Is Alone Time With God Realistic?

If you're like me, you have a busy schedule, which includes family time, meetings, calls, reading, errands, traveling, shopping, and an ongoing To-Do List. Sometimes it's simply frustrating. And this is just Monday! It is common for frustration to set in for many of us when we start thinking about the reality of having regular prayer time. Many believers struggle with having a consistent, fulfilling prayer life. I've been there before.

What's more frustrating for believers is when preachers start talking about how Jesus got up early in the morning to seek out a relationship with the Father. My response sometimes has been, "I'm not Jesus!" , and I'm a preacher too!

So all of these realities push me to wonder, with our hectic schedules, does God really expect us to seek Him out in prayer on a regular basis? The answer is - Yes AND No.

Let me deal with the 'No' first. Many times, unfortunately, we've been taught incorrectly about our prayer life. Many have been taught to approach prayer as an activity versus an experience. There were times that I'd take my wife to the movies to 'keep her off my back'. With this approach, we both were guaranteed not to enjoy the evening.

When I changed my approach and engaged in the evening as a fresh encounter to build relationship, personally relax, and more importantly, simply connect, the experience turned out much more positive for the both of us. This should be your approach to prayer. If prayer is just something to do, it will never be exciting. When prayer is an experience, you will always look forward to a fresh encounter.

In our highly competitive environment, we have often compared ourselves to others and what we've assumed their prayer life is like. This mindset can only lead to aggravation. We really aren't fully aware of what kind of prayer life others have from a distance. Unless, we have engaged in a personal dialogue about other's private prayer life, everything is conjecture. We must always be realistic about our prayer life based on what season of life we are in.

A retiree without a rigid schedule may be able to incorporate more free time in prayer than a single parent with kids. Although both may need prayer just as much, each individual will have to approach this very differently. The single parent may be too exhausted to rise at 5:00am or remain awake at midnight to engage in time with the Father. On the other hand, that single parent may be able to do devotionals for 15 minutes in the car prior to starting their day and then spend some lunch time in prayer and journaling as God speaks to their heart.

 

The retiree may have the flexibility in their schedule to go for multiple hours to the church and pray. This realistic approach is much more freeing than a rigid, traditional thought process about prayer. More importantly, it places a premium on relationship versus religious behavior. God desires relationship.

Finally, many of us have approached prayer without any sort of strategic plan at all. Simply put, if we are to bombard heaven with prayers that avail much (James 5: 16), we must be strategic. We should take time and develop a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual prayer agenda. This agenda must be personal, and most importantly, relevant. If you don't have a heart for the homeless, it won't make sense for you to attempt to spend an hour praying for this group. Develop a strategic plan to pray for what you have a heart for. You're not less spiritual because of this.

So yes, prayer with God is expected and necessary. 

 

It is expected if you :

 

A) desire to really connect with God as your Father
 

 

B) maintain your spiritual growth and mental stability
and 

 

C) desire to continue to serve as an intercessor for others.

It is not a thing to do, but an on-going journey to stay on. You never arrive at a destination of prayer. You only engage in an on-going experience of conversations with God, our provider. How we do it...well, that's up to you and God. Enjoy the Encounter!

Artis L. Smith