Practically Praying: How to Pray (ii)
Sermon preached at Barclay Church, Edinburgh by Rev D. Graham Leitch
23 February 2003

When I began this series I explained its title “Practically Praying” by comparing many folk who are Christians but relative strangers when it comes to prayer to people wanting to learn to swim, standing on the edge of the pool plucking up the courage to jump in....I hope you some of you are ready to take a deep breath and jump - jump I said, don’t dive, because its best to start at the shallow end where you can swim but your feet can still touch the ground!!

A STEP BY STEP APPROACH
The person who proudly announces - from now I’ll spend an hour a day in prayer is far more likely to fail than the person who (to change the image from water to land) makes progress one short step at a time - the person who walks half-a mile a day will still cover more than 150 miles a year!!

When it comes to prayer - provided there is desire and discipline - the person who takes is “step by step” is far more likely to make progress.

This is the second of the two sermons on “How to pray....” and I hope that you found the first one helpful. They services are, of course, recorded and there may be some who want to borrow the tapes. But they are also published on the church’s web-site so that, if you “miss” a Sunday, you can pick up what you’ve missed.

Moray - our audio systems expert - is also considering producing a CD of the series and if there’s any demand - if it would be helpful - it may be produced in booklet form.

HELP FOR TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE
In the first sermon on the subject of “How to pray” the focus was on integrating prayers with daily life. I suppose this series is intended mainly to help two kinds of people:

* those who are Christians and as Christians know that they should pray but have to admit that they don’t really pray very much.

* those who as Christians DO pray but for the most part confine their praying to what might aptly be called “the cloister and the closet.”

PRAY AT ALL TIMES
It can’t be too emphatically or too often underlined that prayer is for all of life, not just for Sundays; and it’s for the public sphere (the work-place and market-place) as much as for the holy place or private places. The relegation of prayer to our religious and private worlds - the privatisation of our religion - the compartmentalising of prayer does not abate the creeping (or should I say flooding) secularisation of society but adds to it!!

If we are to pray not merely at special times but as Paul's says “at all times” then there is no place to which prayer is foreign or from which prayer is banned!

“Prayer is instant communication with God - anytime, anywhere!”
Fritz Ridenour “How to be a Christian without being Religious”

If we are to recover a proper and Bible-based view of prayer it needs to be taken out its Sunday box; taken out of the airtight compartment and loosed to breathe in the fresh air of the country fields and the grimy atmosphere of the city streets.

Anyone who reads the Gospels discovers that Jesus didn’t reserve prayer for special times and seasons - it was as natural as breathing to him. As Dick Eastman observes:;

“Prayer was more than PART of Christ’s life - it was His life!”

You can pray anywhere, anytime! You may find yourself more “inclined to pray” if you visit a church
but, at one level, anywhere does. “It is not God who is more present in a church or less present (say) in a cinema, but we who are more aware of His presence in one place than another.”

Usually when you go to the Doctor or the Dentist - unless its an emergency - you need to ‘phone up and make an appointment. And then when you do turn up the waiting room if full of people reading magazines they’re not really interested in!!
You don’t need to make an appointment with God and his waiting room’s always empty!!

PRAYING AT SPECIAL TIMES
Last week’s sermon focussed on integrating PRAYER and daily life - praying AT ALL TIMES. But today I want to focus on praying at SPECIAL TIMES - on what in Christian tradition has come to be called THE QUIET TIME.

Just as Jesus took time to spend alone with God in his life, so Christians of every age have discovered the values of a regular (usually daily) time of prayer - of listening TO God and speaking with Him.

You find it in Daniel. - he used to pray on his knees to God “three times a day”(6:10) You find it in David, who speak in the Psalms (88:9) about making his prayers to God “every day” - and in the Gospels you find Jesus rising a great while before day and withdrawing by himself to pray.

PRAYING FOR AN HOUR?!! - NO WAY!
In the book from which I quoted earlier “The hour that changes the world” Dick Eastman urges upon Christians the practice of spending an hour a day in prayer. He quotes Jesus challenge to his disciples in Gethsemane “Could you not watch with me one hour?” He points to the old Sankey hymn:
“Oh the pure delights of a single hour
that before thy throne I spend,
when I kneel in prayer and with thee, O God,
I commune as friend with friend.”

And he cites David Brainerd - a deeply spiritual Christian of a past generation, who in his diary wrote:

“One hour with God infinitely exceeds all the pleasure and delights of this lower world.”

FORGET ONE HOUR! Oh, I would love you to pray one hour! I would be delighted if without exception your were all up at five instead of six or six instead of seven tomorrow morning. Don;t get me wrong. I’d rather have you really praying for a minute or two than heaped with guilt for the our you failed to pray.

