Some years ago I was standing at the door of the church that I attended at the time, when I saw someone approaching who had been away on various travels and studies for some months. We knew each other fairly well and I was glad to see her again. As she approached the building her face lit up and hopefully my pleasure was just as visible to her. As we greeted each other I anticipated her saying something like “It’s good to be back” or “Lovely to see you again”. But no, the first words out of her mouth were “I know I should pray more”. I was somewhat taken aback. At the time I was overseeing the church’s corporate prayer life, but never-the-less I found this greeting unexpected, to say the least. I recall the event now and I find myself pondering the implications of the common belief which she voiced – do I/we pray enough?
What is ‘enough’ when it comes to prayer?
How do we – can we – assess what is ‘enough’?
After all, unless we’re in the habit of praying 24/7 365 days a year, we can ALWAYS pray more.
Perhaps we measure ‘enough’ by how successful our praying is, by the answers we see. But this is dangerously close to prayer being something we engage in to get God to do what we want him to do. How often have I said, “He really answered my prayer” when what I actually meant is “Things turned out how I longed for them to” or “I got what I was asking for”? Is there some part of me that, somewhere, believes the more I pray, the more likely that I will get what I’m asking for – and conversely that if I don’t get what I’m asking for it’s because I haven’t prayed enough? These are things that we wouldn’t readily admit to, but sometimes our language and expectations belie what we really believe.
Prayer is a description of a multi-faceted process that is simple and yet complex. However, to stray into the arena of judging ‘enough’, seems to be just that. Judging. I have no idea how much anyone else prays. I have no right to dictate what their prayer life should look like.
Do I pray enough? Honestly I have no idea. However, asking the question causes me to look at my beliefs and importantly, my relationship with God. How it functions. What nourishes it. Where is the healthy balance between discipline and legalism.
Without judgement or condemnation how does your attitude to prayer illuminate your relationship to God?
A final thought: what would God say if I asked him, ‘Do I pray enough?’