Weekly Prayer Thought

Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. Matthew 18.19

A thought occurred to me on Sunday as we were praying in worship. I know that when we have prayer time I am really praying. I know this because I am saying the words. My mind is involved in what is happening. My lips and mouth are forming the words and verbalizing them. I know that when that is happening I am praying. However, that is not always the case.

For example, there have been times in my life, in a worship service, when someone else is saying the prayer, that I "check out." That is, there are times when my mind wanders. I get concerned about what is going to happen later in the day. I worry about what someone said to me, or how my feelings were hurt. I drift in and out of prayer. Maybe I am the only one who does this, but I have a hunch that you may struggle with this as well.

My goal is to be fully "engaged" in prayer. By this I mean that when I am praying, I want to be completely praying. When I am joining my heart and prayers to the prayer of someone else, I want to be paying complete attention to what they are saying. I want to add my prayers to theirs.

I can do this by:

• Not only listening to the prayers of someone else, but also praying along with them. This could include praying completely different words to quietly to myself.
• Praying for the one who is praying. When Christians pray for one another powerful things happen. Think how much more effective we could be if we prayed for pray-ers.
• Learning to discipline my mind. When I am focused on the Lord, other things should take a back seat.
• Practicing being "engaged" by praying with other people more often. Join or start a prayer group and learn to pray with others.

So remember, prayer is not rest time in the middle of a worship service. In fact, prayer time should be war time. Let's get ready for battle.

PRAYER: Father God, I want to pray to you. I long to join my heart, my prayers with those of my Christian brothers and sisters. However, I sometimes lose my focus. Help me. Teach me to focus on you. In Jesus' holy name I pray. Amen.