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By Pastor Randy Reid  | Clanton First Assembly of God

Growing up in church, my parents made me attend prayer meetings. 

I was a typical child, and having a short attention span, I was easily distracted by anything and everything that caught my attention. I can still remember the hum of prayer that filled the sanctuary generated by the men and women of God as they called upon the Lord for whatever was their current needs. Whenever I would run out of things to pray, which didn’t take long, then I would sit quietly and observe the various prayer methods employed by the prayer warriors as they made their petitions known to God. I’ve gotta tell you some of those old saints made prayer seem easy, which is why I felt guilty later on when I struggled with my own prayer life.  

There were always a variety of people at those prayer meetings who would talk to God in their own way. Some would pray silently, while others would offer verbal prayers. Some prayed at the altar, some at a pew. Some would walk as they prayed, while others sat still and erect in their pew, with hands folded and eyes closed. The various prayer methods, I observed, used by those prayer warriors piqued the curiosity of this inquisitive church kid, who sat fascinated at the ease with which those prayer team members to talk to God.

In adulthood, I began to develop my own prayer life and finding that prayer was not as easy as the prayer warriors of my childhood made it look. The reality is prayer is a very simple concept, but can often be a difficult application. It’s like dieting. We all understand the concept of losing weight, it’s simply a matter of burning more calories than you consume. But that’s easier said than done. Likewise, prayer is simply talking to God. However, for our prayers to be effective, it takes motivation, discipline, patience, focus, faith, and many other attributes that we could name. I mean, if prayer was easy everybody would do it all the time. But the value of prayer in the life of a believer cannot be overstated. In fact, prayer, along with reading the Word of God, is the most important thing one could do in their walk with God. 

Like anything else, the more one prays, then the more accustomed to it they become. Jesus understood the trouble the disciples were having in their prayer life. That’s why He did not rebuke them when they asked Him to teach them to pray. He had patience with them and gave them the pattern to follow in prayer (Matthew 6:7-13)

So if prayer is challenging for you, you are in good company. All the great men and women of the Bible experienced the same thing at times. Don’t give up! Don’t give in to discouragement! Keep striving for a healthy channel of communication with God. Pray when you don’t feel it’s doing any good, as well as when you’re experiencing great faith. There is simply no bad time to pray, and always be confident that when you talk to God, He is always listening.