Do I prepare for prayer?

This entry is part one of a five part series: The Easter 2020 Spiritual Stimulus Package

Benjamin Franklin once said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” There really is no such thing as “failure” in prayer: the Lord would never reject us when we carve out time for him. However, if we haven’t prepared, we are setting ourselves up with a bit of a sloppy foundation.

1. Making Space Make space for this time in prayer with the Lord. Carve out that time block in your schedule, and keep it as you would any other appointment. This mentality is often key to the success of folks trying to get more committed to going to the gym. Keep it as you would your most important appointment. If this is how we block that time in our schedule then when someone tries to schedule something else with you and it conflicts with that time, the answer is simple: “That time won’t work for me, how about 2:00 instead?” Making space in our schedule is key. Making space in our home is also important! Especially during this COVID-19 crisis when we are all spending so much time in our homes. Set aside a spot that is officially your “prayer spot.” Even if it is as simple as placing a chair from the dining room table in a particular spot, even a foot away from where the chair normally is. Create a spot that can be sacred for you: because something sacred happens there. 2. Placing Myself in God’s Presence. I remember in High School our Morning Prayer over the loud speaker always began with “let us remember we are in the holy presence of God.” Perhaps an instruction would have been more helpful: place yourself in God’s presence. How do we do that? As soon as you sit in your prayer spot call to mind that you are in God’s presence. How does God look upon you? Settle into his gaze. For beginners, this may be the first stumbling block. You may be uncomfortable with the notion of “settling into God’s gaze” because of feelings around how you think God looks at you! Rest assured: he looks at you with love! Quiet yourself with attention to your breathing. Sit comfortably – but not so comfortably that you’re going to fall asleep. If you are doing this in a Church, I challenge you to put aside the feeling of “I have to kneel in order to pray.” I will be clear: no you don’t. Kneeling has a place in prayer, and in corporate worship, but contemplative/meditative prayer we need to be comfortable, so we can be attentive.

It may seem silly to take such a clear and intentional effort to prepare for prayer, but think about it for a minute: if prayer is important, why wouldn’t we prepare? Don’t we prepare for the things in our lives that are important?

We don’t prepare for spending time with the people we love. We just do it! However, when we want to sit with someone we love to talk about something important, don’t we often go somewhere with them? We go to the coffee shop we love, or at the very least step away from others who may be around. We put our phone on silent, and give them our attention…and we expect the same from them. If you took a close look at your thoughts leading up to an important conversation with someone you love, you would find that there is preparing going on even there.

Relationship with God is exactly that: a relationship. This means our communication with him should be as dynamic, intimate, honest, and vulnerable as the most important relationship we have in our lives…and then some. We can’t let ourselves fall into the trap of thinking that Jesus is some distant or even historical concept. Every single day of this Easter Season may we remember that he is alive and well, as much for us today as he was for the Apostles that first Easter morning! He is risen from the tomb! Alleluia! Alleluia!