THE POWER OF PAUSING BEFORE PRAYING
Re-Energzing Your Prayers
Even after all these years of believing in Jesus and doing my best (most of the time) to follow Him, I’m amazed at how easily I drift.
I don’t drift from the essentials of the faith. I don’t battle thoughts anymore of “is Jesus who He says He is?” “Is Jesus the only way?” or “Are all the promises in the Bible true?”
I never have to fight those mental and spiritual battles. I don’t drift there.
But I do sometimes drift when it comes to prayer. I pray every day, several times a day, and on some days I pray a lot.
Where I drift is in realizing how powerful prayer is. Because in 99% of the cases, it LOOKS like nothing has happened when I pray.
If you observe someone praying, it LOOKS like they’ve just said a few words into the air. When they stop talking, nothing has visibly changed.
I know from the Bible and experience, talking to God is powerful. But because it LOOKS like nothing has happened, I sometimes slide into or drift away from the reality of the incredible things that are happening when I talk and listen to God.
A Few Things The Bible Says About Prayer
1 Peter 3:12 “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer…”
James 5:16b “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
Proverbs 15:9 “The Lord is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.’
Every Bible reader knows there are so many more wonderful things that happen when we pray, but these three are great starting points.
Because we have received the righteousness of Jesus through faith, we know that:
- God’s ears are open to our prayers
- Our prayers have great power.
- The Lord hears our prayers.
We know that when we practice biblical prayer, we can come directly into God’s presence. We come to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4), interact with God, bring our requests to Him and actually work with Him in fulfilling His purposes on the earth.
Why Pause?
I’m still very fallible and because my mind and soul are still being healed, renewed, and liberated. I don’t automatically live in the place of consciously being aware of God each day, all day.
We also have a very real, cunning, spiritual enemy who does his best to convince us that prayer is a waste of time.
The Bible says prayer is one of the most important and powerful things I can possibly do with my time. However,I sometimes slip or drift into prayer purely out of routine or discipline without focusing on what is actually happening.
It’s going through the motions without real engagement or expectation.
Prayer, to the non-spiritual, or the pure naturalist, is at best a good way to relax the mind, but at worst a waste of time.
But when we take what the word of God says about prayer, then we have to see it as one of the best possible investments of our time.
Here’s where the pause has helped me
When I start to pray, I take a few seconds or when needed, a couple of minutes and remind myself what is happening when I focus on God and talk to Him.
If I take a few moments to picture, based on Scripture, what is happening when I talk to God it energizes my prayer time. It then becomes an exciting time because I realize, at least to a degree, powerful things are happening
The Bible says when I pray:
- I am connecting with the most powerful, loving Being in existence. I actually get to call Him Father.
- The Father hears every single prayer I pray. He even delights in my prayers.
- When I pray, God hears and responds in the best possible way.
There are many places in Scripture that say, “When you pray…” then do it this way and this is what happens.
1 John 514–15, for example, tells us, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.(15) And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”
There are some things we hope for and there are other things we can KNOW
We KNOW He hears us when we ask anything according to His will
If He hears us IN WHATEVER WE ASK, we KNOW we have what we’ve asked of Him.
We don’t have to hope and pray in this situation; we can KNOW.
When I picture myself coming to my Heavenly Father, in the very holiness and righteousness of Jesus, loved by my Father, that energizes my prayer time.
When I see my words going into the ears, mind, and heart of God, that gives me faith.
When I remind myself that whenever I ask Him to do something that is in line with His will, no matter what it is, I can KNOW He hears. If I KNOW God hears, then I can KNOW He will give it.
That is God’s promise to me, to us.
What I don’t know is how He will do it or when.
This is where we “fight the good fight of faith. (1 Timothy 6:12)
This is when we need to keep believing, understanding it is by faith and patience that we inherit the promises. (Hebrews 6:12)
But when you step into that place of prayer, try pausing.
Take a moment or two or three before you pray.
Picture in your mind what is going to happen.
Remind yourself what God’s word says about prayer.
You’re coming to God Almighty with confidence and joy because He loves you. He delights in your prayers and sees you in the righteousness and holiness of Jesus.
You’re bringing requests to the One who rules the universe. He repeatedly tells us to keep asking, seeking, and knocking. Jesus said EVERYONE who asks will receive, EVERYONE who seeks will find, and EVERYONE who knocks will have the door opened. (Luke 11:9–11).
You can know that Almighty God will do whatever it takes to fulfill prayers that are in line with His will.
You don’t know when or how, but you can KNOW powerful things are happening because you prayed to your Father in heaven.
This is energizing my prayers and I think it will do the same for you.
If you want to read or hear more from me, please check out www.truvinemission.com or look me up on amazon books. My mission is to pass on what I’ve learned so far to help others know God better, grow in Christlikeness, and flow in His purposes.
