Daily Power #101

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thess. 5:16–18)

The most positive change in my prayer life resulted from learning to pray continually. Maybe you’re thinking, “Well, that’s nice for you, Craig—you’re a pastor. I’ve got a family, a job, commitments to fulfill—you know, a life. I don’t have time to pray continually.” But I promise you, I have spiritual ADD and can’t pray in long spurts.

My wife, on the other hand, amazes me with the duration of her prayer time. She gets up early, before everyone else, and spends an hour on her knees praying—every day. If I tried to do that, I’d fall back asleep!

In addition to the early hour, though, I’m just not good at praying for a long time all at once. But what I’ve learned to do instead is pray quickly and frequently during my day. I’ve conditioned myself to be mindful of God’s presence and to pray throughout the day. When I wake up, I open with, “Lord, thank you again for this new day. Please use me today for your glory.” Then I just keep praying in short prayer bursts like that all day long.

Smith Wigglesworth, a British evangelist from years ago, said he never prayed for more than twenty minutes at a time and never went twenty minutes without praying. I love that! His model of “continual prayer” works for me. I don’t pray for long periods of time, but I never go long periods of time without praying.

Talk to God in the midst of everything you do today—it could change your life.

Power Lift

Dear God, help me to find the best way to stay in touch with you throughout my day. I’ll talk to you again soon.