Prayer, and more prayer

Floating around somewhere in my head is the idea that Martin Luther once said something to the effect that he had so much to get done on a particular day that he needed four hours of prayer to make it all work out. On the one hand, four hours seems a bit extreme. That is a huge hunk of time out of the day, even for a productive workaholic. On the other hand, I can begin to understand his point.

It's been 6 ½ years since I made the career change from health care to pastoral ministry. Six and one-half years since our family moved from Minnesota to New Mexico and the reservation of the Jicarilla Apache Nation. About two years ago I was sitting in the kitchen of one of the members of our congregation, who suddenly said, "What? You were never a pastor before?" I guess she didn't know that when I came here I had zero experience for this kind of thing. The learning curve was steep but I guess people who didn’t know couldn’t tell that I was new at this.

I would say that at about that same time, two years ago, I realized I needed to pray more, in order to be a better pastor. Or perhaps said otherwise, I needed to pray more just to be a competent pastor. I had acquired more experience, but I also had a clearer understanding of what I needed to do, and, if possible, to consistently do well. And in order for that to happen, I needed to spend more time with the Lord.

And so I did two things. The first was to get up one-half hour earlier during the week. I needed a longer block of time that was largely free from interruption in order to pray. Early morning is the primary time I pray for myself, my family, and the many needs of the ministry and requests that people have given me. I could, I did, and I still do, pray for those things at other times of the day, but I have found that I am better prepared for each day when I spend that early time in prayer, without being distracted or feeling rushed.

The other thing was I've become better at praying during the day, either for a task that I'm working on at the moment, for something that someone asks me about, or for something that just seems to come to mind. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Paul writes,

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

Lately that idea of prayer without ceasing has come at night as well. I've never been one to fret over wakeful times at night but in the past few months I have been more intentional about using that time to pray, rather than to think about other things.

One of the things that I've learned on the job is that experience doesn't mean I can get by with less prayer, but teaches me that I need more. I was reminded of that earlier this afternoon, as I spent some time working on a project for tomorrow. To serve the Lord well here I need prayer, and  more prayer. And not just to serve well here, but anywhere, for that matter. And that's a truth that all who follow Jesus can be mindful of.  

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.