“Prayer can easily become a frenetic extension of the manic way. I live too much of my life.” -Pete Greig
Prayer is not for the crazed attitudes that we have in life right now. Prayer is for pausing and connecting. And what we really need for the start of our prayer lives is two things: deceleration and focus. Slowing things down and paying attention. I’m really bad at both of these things. Because I’m in in a fast paced industry, and I have an agenda, and God is asking me to slow down for a moment and to let go of that agenda. So where do we start if we’re going to start this journey of prayer. Well. I think we start with where the disciple started.
“Lord, teach us to pray.” Luke 11:1
We go to the one who knows how to teach us to pray.
“If anyone had an excuse not to pray in any kind of regimented way, it was surely the sinless son of God.” – Pete Greig
So Jesus, the sinless son of God, the most powerful being in the universe needed prayer in his life. And if Jesus needs prayer in his life, what do you think we need in our lives? So that’s the first thing that we need to do, is we need to accept the reality that we need prayer. This has to be a part of our lives. If it was a part of Jesus’s existence, it absolutely is a part of our existence. It’s a necessity and we need to start doing it now. Admit it. Admit that you need to connect to God this way. Mark 135, says
“Before daybreak. The next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.” Mark 1:35
Jesus went to an isolated place. It says that he went to a certain place. Jesus had places to pray. He had identified places where he would connect intimately with God through prayer. And if Jesus needed a place to pray, you and I need a place to pray as well. I have chosen a corner of my bedroom to be that place. I have placed a director’s chair in that corner and first thing in the morning, before I go to the bathroom, have breakfast, or brush my teeth, I sit in that chair and pause, have that quiet moment in God’s presence.
And every morning this is going to be my place. Just like Jesus had a place. I’m going to have a place. You need to find your place. What is your place? Where you are going to commune with God, Where you are going to pause and you’re going to say, God, I’m ready for you. I’m ready to connect with you. Maybe it’s your bathroom. That’s okay. Doesn’t matter where. A closet. Maybe it’s somewhere outdoors. A path that you like to walk in, or even your car. The place doesn’t matter. What matters is that you have a place. And you can have many places. Jesus, I’m sure, had more than one. But you need to find the place where you are going to be in communion with God.
I would love to hear about your place. Email me at milton@ktsy.org.
To hear Chaplain Milton’s sermon, watch below.