Start with 5 minutes or may be ten - don’t settle with that but start with that! The practice of setting aside a certain time each day to to quieten your heart, to be still and meet with God - communing “as friend with friend” to quote Fanny Crosby’s old hymn - will make the day different for you and add an intangible but undeniable “plus” to your life.

I want to spend the rest of this morning looking at various aspects of this QUIET TIME idea -it may be something that’s quite foreign and there new to you - something that you though was only for a certain sentimental, pious or “holier than thou” kind of Christian. It might be something that you tried but lost through lack of discipline or just drifted from. Or it might be that your “stuck in a rut”when it comes to your Christian devotions (that you;re just going through the motions and you feel you need to make a new start.

Last week I read a sample from a Day by Day” by Billy Graham - it includes a short prayer for each day and a practical comment on a verse from the Bible. Today a range of aids to devotion is on display. What right for one person won't suit another - you need taking advice and trial and error to find what’s best for you.

THE NEED TO BE DECISIVE AND COMMITTED
Of course it won’t work if you’re casual about it - only if you;re committed to it! Is it too much to ask that we be as committed to our spiritual well-being as to our physical well-being. We ate meals regularly - we take our exercise punctiliously. Most of us seem to care more for our teeth than for the most important part of all - our spirits - the heart and inner self that’s more the real “me” than my physical body!!
The need to be decisive and committed in the matter of having a time with God each day is something Sheila Cassidy stresses”

“In these days of informality and the search for personal freedom it is not fashionable to talk about discipline. Indeed perhaps it is a need that each person can only learn for themselves. One of the great truths that we must all learn is that without self-discipline we shall never be free and that the more we learn to control ourselves, the freer we become....

“It is important to be rigorous in this matter of finding time for prayer because it is so easy to fool oneself that one has no time and so miss out on the glorious reason for human existence. If we do not discipline ourselves to pray in a regular way every day we shall never allow our lives to be invaded by God, never achieve that openness to the Spirit that leads to an ever-increasing awareness of His presence in our lives and in the world around us........

“Conversely, if we have faith enough to realise our need for regular prayer and courage to persevere, then we shall be open to receive a very precious gift of God: a condition of heart and spirit in which an awareness of God’s presence is never far from our level of consciousness, so that we advert to his presence frequently, naturally and joyfully.”

Sheila Cassidy “Prayer for Pilgrims” p.78

THE PRACTICALITIES OF HAVING A QUIET TIME
The need to be more than casual about setting aside a time to spend with God each day is the first thing. But other practicalities need to be considered too and I want to say something about;
* when - what part of the day
* where - physical location and physical position. Praying while you’re lying in bed late at
night, in my experience, is a good way of enlisting the Devil’s help in getting to sleep but a
bad way of developing a healthy prayer life!

* what with - what aids can help you in your devotions?

WHEN TO HAVE A QUIET TIME
What part of the day is it best to pray - some people say morning and evening - “the key of the door and the bolt of the night” - or one or the other. But it probably doesn't make sense if you’re not a good “morning person” It is very easy to be persuaded or persuade ourselves that we haven;t time but the reality is that most of us can find time for whatever we want to do.

The mental attitude here is all important. We won’t find time for prayer unless we make the effort - unless we take definite steps to establish such a time. Imagine a circle - the circle represents you life. Where in your life is prayer positioned? If it is close to the circumference then when life gets busy - when work is more demanding, family life is more hectic or the social calendar is full - when the things closer to the centre take up more room, prayer gets pushed out.

But if prayer is placed at the centre of the circle - then its different. The best way is not to regard prayers as an extra - an add-on - that’s not where it belongs. ~Rather, we should seek to make our relationship with God the axis of our life (an axis not of evil but of good!) - the centre-point around which everything else revolves.

When that time - that few moment or five minutes - is, matters less than that it is there. For many the beginning of the day will seem best; for others it may be in the car or on the train, during a coffee break or lunch break at work (though not if that’s an opportunity to spend time building relations with your colleagues). As you can see the when overlaps with the where. One good way is going for a walk - we are fortunate in having Blackford Hill and Dell close to our home - one good way is going for an early morning (or late night) walk with God.

Of course reading the Bible needs to be fitted in but you can take a single verse to meditate on - much as you would suck a sweet and enjoy its juices. A promise or an encouragement from the Bible - or you can read a passage or a story from the Bible before you set out and “digest” it as you walk.

For others a time when you’re watching TV just for sake of watching it or when you’re usually channel-flicking may be just the time!! Or, if you’re awake at night perhaps a few moments or minutes late at night will do - just before you go to bed.

Pick the time that suits you best - you might not get it right first time but, once you do STICK TO IT. Make that your time - and make that time a priority. God will be waiting for you eagerly - don;t stand Him up!!

WHEN TO HAVE A QUIET TIME

i) PHYSICAL LOCATION
Next, there’s the question of PLACE - physical location. If you’re determined enough you can find a quiet place even when life’s hectic.

