also a deed, an action. Swiss theologian Karl Barth wrote: God “is not deaf, he listens and, moreover he acts. He does not act in the same way whether we pray or not. Prayer has an influence on the action, on the very existence, of God.”^[iv]

Mike drop.

Picture yourself going onto a football field without equipment. Picture yourself leading a heart surgery without training. Now picture yourself leading without prayer. Oops.

Brothers and sisters, we’re all different, but we’re all the same. We are sinners in need of grace. We are also easily distracted and constantly under pressure, outside noise and attack. So, make a prayer plan for the glory of God.

The battle is won from a place of stillness. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

_______________

Endnotes:

^[i] Thomas Merton, Contemplative Prayer (New York: Image, 1969), 13.

^[ii] Francis Chan and Lisa Chan, You and Me Forever (San Francisco: Claire Love Publishing, 2014), 190.

^[iii] I don’t have an exact reference for this quote. However, I’ve seen it quoted multiple times and always attributed to Chambers.

^[iv] Karl Barth, Prayer and Preaching (London: SCM Press, 1964), 16.

Photo Credit: Dallas Penner via Unsplash