Finding Rest in the Rhythms of LifeSample

The Rhythm of Prayer

When I’ve asked people the question, “What is prayer?” many respond that it means to talk to God. Most of the people I’ve polled also said that they pray most when they’re in a time of need. These would be my two standard responses, as well.

As I’ve been exploring the rhythm of prayer, however, God has shown me the shortcomings of these perspectives in my life. Of course, the need to pray in the midst of hardship is certainly understandable. But if I allow this to be my only understanding and practice of prayer, I’m selling myself short of the fantastic benefits and blessings of a prayer life. When I view prayer as talking to God, I know it has connotations of my speech or requests made toward him. There honestly isn’t a whole lot of me listening to hear from him. If I’m conversing with the Lord through prayer, I need to have a posture to receive instruction. Also, if the only time that I’m seeking to pray to God is in the midst of crisis, I am missing the beautiful benefits of communion with him in the midst of peace.

Our prayer is not only a defense against the difficulties and trials of life. Prayer becomes the means by which we can navigate and purposefully move forward. As we attempt to live out of the rest that we’ve discovered in Christ, it is through prayer that we will maintain a conversation with the One who is leading and guiding our lives. We must remain a people of prayer. If we as followers of Jesus allow our need for prayer to diminish, we will start to lean on our fragile and fallen nature, rather than the enormous and wonder-working power of God.

As Proverbs 3:5–8 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.” We need the Lord’s wisdom if we desire to live with purpose and clarity out of the rest that we’ve found in him. When we dedicate our hearts to prayer, we can trust that the Lord will direct our steps.

We’ve even seen this unwavering and hopeful prayer lead to a revival. In the 1800s, a man named E. M. Bounds was seeking God for a strategy to break the darkness that covered his city. His initial idea was to establish weekly prayer sessions that sometimes lasted several hours. God did an amazing work in Franklin, Tennessee, during this time. When writing about this incredible season of revival, Bounds was quoted as saying, “Our praying needs to be pressed and pursued with an energy that never tires, a persistency [that] will not be denied, and a courage that never fails.”[2]

As it says in Proverbs 3:5–8, trusting the Lord’s leading and power will bring healing and refreshment. Many of us have spiritual or emotional hurts in our lives that need restoration. When we pray, we have the experience of seeing spiritual things happen in our midst. It increases our faith as a people and leads us to go boldly before the throne.

There is a story in the Bible in which a man named Jacob physically wrestles with God. (Apart from any context, I know how crazy that sounds.) One of the things we see in this story is Jacob saying to the One he is grappling with, “I will not relent” until you bless me. I think about how often in our desire to be prayerful that we pray flippant, halfhearted prayers once or twice, and we lament that we do not see any return or result on the investment. 

I’m not, in any way, attempting to definitively say what type of effort must be exhibited to receive an answer to prayer, but I am noting the veracity and tenaciousness displayed in the hope to hear from God in this story. It’s an example of not relenting until the Lord speaks, not wavering from him as the only source of an answer. Practicing the rhythm of prayer will condition our hearts to trust God as the only source of resolution for our prayer, diminishing our desire to see things happen on our timeline.

Scripture: Matthew 6:5–15

E. M. Bounds, The Complete Works of E. M. Bounds on Prayer: Experience the Wonders of God through Prayer (Grand Rapids: Baker Books), 2004.