Recently I purchased a book on prayer by E.M. Bounds. If you have never read any of his writings I encourage you to do so. His writings on prayer have probably challenged me more than any other book that I have read on this subject. Even though he died in 1913, his messages still have much to say to the church today regarding this often-neglected discipline.
The challenge for me is this: to become a man of prayer and not just a man who prays. What is the difference? For me, to just be a man that prays speaks only about what I do. For example, to be a man who prays means that I believe in prayer and I pray at the right times. It means I pray at mealtime, at bedtime, at church, and of course, when I am facing a crisis or some other special circumstance. As a pastor, I pray when I visit someone in the hospital, at funerals...like I said, at the right places and at the right times. Don’t get me wrong, we should not neglect to pray at times like these. However, to be a man of prayer speaks more of who and what I am. In other words, to be a man of prayer means my entire life is lived in an attitude of prayer; I don’t have to think about praying - I just pray. I become sensitive to the Spirit when He speaks, and I take the time to speak to Him. If I am a person of prayer then praying is as natural as breathing. The day begins in prayer, and every decision that I make throughout the day is determined by seeking God’s will through prayer. And it’s not just the “big” decisions, but even the ones that we consider small.
Consider these words from scripture:
“One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up” (Luke 18:1).
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done” (Phil 4:6).
“Never stop praying” (1 Thess. 5:17).
These are just a few verses that instruct us to be people who live constantly in an attitude of prayer. Again, they teach that we should be people of prayer and not just people who pray! Scripture teaches that Jesus Himself often got alone with God and prayed. I believe it was because His prayer life was so powerful that it compelled His disciples to go to Him and ask Him to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1). When was the last time our prayer life was a challenge to someone? I’m not saying that we should try to impress people with our prayers or prayer life. What I am saying is that people should see the believer as having such an intimate relationship with the Father that they will inquire of us as to how they can enjoy that kind of relationship themselves. That will never happen by saying routine prayers that go nowhere. I want my prayer life to make a difference. It can if I am a man of prayer.
As we saw in the previous verses, a child of God can go to Him about anything, whether big or small. If He knows the number of the hairs on our head (Luke 12:7); if He feeds the birds, and clothes the grass of the field (Matt 6:26-30), how much more does He care about you and me? There is nothing regarding His children that He is unconcerned about. Knowing that our loving heavenly Father cares about us and wants to hear from us should drive us to our knees... regularly. We don’t need to just be people who pray because that is what we are supposed to do; we should be people who pray because that is who we are, and that is what God desires.
May it be said of us as it was said of an old saint, “Prayer was pre-eminently the business of his life.”
O Lord, help me to be a man of prayer!
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