Set Aside the Distractions of Life When You Go to Pray

"But you, when you pray, enter into your room. And shutting your door, pray to your Father in secret; and your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly." Matthew 6:6.

A common problem in prayer is we’re so busy each day that we don't pause to pray- for ourselves or others. We don’t plug into God, until a crisis happens. Even then, sometimes we're so used to dealing with things without praying that it can take awhile for us to remember to turn the problem over to God.

So developing a pray-as-I-go-through-my-day mindset is important. Equally as important as taking God along with me through my day, is to set aside and spend time with Him: to commune with Him; to read scripture; to pray, and to listen for His response; to be still in His presence and worship Him. This kind of thing can’t be done on the run. Some issues we face in life, for whatever reason in the spiritual realm, cannot be solved with one or two quick prayers.

We have to persist praying with faith. We may need to gather others to join us in praying, and to intercede on our behalf. It's always necessary too, to keep in mind that God may not answer in the way we expect.


EM Bounds writes, “We would not have anyone think that the value of prayer is to be measured by the clock.” He also asserts, however, “The short prevailing prayer cannot be prayed by one who has not prevailed with God in a mightier struggle of long continuance.”

When I look at the life of Jesus and His prayer practices, I see lots of brief prayers He prayed. I also see instances when He spent extended time praying and communing with God. For instance, in Mark 1:35 we find Jesus alone in a solitary place, very early in the morning, praying. In Mark 6:46, after miraculously feeding 5,000 people with just five loaves of bread and two fish, Jesus leaves His disciples and goes up on a mountainside to pray. Matthew 14:23 adds that Jesus remained there alone until evening.

So let's examine our prayer life for a moment. Could you benefit from learning to pray quickly during your day as needs arise? Is a set-apart time of leaning deeper into God with stillness and prayer what your soul is truly craving? Whichever it is, or both, decide to make it happen.