I’ve been a practicing Christian my entire adult life, and one would think that would result in a certain level of proficiency in certain practices such as what often occurs when one plays golf, tennis, or does various other activities on a regular basis. Prayer is not like this for me though. Prayer is like whack-a-mole. As soon as I knock down a mole that pops up--some sort of obstacle to my praying--another mole rises in its place. "Whack-a-mole" is exactly how I would describe my prayer life, a daily whacking away at things that prevent prayer.
But I am starting to think prayer is not something you master; it is not something you get good at and people think, “Wow, he’s really good at prayer.” I’m starting to think it is something else entirely.
I’ve whacked various moles of prayerlessness over the years with a variety of practices. Here are just a few:
- Praying the Lord’s prayer
- Praying the prayers of the apostle Paul
- Praying the Psalms
- Praying from the Book of Common Prayer
- Praying from a paper list
- Praying about things I read in the newspaper
- Praying by using a list from a prayer app (currently Echo)
- Praying while walking around the neighborhood
- Praying at a local nature center
- Praying as thinking, which I learned from the movie, The Tree of Life
- Praying breath prayers that last no more than a few words or a sentence
- Praying on a bike ride using a prayer app
My latest prayer innovation is a prayer bike ride. Actually, I learned this was possible from a pastor in our town who used to ride his bike to different communities around the county and pray for the churches in the communities. So I have implemented this method and it is currently my go-to method for prayer, albeit I stay local by riding to the nearby county park. Biking prayer is healthy and I can do it safely, even though it is a form of multitasking, something I am otherwise not very good at. I can pray for an entire 45-minute bike ride and go through my entire list of people and things that I want to pray about. The only problem is that as soon as I started praying this way, which I can only do every other day due to the rigors of riding a bike 10 miles, I seem to be unable to get myself to pray any other way other than some little breath prayers to God here and there. I think another mole just popped up.
With all of the different ways I have attempted to pray over the years, you would think that I would be better at it. Or at least that I would have demonstrated more mastery of the practice. But I am starting to think prayer is not something you master; it is not something you get good at and people think, “Wow, he’s really good at prayer.” I’m starting to think it is something else entirely.
Years ago I went to a church where it was widely reported that the pastor prayed four hours a day. This has actually turned out to be one of the worst things I ever heard, not for him, but for me. I spent the next many years comparing my prayer life to this standard, and I always came away feeling like I was not spiritual, not committed; just a mediocre person living a lukewarm life who didn’t love God enough to pray more than a little bit on certain days.
Years ago I went to a church where it was widely reported that the pastor prayed four hours a day. This has actually turned out to be one of the worst things I ever heard . . .
At this point I think I’m supposed to write how I conquered this challenge in my life and now I’m really good at prayer. But I’m not. Most days I think I’d rather do almost anything else than pray; that’s how unnatural it seems. For me, prayer really is like whack-a-mole, discovering new reasons not to pray and whacking them down day after day. Maybe prayer is like that for you too, like whack-a-mole.