Charles and John Wesley’s mother, Joanna, had seventeen children (!) - but they knew that when they went in to the kitchen and her apron was over her head that she was not to be disturbed. It was her daily appointment with God!!

Most people choose a place of solitude and quiet - some people NEED a place of solitude and quietness. Other can remain focussed amidst noise when I would be driven to distraction. A rook where you are less likely to be disturbed is preferable but may not be possible.

I have my study in the manse - I know others who have converted a walk-in cupboard a their special meeting place with God - it’s generally best to choose a place as free as possible from distractions of the eye or ear.

Perhaps you can find a quiet corner at work where you will be uninterrupted - if you travel it might even be sitting on the train.

i) PHYSICAL POSITION
But as well as physical location there’s the matter of physical position - there’s no single “right way” to pray , as any seasoned Christian traveller whose visited Asia, Africa and Latin America will tell you.

Whether you pray sitting up straight or bowing with your elbows o your upper legs, kneeling upright or kneeling bent over, standing up or lying prostrate is less important than whether you’re actually comfortable and can be relaxed in that position.

Except of course that if you ARE in a train lying prone on the carriage floor is likely to be disconcerting to other and rather dirty into the bargain!!

Again, while many will prefer silence, some will find light classical, music, plainsong or other kinds music, sacred or secular, is an aid. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Bach, bagpipes or the Beatles - but don’t choose the music you love best - why? Because in your Quiet time any music must be an aid and not an end in itself!!

DEVOTIONAL AIDS
A word now about devotional aids. I take it for granted that you will have a Bible - preferably in a modern translation. And I highly recommend that you select from the range of Scripture Union notes or obtain one of the kind of “Day by Day” books I mentioned earlier. Indeed if I were to push one as an ideal “starter” it would be Billy Graham’s little “Day by Day” booklet.... it may be the best “fiver” you ever spend!!

This is vastly better than letting the Bible fall open at a page - reading at random or, worst of all, trying to start at the beginning and work your way through - allow yourself to read the verse or passage in an unhurried way ( and as you relax open yourself to God). Allow yourself to ask what the verse or passage is saying and to “hear” in your heart what God wants to tell you..

Read the comment you devotional aid provides and take a moment to think it through. Sometimes you can turn it to prayer - or use the prayer provided.
Now there is much more to prayer as you move from its shallows into the deeps, but start with this to begin with - there will be ample time to move from the shallows into the deeper waters of prayer.

But I want to end by saying something about other aids to having an effective Quiet Time. Four final pieces of advice, really:

1.USE A METHOD THAT SUITS YOU..
The first is in connection with your method of prayer. Praying only in your head for any length of time at all isn’t easy - you will easily lose concentration. In my experiencing mouthing the words or saying them in a whisper is a great aid to concentration.

Also, don’t be afraid to try other ways. Some people find that putting their thoughts and prayers into words on paper easier than speaking them. If that works for you that’s fine - it;s just a way of maintaining your concentration and focus.

Again, with the arrival of e-mail, you might find it easier to write a daily e-mail to God. This isn’t a frivolous suggestion. I’m entirely serious. It’s perfectly acceptable if it helps you to maintain your concentration and focus.

2. USE THE PRAYER CIRCULAR
The monthly Prayer circular produce by the church is meant to help you not just to remember the work of the church but to cover as wide range of concerns as possible. You will find the disciplined use of the Prayer Circular a good start in praying for others.

But whatever was you organise your praying form others some kind so system and method makes sense - just praying haphazardly for the first thing that comes into your mind may seem a more free and spontaneous way of praying but, if you’re just starting out, don’t!!


3. USE PICTURES
Third, use pictures. What I mean is this. If you’re praying for your family - have a picture of your family - pictures of your children, for example, to look at when you’re praying for them.

4, USE SYMBOLS AND OBJECTS
Make us of symbols and objects if they help you. For example, some people will find that lighting a candle at the beginning of the daily special time with God (perhaps along with the saying of a verse from the Bible) is a suitable way to begin before settling themselves starting to relax and coming to God. Others may find a simple cross standing before them to remind them of God’s forgiveness and love; or a flower reminding them of God’s creative power; or a smooth stoned helping them to think of “God the Rock” works.


Prayer in the life of Jesus was integrated with the whole of life, not compartmentalised or confined to a set time each day. But He had his “set times” too. And if He, the perfect Son of God, needed it, how much more do we?!!

To establish a set time takes effort and some determination. To maintain a “set time” takes perseverance and discipline.

But the rewards aren’t “out of this world” - they are here, right in it!! They are real!!

Including a special time with God in your daily programme could be the most important thing you;ve ever done. Because it will make the day different for you and add an intangible but undeniable “plus” to your life.

WHY NOT START? WHY NOT START TODAY?
Amen

Previous sermon

Back to index

Next sermon