CAN YOU PRAY for an HOUR?

By David Young

MAKING A COMMITTMENT

These are exciting days to be a part of what God is doing in His church. Not long ago I was at a state convention meeting where a pastor spoke on Jesus' surprise in Mark 14:37,38 that the disciples could not even pray with Him for an hour. As this pastor concluded his message he asked us to raise our hands if we would commit to pray at least an hour a day. In every direction in that large auditorium hands were lifted as people committed themselves to pray as they had never prayed in their lives. Only eternity will show the full fruit of those commitments. But I am thrilled to be a part of what God is doing in these last days as people commit to earth-shaking prayer. This question of Jesus is touching many hearts in our day. "Can you pray for an hour?"

Can you pray an hour for a Problem?

I can worry for an hour. I can worry for days on end. Worry won't solve the smallest problem. But when we pray God solves every problem we face. Do you believe that? Prayer is God's substitute for worry. Paul urged the Philippian church, "Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."[1]

Can you pray and hour for a Person?

Can you spend an hour on your knees for for someone you know and love? The question, "What would I say?" may come to your mind here. Begin answering that question by measuring the value of a soul. Can you imagine praying an hour for needs in the life of your child or grandchild? Can you see your self considering the temptations and difficulties, hopes and opportunities that child will face? What might God want to do on the earth with the child you are praying for? Do you know people worth an hour of prayer?Can you pray and hour for a Purpose?

Could you spend one hour seeking God's purposes for your life? Would you pray an hour to be faithful to the purpose God will show you? Could you pray an hour a day for God to fulfill His holy purpose in your life?

If you have not tried, the devil will of course convince you that you cannot or should not try to spend a full hour with God in prayer. But that is not really the question of the hour. The question is, "Will you pray for an hour?" Will you make a commitment to set aside one hour to spend in prayer? [1] Philippians 4:6 HCSB

CAN YOU PRAY FOR AN HOUR #2Mark 14:32-40

By David Young

STAYING ON YOUR KNEES

As He came into the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus asked His disciples to "wait" with Him in prayer. Patience may be the greatest difficulty in sustained prayer. Can you wait for an hour in the presence of God?

When my wife and I were dating we liked to take quiet walks together. One of the ways we knew we were really in love was that we did not have to keep up a steady flow of conversation. Sometimes it was enough for us just to be together. Can you wait quietly in the presence of God? Simply being in His presence transforms our lives.

Do you know what it means to marinate a steak? You soak the stake in a special sauce for an extended period of time, sometimes days. Like the steak extended time saturated in God's presence makes your heart sweet and tender.

Jesus agonized in prayer in the garden. Can you stay there with Him in His pain? You can come to the point of spiritual growth where you learn to stay on your knees over the condition of our world, over heartache in the lives of others, over tragedies in your own life.

In the garden Jesus surrendered His will to the will of His Father. "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."[1] The depth of trust and submission in that prayer before the cross takes my breath away. Have you struggled in surrender to the passion of Christ? Do you know an hour's worth of requests that are God's yet unfulfilled will?

Pastors, because of the powerful influence God has given you over the prayer lives of your people, I have woven sermon points into this article. I pray that God will use you to call your people regularly to Wait for an Hour in His Presence, in His Pain, in His Passion and Purpose.

CAN YOU PRAY FOR AN HOUR #3Mark 14:32-40By David Young

PRAYING SCRIPTURE

Years ago an evangelist friend of mine told about entering a church building in the middle of the night and overhearing a couple of men covering a late night segment of a 24-hour prayer watch. After they had prayed a little while and seemed to be hunting for something else to say, one of them looked at the clock on the wall and prayed, "Lord, an hour is a long time to pray."

Most of us can sympathize with that man. As Jesus challenges His disciples about praying for an hour we wonder what we would pray for all that time. One of the greatest helps I know of is simply praying the scriptures.

Some of you have participated in what is called an "African Bible Study." In this type of study one person reads a scripture passage aloud while all the rest follow along prayerfully. Then one by one each person in the group is invited to share a word, verse or concept that struck them as the passage was read. Then another person reads the passage, possibly in a different translation of scripture. This time each person shares why a certain thing impressed him. The scripture is read a third time, and each member of the group shares what he would like to pray in relation to what God impressed on him. Spontaneously others in the group lift each person's request.

You can pray the scriptures alone as easily as you can with a group. You might begin with the Lord's Prayer. You can pray through it word by word, beginning with, "Our Father." You can tell God what it means to lean upon Him as your father. You can pray about being part of God's family as you say, "Our Father." Go on through each facet of the prayer telling God every thing the Holy Sprit brings to mind.

You can pray through other scripture passages in a similar way. I recently heard someone talk about praying through the Ten Commandments. I have several scriptures that God has pressed on my heart for the direction of my life. I try to pray through them every day.

It amazes me how much more I get out of scripture when I am praying over it. My prayer becomes a dialogue with God. And when I pray over scripture God shows me things that I would never have understood or thought to pray about on my own.

