Most of us are good when it comes to our prayer life and spending a few moments or maybe even twenty or thirty minutes in prayer is not a difficult thing to do. But do you think you could pray for a full hour, or two, or three? Personally, I struggle to stay focused on the task, and my attention tends to wander. If this is you too, could it be that we don’t have the patience or are we sincerely ‘just too busy?’
Yet, we read in the 6th chapter of Luke, beginning in verse 12 that Christ, ‘…went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.’ Or we could consider Matthew 14:23 as it reads, “…He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.” Though we don’t know how long He was on the mountain, ‘there alone’ we do know that during the 4th watch of that night He came to His disciplines as they were on the sea. The ‘4th watch’ would have been sometime between 3:00 AM and 6:00 AM. So we can assume that Jesus was praying for at least an hour or two or three, but more likely it was six or seven hours. Still, I ask myself (and you)…could I pray for a full hour?
On Monday evening, July 16, 2018 more than 70 brothers and sisters in Christ came together at the Faith Village church of Christ in Wichita Falls, Texas and together we spent 60 plus minutes in prayer. No preaching, no Bible class, just praying on behalf of our brethren. The young and old alike took time to bow their heads, focus on the family of God and raise our petitions before His throne. But before we took that hour to pray, we sang a song that calls us to consider our time in prayer. Notice the message of this hymn, the prayer, that was written in 1845 by W. W. Walford;
“Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer, that calls me from a world of care, and bids me at my Father’s throne make all my wants and wishes known. In seasons of distress and grief my soul has often found relief, and oft escaped the tempter’s snare by Thy return, sweet hour of prayer.”
Follow the four basic thoughts found in this verse. First, prayer is our opportunity to step away from the cares of this world. We must focus on God if we want a ‘sweet hour’ of prayer. Second, it’s a time we can take the ‘wants’ of our hearts and the ‘wishes’ we so desperately seek directly to the throne of God. And, true heart-felt prayer can be a relief for our souls during times (seasons) of trouble and sorrow. Don’t think you’re free from distress and grief. We live in a world of pain and sorrow, but God gives us peace in Christ. Fourth, consider how blessed you are that in prayer you can escape the clutches of Satan. Only in prayer and solely through the grace of God will we endure, but we must take time to pray.
Next week we’ll look at verse two and as we draw July, 2018 to a close we’ll consider the third verse in this beautiful hymn. So in the meantime find the peace and the ‘sweet’ blessing of taking time (maybe even an hour) to pray!
Most of us are good when it comes to our prayer life and spending a few moments or maybe even twenty or thirty minutes in prayer is not a difficult thing to do. But do you think you could pray for a full hour, or two, or three? Personally, I struggle to stay focused on the task, and my attention tends to wander. If this is you too, could it be that we don’t have the patience or are we sincerely ‘just too busy?’
Follow the four basic thoughts found in this verse. First, prayer is our opportunity to step away from the cares of this world. We must focus on God if we want a ‘sweet hour’ of prayer. Second, it’s a time we can take the ‘wants’ of our hearts and the ‘wishes’ we so desperately seek directly to the throne of God. And, true heart-felt prayer can be a relief for our souls during times (seasons) of trouble and sorrow. Don’t think you’re free from distress and grief. We live in a world of pain and sorrow, but God gives us peace in Christ. Fourth, consider how blessed you are that in prayer you can escape the clutches of Satan. Only in prayer and solely through the grace of God will we endure, but we must take time to pray.