Have you ever wondered how long you should pray about (fill in the blank)? I have. The simple answer is… until the answer manifests. And that statement leads to… whose answer do you pray for? Do you think that some of your prayers have ‘forever’ stamped on them? Do you use the prayer of agreement? How effective a prayer warrior do you think you are? Or… are you not a warrior? Bottom line – are you seeking an answer or the Answerer? A great number of questions on a variety of perspectives about prayer. And, in my world, all relevant. Until we know who we are as prayers, how can any of these questions and others be answered? As a person of prayer, who are you and how do you go about praying? And… are you growing as a person of prayer?
“Now Jesus was telling the disciples a parable to make the point that at all times they ought to pray and not give up and lose heart,” (Luke 18:1, AMP)
I remember thinking (and still believe) that if Jesus felt the need to go away and pray, how much more important is it for us? When you look at the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of Jesus’ praying, I believe we have a model of how we should pray. One component that I discovered was that Jesus did pray for Himself. So, praying for yourself is also important. Also we have Jesus’ words:
“Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8, AMP)
It’s the ‘keep on asking’ that forms part of an answer to our ‘how long’. But there’s more – the following verses give us the ‘why’ and the results from our asking, seeking, knocking.
“Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will [instead] give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will [instead] give him a snake? If you then, evil (sinful by nature) as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him.” (v. 9-11)
Whoever, ourselves/others, and whatever is the focus of our prayers, this is our ‘formula’: simply… keep on keeping on, especially if we want to be an effective person of prayer. However, rarely is prayer a one and done. We also need to be alert to the content of the prayer. Prayer is never mindless. But, how important is the Answerer in this? Do we focus so much on that which are our concern(s) that we don’t consider who we are approaching with our wants and needs?
Remember what Jesus taught His disciples when asked about prayer? He did give us a prayer but He also gave us the method/pattern (Matthew 6:8-13)
“Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom
come, Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors [letting go
of both the wrong and the resentment].
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]'”
All the components of praying are contained in Jesus’ example. When it comes to your ‘how long’, then the answer is – however long it takes you to discuss with the Father these areas of concern.
Perhaps the issue is your ‘how’ of praying, not ‘how long’. Quite honestly, though this may sound presumptuous, I don’t think the issue is how long, I believe the Father enjoys it when we take the time to be with Him. Whether we are just talking about our lives, interceding for someone or something, the point is that we begin with seeking Him. All this can take all day… and maybe that’s the point. He tells us to abide in Him. He seeks our fellowship and that is mind blowing. Even in our daily midst, we can spend the day with the Lord.
