If It's Going To Be Different, Something Has To Change

If we realized how profoundly significant prayer was to our relationship with God, our well-being, and our response to the world, would we forget to pray?

In a live interview with pastor and author Tim Keller in December 2022, Keller was asked what he wished he had done differently in his fifty years of being in ministry.  Keller didn’t hesitate for a moment and replied, “Pray more.”

Not to make him more successful or help him through the midst of crises – of which there were many – but because Keller realized prayer nurtures his relationship with God.  God may change the situation, but through prayer, God changes us.

“I would have been a different pastor.”

In the midst of heavy ministry demands, Tim realized that he desired a deeper, stronger prayer life, but he knew if prayer was going to be different, something had to change. 

Tim and his wife Kathy began to pray together, every night, with no exceptions, in person or by phone, even when Tim traveled to other time zones around the globe.  They prayed.  But they also prayed together.

Prayer is not a magic pill to take every night.  Nor a “have to” obligation.  Nor a mindless habit like setting an alarm for morning. Nor the childlike repetition Now I lay me down to sleep… But prayer is coming before the Almighty with praises, thanks and concerns, rooted in love for God. The Kellers’ daily practice points out the vital importance of regular and consistent prayer, not just in crisis, but every day without exception.

That kind of prayer radically alters our hearts by enlarging what we see, what we know, and our relationship with the Almighty.  It goes far beyond what pastor and author Jack Miller calls “maintenance prayer,” sharing prayer requests among believers for physical well-being.  And breaks forth into “frontline prayer,” which “confesses sin, seeks humility, pursues the lost, and yearns to know God face-to-face, to encounter His glory.”

If our praying is going to be different, something has to change. Not just reacting to perceived crisis, nor responding to what we consider just an ordinary day, but coming before the Almighty as eternity unfolds in all His glory.

What if?  What if we prayed like that?

 

You have said, "Seek My face."

My heart says to You,

    "Your face, LORD, do I seek."

                            Psalm 27. 8