Devoted to Prayer?

If I asked your family, church, and friends what you are devoted to, what would they say? I’m sure many would say that I’m devoted to Christ, my wife, my kids, my church, and rooting for Texas A&M, for better or worse (usually worse). But I’m not sure many would describe me as devoted to prayer. Now don’t get me wrong, I pray. I pray personally, alone and with my family. I pray pastorally, in my office and with my elders. I pray corporately, on Sunday mornings and with members. But am I devoted to prayer? 

Devoted is the Greek word proskartero which means towards steadfastness or with endurance. Luke uses this word to describe the early church’s prayer life in the book of Acts several times. In Acts 1:14, the believers in the upper room were waiting for the gift of the Holy Spirit and were devoted to prayer. In Acts 2:42, after Peter’s sermon, the church is described as being devoted to the apostle’s teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, AND prayer. Then in Acts 6:4, the early church saw the needs of the people around them and set apart seven deacons to serve so that the apostles might devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. 

Does that describe you or your church? Whether you’re a pastor or a Christian, we ought to increasingly be described as devoted to prayer.

But it was not just a description of the early church, it was a prescription for their spiritual health as well. Let me share just two with you. 

When Paul writes his letter to the Romans, he spends the first 11 chapters describing God’s gracious salvation of sinners through faith in Jesus Christ who died and rose from the dead. Then in chapter 12, he describes what our response ought to be in light of believing this good news. Among the many prescriptions for Christians in the church was,

[12] Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be CONSTANT in prayer. (Romans 12:12)

Constant is the same Greek word that is translated in other places as devoted! Paul commands them to be devoted in prayer. 

Or consider when Paul is writing to the Colossian church from his prison cell. After describing Jesus as the image of the invisible God and after giving instructions for the church and the household, Paul commands them, 

[2] CONTINUE STEADFASTLY in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. (Colossians 4:2)

Again, continue steadfastly is the same word, devoted. 

We ought to ask ourselves, does that describe us as Christians, pastors, or leaders? Have we taken those prescriptions seriously as a church? 

I’m sure you’ve experienced a time when you were missing an ingredient for a recipe or missing a part for a project? What do you do in those moments? Very often we try to find an easy substitute in our pantry or garage rather than going to the grocery store or home depot for the right part.

I think far too often we are missing one of the essential ingredients in the church and rather than doing whatever is necessary to get the original, we try to find a substitute. Rather than devoting ourselves to prayer and the word, we devote ourselves and rely upon a host of other substitutes. My brothers and sisters, it shall not be. 

Andrew Murray was a faithful church pastor in South Africa, a renowned missionary leader, a prolific Christian writer, and even served as president of his YMCA. He aimed to be devoted in prayer in every area of life, the very thing the YMCA was founded upon. Murray writes, 

Prayer is the pulse of the spiritual life. It is the great means by which ministers and laypeople alike receive the blessing and power of heaven. Persevering (devoted) and believing prayer precludes a strong and abundant life.
(Andrew Murray in Living a Prayerful Life)

What is your spiritual pulse of prayer telling you about your spiritual life or the spiritual life of your church? What is keeping you and me from being devoted in prayer? What substitutes have taken the place of prayer in our lives and churches? Probably a lot of really good things. Our devotion in prayer is probably not substituted with bad or sinful things in our life or church. But when good things become substitutes for essential things they end up becoming bad things. 

Andrew Bonar’s plea is timely.

Oh brother, pray; in spite of Satan, pray; spend hours in prayer; rather neglect friends than not pray; rather fast, and lose breakfast, dinner, tea, and supper, and sleep too, then not pray. And we must not talk about prayer, we must pray in earnest. The Lord is near.
(AA Bonar in John Piper’s BWANP p78)

We don’t need to look any further than to Christ who not only gave us the perfect example of devotion in prayer, but also urged us to be devoted in prayer. ‘Devoted to prayer’ both describes Jesus and is what Jesus prescribed. 

Jesus spent all night in prayer (Luke 5:16), 40 days in prayer and fasting in the wilderness (Matthew 4), and often got away to pray. Jesus could have been more busy than all of us doing plenty of “good” things, but he didn’t allow himself to be too busy for the essential things, prayer. He knew there was no substitute for being devoted in prayer. So, as he taught his disciples to pray he said, “When you pray…”, assuming that they would be devoted in prayer. And at the end of his life, while hanging on the cross, what was Jesus doing. In addition to accomplishing our salvation, he was praying to his father on behalf of those who crucified him. That’s devotion in prayer! 

With those descriptions and prescriptions in our heart and mind, we must ask ourselves, what would it look like for us as pastors and Christians to lead our churches and YMCA’s to be devoted to prayer?

Well, as a pastor of a church in the Y, here are some ways that we have grown to become more devoted in prayer in our church at the YMCA. I’m sure there are plenty more ways I could learn from you and others, but hopefully this gets us moving or keeps us moving in the right direction towards being devoted in prayer. 

Church

• Pray and pray often any time you are gathered together
• Pray all kinds of prayers when gathered together
• Resource the church with prayer guides and books on prayer
• Read and pray scripture as a church
• Plan prayer meetings to prioritize prayer with the right priorities in prayer
• Pray for the nations and other churches every week
• Set alarms to pray scripture throughout the day
  • 9:38am – For laborers in the harvest (Matthew 9:38)
  • 10:15am – For those who are sent (Romans 10:15)
  • 2:02pm – For authorities (1 Timothy 2:2)
  • 3:15pm – For preparation in evangelism (1 Peter 3:15)
  • 7:10pm – For the lost (Luke 19:10)

YMCA

• Schedule an early morning prayer meeting for men at the Y (YMCA foundation)
• Ask if you can set up a prayer box at your Y 
• Organize a prayer booth at Y events with signs and shirts, “How can we pray for you?”
• Establish a chaplaincy to have people present to pray throughout the week
• Make LAPS around the Y (Listening and Praying Scripture)
• Join the board and offer to give thanks for the meal and pray for the meeting anytime they have need
• Ask staff members how you can pray for them every time you see them.
• Have small groups make goodie bags and write prayer cards for staff every month
• Offer enrichment classes to meet needs that begin and end with prayer

There are countless more ideas and ways that we can grow in our devotion to prayer. The important thing is to begin somewhere. But if you’re not motivated to be devoted in prayer yet, do as the Puritans did, pray until you pray. That is, pray long enough and often enough until you learn and love to pray! 

As JI Packer said,

There is no recipe for prayer that can work for us like a handyman’s do-it-yourself manual or a cookery book, where the claim is that if you follow the instructions you can’t go wrong. Praying is not like carpentry or cookery; it is the active exercise of a personal relationship, a kind of friendship, with the living God and his Son Jesus Christ, and the way it goes is more under divine control than under ours. . . . As in other close relationships, so in prayer: you have to find out by trial and error what is right for you, and you learn to pray by praying. (JI Packer quoted by DA Carson in Praying with Paul)

Maybe if we all take one more step in learning to pray by simply praying as a pastor or a church, next year about this time more people may describe us as being men and women and churches devoted to prayer!