Tag: prayer

My Quest to Pray Throughout My Day

I don’t think I’ll ever spend the majority of my day in God’s presence like Brother Lawrence or pray without ceasing like Paul. But I can learn to pray more often, so I seek to remain open to my surroundings, looking for reasons to pray.

“God, I fear for his safety. Watch over him and protect him; guide him in making wise decisions…” Then I realize I’m praying for a character in a TV show. I’m not sure if I should laugh about or celebrate my spontaneous impulse to pray.

Interestingly, I’ve caught myself doing this more than once. At least I’m becoming more mindful of praying. Happily, I do this for real people, too.

I also sometimes pray as I dream. Although some might claim the opposite, that I merely dreamed I prayed, I believe God hears my asleep prayers just like my awake ones.

Other times I’d dream about a person and God would prompt me to pray for him or her when I woke up. Now, I no longer wait for his nudge: if I dream about you, I’m going to pray for you when I wake up – and maybe when I’m dreaming too.

Another prayer trigger is email, which I send and receive all day long. After composing each message, I strive to say a concise prayer for the recipient as I click “send.”

Of course, some communications warrant much more prayer than a quick request for God’s blessing, favor, or guidance. Sometimes my words require prayer as I type.

Yard work is another great time to pray—or at least to try. It doesn’t take much thought to mow lawn or pull weeds, allowing me to focus on spiritual matters. Sometimes I’m successful and other times, not so much.

I’ve also learned to pray whenever I come upon an accident, see the flashing lights of an emergency vehicle, or hear a siren. Many people have needs at those moments, and I can do my part, helping by praying.

I continue to look for reasons to pray, desiring to intercede more often and seek God throughout my day. However, I no longer catch myself praying for a character on a TV show—and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or bad.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
​
​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

Fold Hands, Close Eyes, and Bow Head

I’ve blogged about the use and meaning of amen, and shared how amen is used in the Bible: primarily as a way to end a prayer.

Three more prayer conventions perplex me as well. The first is to fold our hands while praying, the second is to close our eyes, and the third is to bow our head.

I’ve searched for years and haven’t yet found any command in the Bible to fold hands, close eyes, or bow heads when we pray.

However, I have discovered some interesting allusions about these ideas in the Bible. The implication of folding hands is idleness, leading to poverty and ruin.

While closing eyes is usually a euphemism for death or a reference to ignoring truth. Last, bowed heads signifies grief, repentance, or death.

Aside from repenting, I don’t see any of these ideas fitting in with prayer and communing with God.

So, just as we should reconsider our routine of ending prayers with “amen,” we may also want to reexamine our training, and even our compulsion, to only pray with our hands folded, eyes closed, and head bowed.

Although Jesus gives us the freedom to do these things, he also gives us the freedom not to. If these actions help us pray, great; if they hinder us, we need to set them aside.

Prayer is about God. How we pray is secondary.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
​
​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

The speaker’s words were both, familiar and shocking: “Let’s say a quick prayer.” The familiar part came from hearing this many times before and even saying it myself.

The shocking part came from realizing how disrespectful this is to God and how sad he must feel when his kids can only find time for a quick prayer.

Like any good parent, God yearns to connect with his children. He wants to hear how things are going, what’s on our mind, and how he can help.

Even though he already knows these things, he wants us to tell him, he desires to hear us say the words. Quick is not what he longs for.

Usually one of two situations prompts these words. The first is when there’s much to do and not enough time, so we squeeze in an obligatory prayer as a prelude.

The other is due to a lack of planning or priority, when self-focus consumes all time, leaving but seconds for God-focus before parting company.

True, there are times to breathe a fast prayer: in the split second timing separating an accident from a near miss, the unexpected opportunity for a make-or-break meeting, or when we must say something, but nothing comes to mind.

Sometimes those prayers are simply, “God, help!”

However, there’s usually no good reason for a quick prayer.

We’re lazy or tired or don’t respect God enough. We take him for granted or feel we don’t need to invest in our relationship. We promise to make time tomorrow, but the next day carries its own distractions.

How long would we maintain a friendship if that friend only ever had time for a quick conversation? Fortunately God is more patient and forgiving than we, but he still deserves more.

Let’s pray.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
​
​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

Seth Godin, in his new book V is for Vulnerable, writes, “LMNO…used to be a single letter in the alphabet.” I get that. It was for me, and I suspect it was for you too.

Another misconception I held as a small child was that “nowalayme” was one word. I finally asked my parents what it meant. They were confused until I used it in a sentence, the only way I’d ever uttered it: “Nowalayme down to sleep…”

They smiled, glad for the chance to clarify but likely dismayed over my confusion. “Nowalayme” was not a word they said, but actually four words: “Now I lay me.”

They explained the rest of the prayer, which although comprised of words I knew, were strung together to form meaningless phrases.

They taught me this prayer and I recited it as a nightly ritual. While I memorized their words and repeated them as instructed, I knew not what I said.

I wonder if I still do this, but in a more adult way. Have I repeated the same words so often that they no longer hold any meaning?

Do they flow forth with polished practice and devoid of thought? Do I merely repeat the phrases others have prayed without considering the meaning behind them?

To my dismay, the answer is too often “Yes.” When this happens, my prayers today are no different from the “nowalayme” prayers of my past.

True prayer, I must remind myself, is not a recitation of words but a dialogue of substance.

Amen.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
​
​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.