Aligning with Him
- Sep 13, 2024
- 6 min read
What is your prayer life like? Do you feel connected to God, or is your prayer life a struggle? Just to reassure you, I know what it’s like to be distracted from prayer and in prayer!
Prayer must be aligning our hearts to God’s will and purpose and pursue a rhythm whereby we seize every opportunity to come before Him.
Philip Yancey said: “I used to view prayer as a kind of transaction in which I waved my arms desperately in an attempt to get God’s attention. Now I view prayer as two things: inviting myself into God’s life and inviting God into my life… Prayer connects me with God.”
There’s no better example to follow in creating a good habit/ rhythm to prayer than Jesus. Notice - Mark 1:35:“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”
Not just morning prayers either!
Luke 6:12:“Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray and He continued all night in prayer to God.”
Maybe look at it another way, how much time do you spend on your social media account(s) and entertainment than spending time with God in prayer and praise in a day?
Bishop Andrews prayed five hours a day. Susanna Wesley, mother of 19 children, allocated at least two hours a day to pray. Charles Simeon prayed from 4am – 8am every morning.
Martin Luther said, "if I fail to spend 2 hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day."
Where have we compromised our time with Father God in prayer?
Daniel chapter 6 describes a life-changing situation, but it didn’t change Daniel's devotion, obedience, service, or his relationship to God.
They tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel (v4), checking his work life, home life and his private life, yet their pursuit was fruitless. Then they examined his spiritual life (v5). No basis for any charge except he was diligent in his relationship with God. Even God recognised his stand (v22).
What if someone examined in detail every aspect of your life, public and private? What would they uncover?
Daniel knew that the decree was signed yet states, “he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before” (v10).
Daniel, no matter what, did not give up his time with God in prayer even though he knew that disobeying the king’s decree would mean death.
I guess it begs the question, have you ever been arrested for praying?
To align our lives, in every dimension, with the life and the call of God, the urgent mustn’t overtake the important. The real den of lions was actually in the upstairs room that day. It was there he secured victory.
Daily Practice
Tyler Staton says: “The modern church is in desperate need of one of the church’s most historic practices, one that has been largely forgotten in our time, a daily prayer rhythm.”
Prayer isn’t just a monthly or weekly exercise; it should be a daily rhythm that’s established in aligning our hearts with God.
I know someone that has been challenged recently about their daily time with God. They now spend at least one hour with Him every day before anything else happens in the day!
80 year old Daniel had this rhythm with Father God, he prayed three times each day. Nothing got in the way, whether customs, calls or culture!
Tim Keller says, “To neglect prayer is not to fail some religious duty. It is to fail to treat God as God.”
Such an important lesson to learn for all of us! What daily practices have we got in our lives that have become more a priority and edge prayer out?
Can I just say, if you’re too busy to pray, you are busier than God intends.
Daily Place
The place where we pray should make an impact on our prayer life!
Jesus often withdrew to “lonely places” or the “wilderness” to pray (Luke 5:16, Matt.14:23).
Our approach, our dialogue with Him must be based on relationship and shaped by our desire to know Him, to hear Him and to obey Him.
Daniel knew this place of grace. He prayed in the upper room of his house with windows wide open! Even when an earthly king’s decree forbidding prayer to God would mean certain death for Daniel. He went to that special place to meet with his Father God. Nothing would stop him!
Where is your place of grace, that place of expectation and adventure in prayer? Your study, garden room, your kitchen table? Make it a daily visit.
Stop and reflect
How often do we let the concerns of life crowd out our communion and relationship with God, when actually they should prioritise the need to meet and align ourselves with Him?!
Daily Priority
I remembered a hymn we used to sing – the first verse starts like this, Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord; Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word… The second verse, Take time to be holy, the world rushes on; Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone…
Samuel Chandwick said, “The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.”
Daniel prioritised his daily walk with God. I’m not talking about ritual but about relationship and a deep faith and reliance upon God. This connection and communication with God were so essential. I believe such a priority for prayer has everything to do with love and nothing to do with legalism.
Pete Greig writes; “The most important discovery you will ever make is the love the Father has for you.”
We read that Daniel prayed three times a day. Now let me say, there’s no perfect time by which we are commanded to come before God in prayer.
Psalm 5:3: “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.”
Psalm 63:6: “On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.”
The most important thing is that our relationship and conversations with God need to be prioritised in our lives on a daily basis. Failing to do this means you will fail to be who God wants you to be!
Ryken said, “Prayer does not simply maintain the Christian life; it is the Christian life.”
Daily Presence
Prayer for a Christian is first and foremost about God’s Presence more than about Proceeds! Doesn’t Psalm 46:10 say,“Be still, and know that I am God?”
It’s as if God is saying you come, I’ll be there. Amazing!
You'll never hear from an answer machine in heaven... “Thank you for calling Heaven. Sorry, there’s no-one to take your call. Please select one of the following options: Press 1 for requests. Press 2 for thanksgiving. Press 3 for complaints. For all other enquiries, press 4. We will get back to you”
Actually God invites us into His presence.
Jeremiah 33:3 says,“Call to me and I will answer you, and I will show you great and mighty things that you do not know".
Did you know, God longs for us to come to Him? Daniel knew!
Knowing that we come before our almighty God must mean prayer can only be counted as a privilege. We come into His presence the almighty, all-powerful, all-loving God of the universe. All the resources of heaven are there for us.
Please check out how God answers Daniels prayers, read Daniel 9:20-27 and chapter 10.
John Ortberg states: “The goal of prayer is to live all of my life and speak all of my words in the joyful awareness of the presence of God. Prayer becomes real when we grasp the reality and goodness of God's constant presence with 'the real me'.”
Hebrews 4:16: “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Oh wow. I have been challenged, warmed and encouraged reading this blog, the passages in Daniel and listening to the words of both songs. Words that h penetrated my heart - to neglect prayer is not treating God as God, raised a painful emotion, when God is forever faithful and full of grace. The verse in psalm 40:10 be still and know that I am God is a frequent go to verse, and something I do often before I pray, particularly when I cannot find words to begin to praise God in prayer. In a guided prayer and a devotional today, I came across words that said when God speaks the atmosphere shifts, how right that is, and w…