Guilt

Devotion:GUILT. Many Christians I've talked to equate this word with their prayer life, and I can relate.

I used to feel guilty because people would ask me to pray, or I wouldvolunteer to when I heard they were going through something difficult.With a heart of compassion, I'd reply, "Oh, I'll pray for you!" And Ifully intended to. But then I'd forget ... get busy ... say that to fiveother people in the meantime ... and often never get around to doing itdespite my good intentions. I'd put off praying in the moment, in favorof waiting until I had a big chunk of time to spend in prayer. Then lifewould happen and that chunk of time wouldn't materialize. By the time Icarved some out, I couldn't remember all I'd intended to pray about.

One of the perceptions I had about prayer was that I needed to spend alot of time in prayer in order to do it "right." I thought short prayerswouldn't have much power or impact. Then I noticed something thatshifted my thinking. In Matthew chapter six, Jesus is teaching aboutprayer. He says, "When you pray, don't talk on and on as people do whodon't know God. They think God likes to hear long prayers. Don't be likethem. Your Father knows what you need before you ask" (Matthew 6:7-8,CEV). Wow, so I don't have to talk for hours, coming up with many waysto phrase my petitions? It was so freeing to see this coming from Jesus'lips.

That was followed by another ah-ha moment. In the next verse, Jesussaid: "You should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, help us to honoryour name. Come and set up your kingdom, so that everyone on earth willobey you, as you are obeyed in heaven. Give us our food for today.Forgive us for doing wrong, as we forgive others. Keep us from beingtempted and protect us from evil " (Matthew 6:9-13, CEV). This is oftencalled "The Lord's Prayer."

Pause, look at the clock, and then say the Lord's Prayer aloud. Nowcheck the clock again. How long did that take? This was Jesus'illustration of how to pray - so what does that tell us about feeling weneed to pray l-o-n-g prayers to be effective? Hear me on this, I dobelieve there are needs that call for extended time in prayer (seeJesus' time in the Garden of Gethsemane in Matthew 26:36-46 forinstance). But many things can be prayed for in short prayers as we movethrough out our day.

Now, when a friend sends me an email with a troubled story, I rarelyrespond by saying, "I will pray for you." Instead, I pause and pray forher before hitting reply to say, "I have prayed for you." If someonecalls me on the phone, or tells me in person about their prayer need,more often than not I'll offer to pray with them right then. If I encounter a reason to pray while reading the newspaper, or readingscripture, I do it in the moment. My aim is not to be lengthy andelaborate with these prayers, but rather to do it while my mind is on it.

If I feel the need to pray for someone repeatedly or over time, I follow through with my carefully considered plan because I've gotten moreintentional about this prayer thing. But deciding several years ago topray short, in the moment prayers was key for me. It is very doable wayof "praying continually" and it helped relieve a lot of feelings of failure, pressure and guilt. Most importantly, this ensures thatpeople's needs are in fact being prayed for - which is the ultimate goal, right?

I'm convinced the Enemy often keeps us from praying by getting us toprocrastinate until later, making us think we need more time or morewords to do this thing "right." As I read the Bible, I see instructionsto pray frequently, to pray with faith and persistence, and to pray overall our cares and concerns. But I do not see that we must talk for hoursover each request for God to hear them. I hope that does for you what itdid for me -- replaces feelings of guilt with a renewed passion to pray.

Dear Lord, help me to pray frequently and persistently with faith, inaccordance with Your will. In Jesus' Name, Amen.