I’ll admit it… I have a problem… a problem with prayerlessness. I don’t pray as regularly and passionately as I ought. I recently told my wife that I’d much more enjoy reading the Scriptures than spending time in prayer. I don’t know why and I guess it doesn’t matter why. Maybe some of you have a healthy prayer life, but if you’re like me… I have to confess that my prayer life is not the way it should be. Most of the responsibility falls on me. Most of the problem is me. However, I think sometimes part of the problem is a misunderstanding of prayer and improper expectations we ourselves or others put on us. For instance, sometimes we might feel, hearing stories of great prayer warriors, that we’re expected to spend an hour on our knees every day. Or sometimes we misunderstand what prayer is and how it happens – we think that prayer is that thing you do while kneeling beside the bed with your eyes closed. (Again, this is does not excuse my prayerlessness - most of the problem is me.)

In the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 6:5-15, Jesus assumes that His followers are praying: “When you pray…” I wonder if He would be satisfied with my prayer life? I don’t know. But He does tell us how we ought to pray. “When you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private” (Matt. 6:6).I don’t know why, but I even feel weird praying with my wife. Maybe it’s because I feel guilty about the state of my prayer life; maybe because I’m just a very private person. I don’t know. There is certainly nothing wrong with sharing a time of prayer with someone. Jesus is not telling us that we should never pray together. But when we do pray, even in times of public or corporate prayer, we ought to pray humbly, even covertly. Prayer can happen, and sometimes even should happen, while no one is aware.

The Apostle Paul, in I Thessalonians 5:17, writes: “Never stop praying” or “Pray continually.” How do you do that? According to the monastics, even common tasks done in conversation with God are holy. Prayer is not only that time on your knees, it is also (and perhaps more so) that ongoing conversation with God throughout the day. While I write this blog, I might be praying. While you read this blog, you might be praying. Before you have that tough conversation you’ve been dreading, you whisper a prayer. While you’re driving in the car a song on the radio prompts a prayerful thought. While you’re enjoying the outdoors, you thank God.

I know I need to work on my prayer life. And maybe I would be helped towards that end by understanding how often throughout my day I already have opportunities to address God.