Where Should We Pray?

May 13, 2012

by John Partridge Scripture: Matthew 18:20 Daniel 6:10 Acts 20:26

Can you imagine praying when your life is threatened? Surely, Paul and Barnabus and Peter and many others prayed while they were in prison. We know that many faithful followers of Jesus Christ prayed before, during and after they were beaten and tortured during the centuries in which Christians were persecuted as well as during the centuries when Protestants and Catholics persecuted one another. We know that believers have prayed throughout some of the most horrific warfare in the last century and we can be confident that many of those who were on board the hijacked airliners on September 11th prayed as well. Every week we print a list of those friends and family that have requested prayer and every week, if not every day, some of us lift those names up before the throne of God. When I used to work in Cleveland I said a quick prayer almost every day for years whenever I had to go up the on-ramp and merge into traffic during rush-hour. We find all sorts of places to pray but, as obvious as it may seem, after spending four weeks talking about why we pray, how we pray, obstacles to prayer, and different types of prayer I wanted to spend a little time in thinking about where as well as when we pray. First of all, since we are all here together on Mothers Day, it is difficult for us to forget that most of us learned to pray on our mothers knee as well as the lap of our grandmother. When we ask where we should pray, one of the first places that should come to mind is at home with our children and our grandchildren. Once in a while we will hear people say Im not going to teach my children about religion, Im going to let them decide for themselves. Such thinking is patently stupid. By doing so what you have taught your child is that the church and everything in it, including Jesus, simply isnt important to you. Why? Because we teach our children what we believe to be important and they will follow our example far more than anything we could ever tell them. We teach our kids that mathematics is important, and that education in general is important and we send them to school every weekday for thirteen years to prove it. None of us could imagine allowing a child to stay home for eighteen years and then allowing them to decide for themselves if education was important. If it is important, whether it is mathematics, or hunting, or fishing, or recycling, or sports, we teach our children what is important. So when should we pray? In Daniel 6:10, we find the prophet praying at home
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Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, 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. Here we see this man of faith praying at home, in private. This is Daniels quiet place where he meets together with God every day. In Matthew 26:36 Jesus went with his disciples to pray in the garden of Gethsemane, but once they got there, he went off by himself to pray. After Jesus feeds the five thousand he retreats to a solitary place to pray. From these, and many other passages, we confirm that we are, sometimes, called to pray by ourselves and to spend time, alone, with God. 1

But praying alone isnt all there is either. Didnt we just say that we grew up praying with our mothers? In Matthew 18, Jesus tells his followers
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Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them. Although Jesus often prayed alone it is also clear that he desires for us to pray together. Jesus makes a special point to say that he is present when we are together and I believe that something powerful happens when we do. There is something amazing that happens when we gather together and agree in prayer and there have been times when the hair on my arms has stood up as I, and others, felt the Spirit of God in the room with us as we prayed. In Acts 20:36 Paul has a meeting with the elders of the church in Ephesus and
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When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed.

Obviously, from Pauls example as well as from what we can discover from other times when the disciples were present, we have a clear calling to pray at our board and committee meetings as well as other church gatherings. Likewise, we see Jesus and the disciples praying in the Temple, in the synagogues and even at the rivers edge or wherever else believers had gathered to worship God. The only place for which I was unable to find an example of prayer was at meals. Naturally, that doesnt mean that we shouldnt pray before meals but only that I couldnt find a specific example of such a thing. Praying at meals is a good time to express our thanksgiving for our daily bread and for our blessings but we also know that many early church gatherings were times of worship, communion, prayer and a shared meal so even if we cannot find a specific verse in scripture, we know that prayer at mealtime has been around since the very beginning. Because we have seen Jesus and the disciples praying in the Temple, in the synagogues and even at the rivers edge or wherever else believers had gathered to worship God, we begin to also look at when we should pray. Obviously, Sunday or Saturday or whenever we meet to worship is a time that we should remember to pray. Often we find the followers of Jesus gathering not only to pray but for a time of prayer and fasting. Fasting is a subject that goes beyond what we are talking about today, but please take note that believers for centuries, and even millennia, have regularly and often fasted during times of prayer. The call to fasting as well as the need to fast and pray is as strong today as it has ever been but the church, for the most part has forgotten how. In Daniel 6:10 we not only saw that the prophet of God prayed at home and in private, but we also saw that he did so three times each day. Muslim believers are called to pray five times each day and in places where Christians live among majority Muslim populations it is not uncommon for Christians to do so as well (If you are curious, the five times of prayer are sunrise, noon, mid-day (after work), sunset, and bedtime and each lasts about three minutes). So whats the right answer? How often should we pray? In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Paul call on the church to Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is Gods will for you in Christ Jesus. 2
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And in John 15, Jesus says,

