Praying With Purpose

New Light, imagine being in your quiet place and telling God through your prayer: “Father, You are my refuge. You are the Most High in all the universe and I live your house because; You are my Father. And I know because I live with You, no plague, no coronavirus, nor any other disease, can survive where You live. Father, my home is Your home.” New Light, how would that prayer make you feel? Would it bring you peace? Would it give you hope? As I sit in my home speaking to you right now I want you to know that the Lord is welcomed here in my house and the coronavirus is not! It might try to sneak in and visit, but it’s not welcome here and can’t stay. I confess that as a child of God! And, the more I confess that the more it gets into my heart and the more my faith is built up against it. Remember, faith comes by hearing the Word – even if that Word is spoken from your own lips! I am speaking the Word over my life and my home!

Let’s talk a minute about praying with a purpose. When we begin to pray with a purpose, we set aside time for this activity. I read a story about a woman named Susan Wesley. Even though she had 19 children she found time each day to pray for one hour. As you would expect, with 19 children she had no place to go in order to pray in private so she would cover her face with her apron and pray. The children were instructed not to bother her when her apron was over her head. The children grew up watching their mother pray for one hour a day. They watched her talk to her Heavenly Father. This was important time for her and she did not let everything that happened throughout her day, including taking care of 19 children, interfere with it. We have a lot of distractions in general, but during this time we have the ability to take a step back and really focus on what important and one of those things is prayer. As I thought of her I was reminded of the song “In the Garden”? It says, “I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses. And the voice I hear, falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses. And He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.” This is a good descriptor of our time alone with our Heavenly Father.

When Jesus taught on prayer in Matthew chapter six, He said the following, “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” (Matthew 6:5-8) Jesus assumed that His disciples would be praying. I mean think about it. They saw Him praying to the Father. He led by example so it would be natural for Him to expect and know that they would pray. He knew that for them to stay connected to the Father through Him it would come through prayer and the Word that would follow. In Matthew chapter six Jesus tells the disciples how to pray. Before He walks them through what we know as the Lord’s Prayer, He gave them additional instruction. He told them not to pray to be seen of men. (I think this is what Nikki’s former pastor was telling me.) He also said to do it at home, in your prayer closet or room. In other words, do it privately - having a personal, private, purposeful conversation with your Heavenly Father. Then He tells them not to use meaningless repetitions – a lot of words that means little. What I believe Jesus was saying here is to pray with purpose. We see this also when He gives them the example of the Lord’s Prayer. So what else does it mean to pray with purpose?