How's Your Prayer Life?

If someone asked you the question, "How's your prayer life?"  how would you answer it? Today I finally got the opportunity to watch the movie, War Room.  I really like the value the movie placed on creating a quiet place, with no distractions, for focused prayer time.   As a teen I was disciplined in writing my prayers in journals or keeping lists on notebook paper.  I had a column for prayer requests, the date I began praying about it, and a column to check when God answered my prayers.  During that season, prayer was such a natural part of life as I grew close to God and increased in faith and trust in Him.  

Fast forward 15 years and the Lord placed us in Bolivia as missionaries.  God had just carried my husband and I through a trying season financially, and our trust in His provision and hope were deepened and we felt a great peace about the great adventure we were starting out on.  We got an apartment, I started language school, Seth learned how to live and thrive in our new culture, and our kids were homeschooling and making friends with other missionary kids as well as kids from church.  Between learning spanish, homeschooling the kids, and trying to be a supportive wife, my walk with God was suffering.  At the end of the day I was tired from thinking so hard (translating the spanish I was hearing to English then trying to formulate appropriate responses take a lot of effort in a new culture!) and most evenings we would watch a movie to unwind and my personal Bible study and prayer habits were becoming irregular and brief.  

After about 8 months in Cochabamba, some young ladies from church asked if I would lead a Bible study for single women.  They wanted it led by a married, Christian mother and thought I would be a great fit.  Feeling very inadequate, I prayed about the opportunity and I felt God telling me it was an opportunity to learn more about Him alongside these sisters in Christ.  So, we began by studying Christian disciplines.  And to this day, the one that keeps coming back to me over and over again is the importance of prayer.  So, one of my goals for this year, 2016, is to pray more....alone, with others, in English and Spanish, quiet, loud, as a family, and as an individual.  

Any book on missions, church planting, and christianity in general is going to emphasize prayer.  Its not just for the missionaries (although all of us are truly missionaries).  Luke 1:35-39 says this: 

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.  And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, "Everyone is looking for you."  And he said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out."  And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons." 

Prayer is such an essential part of the Christian life.  Jesus set the perfect example for us, although surrounded by the needy, the sick, the lost...he rose early, got away, and spent time with the Father.  Our lives shouldn't be so full of distractions that we are unable to do this same thing.  Being here in the US for this brief furlough, I see all too clearly how easily distracted we are.  The tv shows and series people get caught up in on Netflix, the fast-speed internet for hours of facebooking, stores with awesome sales you can't pass by, easy online shopping with Amazon...there's always something pulling for your (and my) attention.

Psalms 119 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible about holy living.  Its all about knowing, delighting in, and meditating on God's word.  Verses 36-37 say this:

            "Incline my heart to your testimonies,
            and not to selfish gain!
            Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
            and give me life in your ways."

And verses 147-148 follow verse after verse about David's love for God's law/commandments/precepts, etc.

             "I rise before dawn and cry for help; 
               I hope in your words.
               My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, 
               that I may meditate on your promise." 

Let's be careful not to give in to the easy distractions of the world (worthless things), but find life in God's word and seek Him diligently in prayer, rising early to pray and meditate on His promises throughout our day. If our heart is for the lost to know Jesus, we must seek Him in prayer and study. As a missionary, but even simply as a believer, this is my aim.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes..." Romans 1:16