Pastor Danny Smith from Urban Light Community Church admitted to us yesterday that prayer, for him, is an unnatural thing.
What does come naturally? Sleep.
Danny said he went through a period where he was so determined to pray more, he would get up early in the morning just to talk to God. He would come out of his bedroom. He would sit on the couch. Sometimes he would lie down ...
And promptly fall back asleep.
"I'm much better at coming up with ideas than I am at following through with them," he admitted.
The disciples had this problem, too. Remember Jesus's dark night of the soul? It was the night he was to be arrested, tortured and executed. He urged the disciples to stay awake with him at this time when he needed their companionship the most. They could not. (Luke 22:45-46)
Sleep comes more naturally than prayer, Danny explained, because prayer is a quiet experience. When everything is quiet, especially when it is dark, sleep is what our bodies are used to doing.
Danny discovered two steps he could take that would make it more likely he would follow through and pray. The first was coffee.
(He admitted this might not be a revelation to everyone, but it was to him!)
Still, coffee wasn't enough to keep his mind focused on God. It didn't help him get beyond praying only about himself. He wanted to really listen for what God wanted him to hear.
He wanted to get beyond feeling like prayer was unnatural. He was after the supernatural.
A SUPERNATURAL EXPERIENCE ...
The second thing Danny discovered was inspired by an earlier moment in Jesus's ministry. It was recorded in the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke, a supernatural event biblical scholars refer to as The Transfiguration.
Before the eyes of Peter, James and John, Jesus was transformed. His clothes became bright as lightning. Then, Moses and Elijah - whom the disciples believed had died hundreds of years ago - appeared with Jesus and spoke with him. The disciples were awestruck. Only Peter fumbled for words ("Let us put up three shelters!" he said). A cloud appeared. They entered it, and a voice said, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him." After that, it all vanished. The disciples were alone with Jesus again. (Luke 9:28-36)
What's remarkable about this is how that amazing experience began. Not with magic. Not with some mysterious ceremony. It began with prayer!
... FROM AN UNNATURAL PRACTICE
About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. (verses 28-29)
The scripture says the disciples were sleepy (verse 32). They could have slept through the whole thing, if it wasn't for what Jesus did. He took them with him. Jesus brought Peter, James and John into his prayer life. By doing so, he gave us all what is likely the most powerful example of discipleship in all of scripture.
Coffee is a good start. But as Danny explained, nothing is more powerful than entering into prayer with others.
The story of the Transfiguration shows us what to do if we have an active prayer life: bring others into it. And it shows us what to do if we don't: join others in prayer.
It also shows us why.
Danny joined a men's prayer group years ago. They meet at 6 A.M, once a week. There's always a pot of coffee brewing. He still goes, and it's not just because of some set of Christian rules that tells him he's supposed to pray. It's not even because he's a pastor.
It's because he wants to turn what once felt like an unnatural thing into a supernatural experience. He is pressing into prayer because he wants to experience the presence of God.
PRACTICAL IDEAS FOR ENHANCING YOUR PRAYER LIFE
Danny offered three ideas to go deeper with prayer. ("Again, good at coming up with ideas, bad at following through with them," he said).
1. Whatever you're doing now alone, bring someone else along.
Do you have an early morning prayer routine? Midday? Late night? Just invite someone to join you in your prayer life. Not every time, but on a regular basis. You can both benefit from one another's insight, unique ability to listen to God, and from the accountability. This is the primary way for disciples to lead and learn. In and through prayer.
2. However long you're praying now, add 5 minutes each month.
Whether it's 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 5 minutes or 0 minutes, simply add 5. As Danny explained, this isn't just about feeling proud of yourself as the Pharisees did. It's actually about getting beyond yourself. The longer you pray, the more likely it is you will get past self-focused prayer to time in which you listen for what God wants you to focus on.
3. Get inspiration from the Psalms and invite others to do so with you.
Psalms are prayers to God that often resonate with our experiences, even thousands of years after they were written. They also often give us a perspective we might not have gotten on our own. Danny suggests committing to reading a Psalm daily, or even three times per day, for a week. Move on to the next one next week. Ask others to join you, whether independently or in a group, so you can share this experience together.
The Psalm reading in the Lectionary for this week is Psalm 99. (The Revised Common Lectionary is a worldwide calendar of scripture that many churches follow.) This is what Danny is reading:
1 The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake. 2 Great is the Lord in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations. 3 Let them praise your great and awesome name— he is holy.
4 The King is mighty, he loves justice— you have established equity; in Jacob you have done what is just and right. 5 Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel was among those who called on his name; they called on the Lord and he answered them. 7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud; they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them.
8 Lord our God, you answered them; you were to Israel a forgiving God, though you punished their misdeeds.[a] 9 Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy. (Psalm 99)
We all know from experience that prayer life is pretty quiet most of the time. It isn't realistic to expect Jesus, Moses and Elijah to appear, or to hear the voice of God in a cloud, every time we fold our hands and bow our heads.
"I can't say I have experienced any of that," Danny said. "But I have had times where I could just sense that God was with me. And it was amazing."
May we experience this and more as we press into God in prayer. Amen.