Part III on Finding Margin for the Devotional Life (Thoughts on Prayer)

Hey’ y’all, let’s chat…Late last night, the beloved farmer and I watched an area weatherman announce positively giddy like that our humidity would be substantially lower today, which is why my weather app now says, “It’s 99 degrees but it feels like 102.”⁣

Only 102. Oh, joy. Perhaps I can explain the weatherman’s perspective with a cautionary tale about what Louisiana weather is like in August. ⁣

After a delicious combine lunch (sandwich on the go) with my darling yesterday, I headed home. Only, a story had come to mind (don’t they always), so I stopped to take a picture of what corn looks like when it’s ready to harvest— and a sweet reader who didn’t quite understand this life. The dear lady had driven through our area on vacation and wrote me the sweetest letter about her concern for all of our brown crops. She just knew the farmers were heartbroken.

Bless her. What the dear woman lacked in agricultural knowledge, she more than made up for in compassion and zeal.  I’ve lost touch with that woman over the years, but her story is retold around here most every harvest.

⁣I was driving off, having paused to take a few images, when my man called from the combine. “Get out and check under your car! We’ve had a grass fire.” And indeed, a glance in the rear view showed a plummet of gray smoke. The men had it under control, but Phil was concerned that it had originated under my vehicle. All was well. It had not. Seeing as how I had stayed on the turnroad the entire time, we’re thinking it was a spark from the combine. We remain grateful for what didn’t happen. We’ve seen what fire can do to a ready harvest and it’s not good. ⁣

⁣All that to say, these are our conditions, and it’s why weathermen around here celebrate humidity that would make my northern friends gasp. ⁣

⁣

 

Stay hydrated, folks! ⁣And seek the shade.  “The Lord watches over you, He is the shade at your right hand.” Psalm 121.5

And now, on to this week’s podcast episode. We’re on the third part of a series on Finding Margin for the Devotional Life. We’ve talked about finding margin in our days and we’ve discussed where to begin if you’re new to Bible Study– or, if you find yourself where I once was. You’ve tried to read the Bible but you just don’t enjoy it, and you wish you did. If you missed those episodes, I hope you’ll back up and catch them, but today we’ll be talking about How to Develop a Prayer Life from Scratch.

Honestly, it’s hard to know where to begin, but not for the reason you might think. I have plenty I can say on the subject! Prayer has become such a valuable way of life to me that I could easily go on and on—but therein lies the challenge. I don’t want to ramble. I want to be clear and concise so I can be of help to you instead of just one more voice in a world of non-stop noise.

In so many ways, I wish I could wrap up my prayer life and hand it to anyone who desires to walk with God. Hear me, I don’t believe it had to be as hard as it was or take as long as it did for me to learn how to enjoy prayer. But the fact remains, it was hard, and it didn’t happen overnight. And so, I pause to consider that journey, hoping to identify the obstacles that held me back, with the humble goal that I might make your road easier!

That said, I suddenly know just where to start! I just lowered my eyes and asked Holy Spirit to give me wisdom and help me get this right. And then, I almost giggled because this the most obvious prayer suggestion I could ever give you and yet, it’s a necessary step I was slow to recognize in my own prayer life, and one I could have forgotten to share. I’m so glad He nudged me to tell you. My first suggestion, when you go to prayer, is simply that.

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you pray

Just as we need the Spirit’s help in understanding the Word, as surely as we need the Spirit’s indwelling strength to daily walk out God’s will for our lives, we need the Spirit’s help to pray. Start there.

My next suggestion is to learn the immense value of preaching the gospel to yourself when you bow to pray. Maybe other people don’t need to do this as often as this woman, but I’m talking to you as one friend to another, and this is my experience. It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since I’ve sat in prayer, sometimes I can want to pray, I can need to pray, and God feels a million miles away. I treasure the lesson of the Holy Spirit here and how He has taught me to position myself on the solid foundation of God’s love for me instead of trusting in my love for God. I remind myself that my impassioned prayers don’t gain me entrance to God’s throne and any temporary dryness doesn’t bar me from it. Oh, how I wish I could always bring Him a flaming heart, but when I can’t, I can always trust Him to be near, to hear, because of Jesus. My access, and yours, to His throne isn’t our emotional state or current situation. It is Jesus. All Jesus. That’s my second suggestion.

Always go to God through Jesus.

Far be it from me to dictate words anyone else should use, but simply to make this clearer, here’s a sample of how I might open a prayer time using the first two suggestions. It may sound something like this: Father, thank you that you hear me because of Jesus. And Jesus, thank you for the sacrifice that reconciled me to Your Father and mine. Holy Spirit, help me pray. Of course, there are all kinds of words I might use to express this. I’m simply advocating the principles.

As I noted earlier, this is a topic I could talk about at length and still not feel like I touched it, but I’m going to leave you with a reminder, and one final suggestion. The One who said, “Be still, and know that I am God” is willing to teach us how to talk to Him and listen for Him. Let that encourage us as we learn to quiet ourselves before Him. And now, my last thought on the subject.

Bring your wandering thoughts to God, too!

I’ll explain. My brain can think of a thousand and one hundred things in the time it can take me to express one coherent prayer to God. If this isn’t your experience, bless you. Give thanks.

If it does happen to you, ask Holy Spirit to unite your heart and mind. Ask Him to show you if any of the circling thoughts require confession on your part, and if you’re prompted to repent, tend to it quickly. Sometimes, when we’re praying and trying to ignore a persistent thought, the persistent thought can be precisely what Holy Spirit is moving us to pray about. If it’s not a matter of sin in your own life, ask for wisdom, comfort, strength, whatever you need to address the issue and then, listen.

Granted, that’s not always the case. Sometimes my brain is offering up deep theological suggestions like, oh, I don’t know, the importance of picking up black pepper at the store, not salt, because I’ve picked it up three times straight, but pepper, Shellie, pepper, pepper, pepper. I’ve found it hugely helpful to stop and jot down random notes that won’t go away. Many times, jotting something down tends to put it to rest in my head so I can continue to pray.

And that reminds me of one more thing. Sorry. I guess there will be four tips, which makes me want to do five because I like odd numbers, and if you’re still listening, pray for me. That was a joke. See what I did there? Right.

But, I digress.

Don’t let yourself be frustrated when your thoughts wander during prayer, and don’t let yourself be so overtaken with guilt that you quit praying. Why do I say this? Because I’ve done both. Tip four and this is bigger than it seems:

When your mind wanders, simply bring it back.

That’s right. Don’t feel guilty. Don’t be frustrated. Just ask the Holy Spirit to help your mind to focus and bring it back.

Okay! I’m all out of words, for now anyway. Hit subscribe so you won’t miss it and invite someone to join us! I’ll see you right here next time, if the Good Lord’s willing and the creek doesn’t rise.

This is Shellie with hugs for all!

(Psst…you do know you can listen to the podcast on Itunes, Google Play or Spotify– or by hitting the audio link below. Right? Good deal. Later, y’all.)

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