Prayer’s Battlefield

Unless you guys have some specific questions, I’m going to spend a little bit of time talking about spiritual disciplines. Matt Lantz put it so well when he said that “spiritual disciplines are the sail of the Christian life. They put us in a place to move with wind of the Spirit.” For me, many of the times I have felt most alone and ‘becalmed’ are the times in which I have left the disciplines of the Spirit out of my daily and weekly routine.

I begin with the discipline of prayer partially because prayer is one of the disciplines that I still have a lot of trouble maintaining, so the earlier you can begin to get a handle on it, the better. And, I choose it partially because prayer is the discipline by which we grow in any of the others, so in order to develop the others, we need to grow in this one.

One of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray as John [the Baptist] also taught his disciples.” And He said to them…
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

I know we hear the phrase “Lord, teach us to pray” and we think “Our Father, who art in heaven…” While these scriptures are together, it is tragic that we think of a rote prayer. The verse right before the Lord’s prayer in Matthew says, “and when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.” This brings me to my point; prayer is not a filibuster or slam poetry, it is a battle.

Prayer is not a filibuster or a slam poem. We will not be more heard because we spend 5 hours talking at the Lord. We will not be more promptly answered because we pray with eloquence. More words do not make our prayers better. The next verse in Matthew says that our Father knows what we need before we ask Him. Think how weird it would be if a 4-year-old spent ten minutes explaining why she needs a drink of water after playing outside. We all know that a child needs water after playing, so when my little cousin comes in a asks, "may I have a drink?" the answer is, "of course!" How much more does our Father in heaven rejoice in giving His children good gifts. I am not saying we should spend less time praying; I am saying let your words be few.

When I say battle, I mean it in a couple of different ways. First, it is a battle of will to bow my heart and pray. It is so much easier for me to go and do the things scripture commands of me. I like having a nice bullet-pointed list of what I need to do for my King. There is a place for that, but Christ says in Luke 10:42 that the better choice is to sit at His feet. Second, I mean that when we pray we are participating in an actual battle that we cannot see. Jesus demonstrates this in Mark when He casts out a demon that the disciples had been unable to overcome. They ask Jesus how He did it, and His response is that it can only be done by prayer.

With these two kinds of battle in mind it gives us a few very practical ways that we can approach the discipline of prayer well:

1. Don’t pray when you are not fully awake and alert. Just as no warrior would enter a battle unrested or groggy, so we should not approach this battlefield unless we are ready for battle. I started with Eph 6 because much of prayer is being unmoved (standing firm) by the yawns and errant thoughts that assail us as we pray. I don’t recommend making your prayer time early in the morning, right after a meal, or late at night. Speaking personally, I am weak and the temptation to rest my head on my hands and doze when I am trying to pray is overwhelming at those times of day. As you heard so often in your time in Baby Ruth’s make the most of your time. When you are tired and trying to pray, you neither pray well nor do you rest…it’s a lose-lose.
2. Follow the example of Mary in Luke 10, and take time to just sit in the presence of the King. Don’t read, don’t speak, don’t doze, but sit and listen to our Lord. This is one in particular is going to be a battle. It’s hard enough to talk to an invisible and often inaudible God, how much more so to be quiet and listen for Him.
3. Hebrews 4:12 says that the “the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.” So pray the very words of God. He has given us a weapon in His word, carry it with you and use it in the battle of prayer. Praying the Psalms is a great place to start.

As a side note, a great way to practice listening to the Lord is the pray and ask Him what He wants you to be praying about and then be still and listen. Think how truly beautiful it would be (aside from just being really cute) if a little child came to her father and asked, “Daddy, what do want me to ask for?” What a cool opportunity! That father can then lead his child into what is best for her with ease and joy rather than command and punishment. It is another way we can completely surrender to our King.


May the Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace. -Numbers 6:24-26