A Commitment to Prayer

Rob Kaczmarek
Written By Jeff Rybacki
 

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites...But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Matthew 6:5a, 6

A Commitment to Prayer: Personal 

I had a conversation not too long ago about being over 40 and how my body had started to really change. I was wanting to lose some weight and be healthy, but desires don’t always translate to reality. As I talked with my friend about all of this he ended the conversation saying, “Well, when you finally hit bottom, that’s when you most likely will do something about it.” 

That statement is quite true. We each want to change, but it isn’t until we say, “That’s it!” that we start changing our actions to form new habits and begin the process of change. Prayer for many Christians is that way. We want to do it. We want to be consistent with it. We want to be good at it. This is because we know that the change prayer will bring will be tremendous and impactful! 

Jesus says to us, “When you pray...” It all begins with that first time praying for a few moments. And like physical exercise, it may feel a bit clunky at first but keep at it. The more you continue praying the less awkward it feels. And as the newness wears off that is when the real work begins. 

Remember though, one of the quickest ways to stop exercising is to do enough to really feel the sore muscles for a few days. It makes it easy to say, “I just need to rest today. I’ll go to the gym the next time.” But commitment is born in working through soreness and tiredness. And at some point it changes to where you don’t want to miss your time of prayer, just like gym goers don’t like missing their workout. You start seeing the change and you begin to see the work of God in your life and around you more and more! 

Charles Spurgeon had a saying, “Mighty in ministry, mighty in prayer!” This comes from a commitment to pray and the reminder that prayer will always bring about a stronger faith than you had when you started! 

What one step could you take to become more consistent and committed to prayer? What would keep you from doing that? How do you plan to move that obstacle? 

Father, thank you for seeing in secret and answering our prayers. Help us to be committed to prayer. And help us to make it a spiritual workout that we would not want to miss! Amen. 

A Commitment to Prayer: Corporate 

“And they devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” 

Acts 2:42 

This past Christmas season our church decided to go out to main street in the evening and host a time for Christmas caroling. It had hot chocolate. It had Christmas goodies. It had fire pits. And it had single digit to negative temperatures! It was COLD. However, it was a wonderful time. Many showed up despite the cold and sang, drank up the hot chocolate and as soon as the event had begun it seemed our time was finished and it was time to clean up. 

The Scripture passage points to the joy every believer can experience when being devoted to prayer together. The church gathered in vay harsh conditions and hard times, but there was a joy of experiencing life together and asking God to work in all of the people together. 

Sadly, when we become so isolated, even in prayer, we don’t get to hear and see what God is doing in our friends, other believers, and in the church! We can feel much like Elijah, when fleeing for his life and hiding in a cave, called out to God and said, “There is no one left but me?!” We may feel this way, but the truth is there are many around us if we just look and engage. 

When the church is committed to praying together they become committed to seeing the Kingdom of God in their lives, in their church, and in their community. God brings unity when we pray together. God strengthens relationships and grows new relationships when we pray together. God causes us to grow in love for others when we pray together. And God brings a joy to the church when we pray together! 

1. How committed to praying corporately are you? 2. How could you be more involved with others in prayer? 3. What would keep you from praying with others? 

Father, help us to be unified together in prayer. Magnify our joy as we pray for your will to be done in the lives of your people. May we experience your work being accomplished through our prayers and may we know you in a transforming way. Amen.

Jeff Rybacki
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