How important is prayer in your life?

We live in a world with many demands upon our time. There never seems to be enough time for many of us to do the important things that we need to do. What happens to our personal time for prayer? Does our time in prayer with God shrink as demands on our time grows?

One way to deal with time demands is to make prayer and time for prayer important. As you fill out your daily, weekly, and monthly schedules and appointments list the times each day that you want to spend in prayer. Fill them in with ink if you still use a paper calendar. Enter the times in your electronic helpers.

This can be an important reminder of how important prayer is to your daily life. You are more likely to follow through if you list time for prayer in your daily schedule.

Martin Luther made a very interesting statement about prayer that may help each one of us keep it in perspective: "When I start each day, therefore, I make it a point to spend an hour in prayer with God. But if I have a particularly busy day, and am more rushed than usual, I make it a point to spend two hours with God before I start the day."

Luther understood the importance of prayer. This statement shows how seriously he took his time in prayer with God. When life became more hectic and busy he realized that he needed to spend more time in prayer, not less.

I have discovered that I am not like Luther. I would not be successful if I tried to begin each day with an hour of prayer, much less two hours. I have been successful when I schedule prayer times throughout the day in ten minute segments.

Each time of prayer has a specific focus: family, congregation members, prayer list from church, specific ministries, etc. I have also found many opportunities for time in prayer when I looked for them. If I am visiting people or attending meetings, I take time to pray after I park the car. While waiting for a dental appointment, I prayed instead of looking at old magazines. Even waiting at the post office to purchase stamps or mail a package can be a time to spend in prayer.

A key step to being successful, is to claim the importance of prayer in your life and then act. Schedule it! Look for opportunities to pray!

Talk to God as often as you can.

I welcome comments at WordsandSighs@gmail.com

Pastor Michael