Over the last few weeks I’ve gone through a whole range of emotions. I’ve felt overwhelmed, anxious, full of joy, peace, sadness. I’ve been frustrated, excited, distracted, vulnerable, hopeful and grateful. My routine has been upended. I’ve been in more zoom meetings then I can count; I even forgot one meeting in which Zoomed into in my activewear while simultaneously taking my three year old daughter for a ride on her scooter. She did 5km in that hour and a half meeting.
In all of the mayhem of the last few weeks one of things I’ve struggled with is prayer. Not that I have struggled to carve out time to pray over the last few weeks. For me personally, in the midst of routines being upended and the ongoing temptation to feel like I have more important things to be doing, I can honestly say that I have carved out more time then normal to pray. But what I’ve really struggled with over the last few weeks is the ability to focus and not be distracted by everything that is racing in my mind, all the distractions of my worries and daily to do lists that make life feel more chaotic then ever.
In the midst of the COVID chaos, one of the things I have found helpful has been to remind myself why I should bother praying.
In John 16, as Jesus taught his disciples about God’s plan and purposes in the upper room the night before his crucifixion, at the hour of his glory. Smack bang in the middle of pointing to his death and resurrection, and his teaching on the Holy Spirit. And right before he himself prays to the Father, Jesus speaks of a day of joy:
“In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God” (John 16:26-27).
In this day of joy, remarkably, Jesus says, you will no longer have to ask me on your behalf, but you will be able to go directly to the Father. How is this possible? The Father loves us because we have loved and believed in Jesus, that he came from God.
Over the Easter weekend we’ve been reminded of this amazing news. Jesus came from God and was made fully human. He became the only mediator between sinful humanity and a Holy God. We were once separated from God, but in Jesus’ death he made atonement for our sins so that now we have direct access to God and can call him our Father. What an incredible privilege!
In my struggle to pray there have been other helpful habits. For example, I’ve purposefully blocked out time at the start of the day. Generally I find if I’m not disciplined to do my quiet time and exercise first thing in the day, I rarely get around to it later in the day. I’ve also been using a prayer journal lately, which has helped clear my mind. But the thing that has been most helpful is to remember the privilege of prayer as I look to the gospel and ask “why pray?”
Why pray? Because despite my sin, the Son has won for me direct access to my Father in heaven and in his ongoing grace he has sent to live in me the Holy Spirit to help me pray (Rom 8:26-27). When I pray, I know the Father loves to hear me, because he loves me as his child.
Can you see what a privilege prayer is?! When I remember these amazing truths from God’s word the question I ask myself no longer is “why pray?” But “why wouldn’t I pray?”
Photo by Lua Valentia on Unsplash