“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” — Mark 1:35
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In high school, I was obsessed with increasing my vertical jump in attempts to become a game-day dunker. I remember running hills and bleachers, jumping rope, and doing plyometric exercises. I even remember ordering the special platform jumping shoes and performing the exercises they recommended. All in an attempt to increase my vertical jump and be proud to answer the question, “What’s your vertical?”
The question I have for us is this: “How’s your vertical?” Rather than asking “What’s your vertical?” God woke me up spiritually several years ago and challenged me with my personal prayer life. I viewed prayer more as horizontal desire rather than vertical connection. As I reflect, I wonder if any of these views on prayer relate to you.
First, prayer for me was something I viewed as “having to do” rather than “getting to do.” As a young elementary aged boy, I remember being encouraged to say my prayers before bedtime and before we ate. I got great encouragement from my parents as I grew up in a Christian home. Slowly what started happening in my adult life was that my prayer time became duty rather than devotion. Duty says, “I have to pray.” Devotion says, “I choose to pray.” I’m now learning that as I wake up at 5 a.m. eager to spend time connecting with God on my prayer walk that I see it as a delight. Delight says, “I get to!”
I first began incorporating a 5 a.m. prayer walk in January 2018. No doubt, it has been one of the biggest life changers. I still remember those first initial prayer walks of how messy my conversation with God was. I was distracted and found it so easy to lose focus. Fast-forward to the present day and it’s still messy. I still get distracted and lose focus, and I am learning that God’s OK with that. He forgives and loves me as I remind myself that perfection is not the goal, but connecting and having intimacy is. On these early-morning prayer walks, He’s teaching me how to love, how to forgive, how to serve, and how to lead.
Another view on prayer was my 9-1-1 emergency approach. Prayer was my spare tire rather than my steering wheel. See, the spare tire is usually hidden, out of sight, and only comes out in emergency situations. I know God invites us to call out to Him in our emergency situations, but is that the only time He hears from us? It could be the big game coming up, the semester exam, the loss of the job, the sickness we need healing from, the financial crisis, etc. You fill in what emergency you are going through. I find myself praying in emergency situations for God to change the circumstance, and am now learning that God may be using the circumstance to change me. First Thessalonians 5:17 (ESV) encourages us to pray without ceasing.
The final viewpoint I had on prayer was for God to bless me with the “presents” rather than His “presence.” I’m embarrassed to say — and have asked God’s forgiveness — I’ve let the vending-machine mentality creep in. I would whisper my prayers up to God and immediately expect the results or gifts I thought He should bless me with. He was more like a genie in the bottle and I was wanting my requests granted. God is so much more than that, and He’s been teaching me that the actual present I am receiving when I pray is His presence.
John Mark Comer shares these thoughts on prayer: Prayer is talking to God, which leads to talking with God, it then involves listening to God, to finally being with God. Intimacy!
The relationships that thrive involve communication. Communication is not just talking but also listening. Mark Batterson shares in his book “Whisper” that we must pause long enough during our prayer time to be still and hear His voice.
First Kings 19:11-12 reminds us how the Lord can be found in the whisper: “The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”
I have to constantly encourage myself on my morning prayer walks with an ancient Hebrew/Greek word and phrase: Shut-up! (haha). Too many times, I’m doing the talking when God could be whispering to me the instruction, guidance, encouragement and correction I need.
So, the question I ask again: “How’s your vertical?”
— Jim Good
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