INSPIRED TO PRAY

Oftentimes as Christians we feel obligated to pray rather than inspired. I felt to write what's below to explain how I personally get inspired to pray. You may get inspired in a different way, and that’s all good, but maybe they’ll be something here that will be helpful!

CLAY VESSEL

I’ll be brutally honest here (and maybe this is just me?) and reveal that rarely do I FEEL like praying. More often than not, I feel like I’d rather not pray. This can be for various reasons but most are not very noble at all. Most days I feel tired and I wake up feeling right out of it. Then, to my embarrassment and shortcoming, there are days when I feel frustrated or life in general just seems to get me down. Finally, there is the reality of life which seems to always scream out to me that other things need to be done or take priority, or there are better things to occupy myself with. Sometimes I even feel like I’m not worthy to do it (forgetting the blood of Christ!). Some of these things come down to the reality of life, some to my own shortcoming, and some to just being a human being. Contrary to what I’ve often heard from well-meaning Christians, men in the Bible were like this too:

James 5v17:

Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.

OBLIGATION PLUS INSPIRATION = MOTIVATION

Since we will always (till eternity) experience the reality of this clay vessel and it’s shortcomings, OBLIGATION (the Lord tells us we must pray), must always be coupled with INSPIRATION in order to bring us to the actual act of prayer. I get inspired to pray by thinking about one or a combination of the following BIBLICAL encouragements. All of the following I’ve personally and practically experienced the reality of over many years. Furthermore, most of them relate to each other and so a few usually come up even when I only begin with one of them (it’s obviously impractical to try and remember all of them when coming to pray):

      1)    By reminding myself of the REWARD for prayer:

a)    Being rewarded for what I’m actually praying for

b)   With the Holy Spirit and things to do with the Spirit

c)     With a FULLER & CLEARER REVELATION and EXPERIENCE of the will of God (because prayer is a massive conduit of his will and purposes, and the basis of them- there are countless scriptures and Biblical examples which prove this)

d)    Being empowered to do his will and anointed in a particular way for either a needful or beneficial spiritual purpose (i.e for an act prompted by our faith)

e)    Reminding myself that the Lord will answer what I pray (I check that the prayer has a Biblical basis/ whatever the answer may be, which may be “No”, but he will still answer)

f)      Reminding myself that, no matter what I pray, the Lord will deposit a BLESSING of his Spirit in my life, and often in ways that I need (and don’t realize it) or that will benefit or help me in some way

g)    Reminding myself that the Lord LEADS through prayer both by depositing his will in our hearts and minds, and also by actually leading us to situations (including the opening and closing of doors) and giving us wisdom about how to act and what do in them

h)    Reminding myself of what I call ‘The X-Factor’: I’ve found that there’s always an X factor to do with what is received by prayer. This is a reward that is noticeable (manifests in various ways), but when you try and articulate what you experience to others, it’s difficult to describe:

Ephesians 3-

20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think,       according to the power that works within us,

I) We are transformed more into the image of Christ and reflect more of his grace and goodness.

MOTIVATED BY SINCERITY

The promise of reward for our prayers is as encouraging as the fact that the Lord just wants us to be ourselves when we come to him-- clay-ee and human. The Lord prizes SINCERITY above everything else and it is because of our humanness that the power of God CAN and WILL come upon us, not only to give the desire to pray and the knowhow to go about it, but also to work out all his purposes for us and his kingdom:

2 Corinthians 12-

9And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

PERSONAL PREFERENCES

Besides everything else, I’m most motivated to pray when I just start half-blurting out to the Lord what I’m thinking or feeling (respectfully). I see this as a kind of rolling my burdens on him, and from there I often think much clearer and find the goal of WHY I’m praying a lot easier (it becomes evident what to focus on).

I know from personal experience that I’m not a heroic prayer, by which I mean that prayer comes most easily to me when I do it during a time when I’m alone or between other things in my day. Usually this means I’ll pray when I’m in the car or even cleaning around the house. I’m at my freshest in the morning, so usually I’ll try and pray then, as I’ve often found that leaving it till later in the day means I won’t do it because I usually feel tired. I still make times to pray, but I don’t try and set rigid schedules (personal preference).

I also don’t pray for a long time (in terms of time each day), as Biblically speaking, the power of God doesn’t NECESSARILY come from length (the Bible tells us that when words are many, sin is not absent), but from sincerity, a scriptural basis (I use scriptures in my prayers) and diligence (coming to God on a regular basis and continuing to do so, believing that He IS and WILL answer). The Lord’s prayer (from the Bible) is very short, and yet it is direct, gets straight to the point and its spiritual elements/goals are timeless (a good model/basis for our prayers).

I’m most effective in prayer when I see it as speaking and having a conversation to BOTH a friend and Lord/Saviour (the Lord wants us to do this). We relate most effectively with others in this way, and the disciples did the same thing when they spoke with the Lord while He was on the Earth. By the grace of God, I do this respectfully (remembering who He is, God- and who I am; human), with admiration and also always make it my aim to end my prayer in faith – believing in his care and goodness, and also that He has heard me and will answer (David’s prayers were always characterized by faith and ended that way, even after having expressed fears and doubts). The Lord doesn’t want our prayers to be convoluted, burdensome, or for us to think that we need to be more intelligent than we are, or to use words we wouldn’t otherwise use in our lives. The power of prayer lies in its passion and sincerity, and sincerity requires that we be who we really are in Christ (Christ made us uniquely the way we are!)—a humble and human clay vessel. Yes, the context for all this is that HE IS GOD ALMIGHTY, and we always need to keep this in mind, but He is also THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN, and the High Priest that sympathizes with us and all our weaknesses.

I also usually always remind myself that it is because of the WORTHINESS OF JESUS that I’m heard and my prayers accepted, and for NO OTHER REASON. It is the blood of Christ which has broken down the wall of separation and made us acceptable to God, and that is the confidence we have before the throne. When God looks at us, he essentially looks at us through THE LORD JESUS because our salvation (and all its blessings) is a trust in him (and even the faith is a gift of God and not of ourselves).

Perhaps you pray a different way, and if so, God bless you! I only share how I do it in the hope that it may, even in part, be helpful to some out there. Yes, we are instructed to pray, but the Bible also (as motivation) INSPIRES us to do it! If we are doing it right, we will WANT to pray/talk to the Lord and seek to do it, and more and more as we enjoy the blessing of it and of knowing Him. If it has only been a struggle to pray till now, seek out the promises of God and remember that there will ALWAYS BE A REWARD AND ANSWER to prayer!