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I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Fathers glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. Paul says that we should pray continually, and Jesus calls on us to remain in him, or to abide in him, to live our lives inside of Jesus Christ. Acts 4:42 tell us that after he ascended into heaven the followers of Jesus devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. We are called to be devoted to prayer, to pray continually so that we can live our lives with Jesus. There is a tiny but moving book entitled, The Practice of the Presence of Prayer that was written by Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection. Brother Lawrence was a French monk who was born sometime between 1606 and 1614. Brother Lawrence described himself as a clumsy lummox who broke everything and yet, working only as a cook in the monastery, this humble man made a habit of prayer in a way that continues to inspire Christians 400 years later. In this small and very inexpensive little book Brother Lawrence plainly talks about how he incorporates prayer into all of his menial and everyday activities. Clearly, Brother Lawrence is not praying every second because he does find time to go to the market, to talk to friends and coworkers and to live his life, but in the midst of that, he incorporates prayer into everything that he does. Dont let prayer be intimidating. Several weeks ago I challenged you to begin making a new habit. To find the time to pray for ten minutes every day. Once you manage that, it is not difficult to add a little to it. In my own prayer time I read scripture, one chapter, or a few chapters, depending on my schedule (I am reading my way through the Bible but feel free to do what works for you, read from the Psalms, the New Testament, or use a guide). After I read scripture I pull out an old beaten up spiral bound notebook and begin my prayer. In my notebook are all the people and places that I consciously want to remember in prayer. My family is there, this church is there, our new church is there, many of you have appeared on its pages and I always make room to pray for the people who cause me the most trouble. I have found that it is difficult for me to stay angry at people when I am praying for them every day. I have a list of people who are unsaved or who have wandered away from God and I pray regularly for God to find them and bring them into his kingdom. Every month, or every few months, I turn the page and write a new list with some new people being added and others taken off. Whenever there is an answer to prayer or something significant changes, I write that down too. In this way, my tired old notebook not only can guide me in prayer but is also a way for me to look back and remember the many times and the many ways that God has answered prayer. If you want to learn more about prayer there are many books that can help you. One that I recommend is Too Busy Not to Pray, by Bill Hybels and another is Prayer, Finding the Hearts True Home, by Richard Foster. I have been re-reading and studying these books as I have been preparing this series on prayer and, while they are very different from one another, they are both very good. If you want a guide to help you pray you can use a hymn book as an aid and there are many other books that can also help you. Some, like A Diary of Private Prayer, by John Baillie (which I own but have not really used) provide thirty one days of prayer that you can use each month and then start over. Others like When You Pray, Daily Practices for Prayerful Living, by Bishop Reuben Job have a page for each week with scripture passages for each day to help guide your prayer. An ancient guide that follows this method is The Book of Common Prayer. This book, from the tradition of the Church of England and even 3

earlier, was nearly always in the hands of men like John Wesley and Francis Asbury. In it are prayers, liturgies and scriptures for each week. This book can be found for as little as $10 in print and is only $1 or $2 to download onto an electronic device like a Kindle bookreader. Dont be afraid to experiment. Patti prefers to study and pray at night before bed, when I try that I just fall asleep so I usually pray in the morning, after the kids leave for school but before I leave the house. Maybe your lunch break is what works best. Find what works for you. But whatever you do, get started. Start small. Dont be overwhelmed by trying to pray for an hour and failing miserably. An hour is hard. Maybe you will work up to it one day but dont try to start there, but start somewhere. Where are we to pray? When are we to pray? Maybe youre too big for your mothers lap, but you are never too big for Gods lap. Pray every day. Pray alone, with your children, with friends. Our calling is to be devoted to prayer. Pray always and everywhere.
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Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is Gods will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) Get started. Build your relationship with Jesus Christ through prayer. Your life will never be the same.

You have been reading a message presented at Barnesville First United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor of Barnesville First. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Barnesville First UMC at 123 W. Church St., Barnesville, OH 43713. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@barnesvillefirst.com. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at http://www.scribd.com/Pastor John Partridge. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.