CAN YOU PRAY FOR AN HOUR #4Mark 14:32-40

By David Young

PRAYER COMMITMENTS

I can hear some of you chafing against having to discipline yourself to pray for an hour. "Isn't prayer supposed to rise from devotion? Is God pleased when we have to make ourselves talk to Him?"

I doubt if we will have to discipline ourselves to pray in Heaven. But here we must redeem time from the grasp human effort. The world, the flesh and the devil do everything they can to keep us from spending time in prayer.

Several years ago I heard a sermon on pastors devoting ourselves to prayer[1]. In earnest response, I made several life changing commitments of daily prayer. These items have become the most important elements of my ministry. Here are five of them.

1. Take time to praise God.

Jesus began His model prayer with praise. This boosts my faith and changes the perspective of my prayers.

2. Pray for lost people God has brought to me.

Possibly the most impressive scripture on this is Romans 10:1-4 where Paul said his hearts desire for his own people was for them to come to Christ. God's longs for each person to repent[1].

3. Pray for everyone on our church roll.

In John 17 Jesus prayed for those the Father had given Him rather than for the world. I believe the most important thing I can do for a lost world is pray for Christians who live and witness among them..

4. Pray for a list of pastors and missionaries that I know and love.

One of the most effective things I can do for the Kingdom of God is pray for those God has called to serve Him.

5. Pray for my prayer supporters.

I have a group of people who are committed to pray regularly for me. I write them nearly every month, sometimes every week. But I pray for them everyday. They are the foundation of my ministry.

Once I had made these commitments, I was forced to make time for prayer. I have to shut my office door some everyday, or I will not finish my prayer commitments. I rise early in the morning to pray. Some days I have to take time before I go to bed finishing up my lists. I am convinced that prayer is the most important work in my life and ministry. It is worth the priority of my time and commitment.

CAN YOU PRAY FOR AN HOUR #5Mark 14:32-40

By David Young

GIVE THANKS

I woke in a foul mood one Monday morning a short time after I had made my commitments to sustained prayer. I managed to struggle though my early morning devotional time wrestling with bad attitudes. As I continued through the day, I found it more and more difficult to pray.

Almost in desperation I started thanking God instead of making requests. I thanked God for what He was already doing in the lives of people around me. I went down my prayer lists thanking God for what He was doing about each need. And the fresh breeze of thanksgiving whipped through the doldrums of my prayer life that morning. It lifted my spirits like a kite soaring above a mountain ridge. From time to time I still enter the divine jet stream by devoting a full day to giving thanks.

Thanksgiving is an important facet of prayer. Jesus modeled and encouraged thanksgiving. Paul repeatedly advised us to pray with thanksgiving. And for me, giving thanks is necessary for sustaining my faithfulness before the throne. It encourages my faith and keeps my hope in God. And it is an important means of sustained prayer.

Much Christian music is devoted to thanksgiving and praise. It may help you to take a hymnal and try singing your thanks to God. A good method of praying for an hour is to record your favorite praise music, and listen worshiping with your whole heart for an hour.

Thanksgiving is essential to a healthy prayer life. Could you spend a full hour giving thanks to God for all He is doing in your life; for all that He is doing around you on the earth; for all that He has done in time and eternity? Thanksgiving will sweeten and sustain your prayer life as it has mine.

CAN YOU PRAY FOR AN HOUR #6Mark 14:32-40

By David Young

PRAYER AND FASTING

This article may convince some of you that serious sustained prayer is only for nut cases. Few things strike terror into our hearts like the thought of missing one dessert, not to mention giving up several whole meals. But among the benefits of fasting is a freedom to pray that you may long for.

One practical area where fasting helps us pray is in the availability and management of time. Fasting adds several hours to your day that would have been used up planning, preparing and consuming food.

Focus is another related benefit. We can devote more attention to God when we are not preoccupied with physical satisfaction. Focusing on prayer is at the heart of biblical fasting. We fast because we recognize great needs, and because we are driven by an urgency to pray for them.

Our unusual physical comforts in 21st century America easily lull us into dangerous complacency that ends in spiritual poverty. This complacency brought about the poverty of the church in Laodicea that Jesus said was "wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked"[1] in spite of apparent wealth. Fasting can be a great help in shaking us out of our complacency.

Those of you who fast occasionally can also give testimony to the clarity of mind that fasting produces. Restlessness often throws my thoughts into a jumble. A peace accompanies fasting that calms my spirit. I think and pray more clearly when I am fasting. One reason that I don't pray as much as I would like is that I am driven to expend nervous energy. I want to "do something" when I really need God to act. I suspect the calming effect of fasting is part physical, part emotional and part spiritual. I won't speculate on how much of each fasting is.

There is a danger of treating fasting as a kind of spiritual one-up-man-ship. "So you read all of Deuteronomy. Well, I fast." Or, "So you fasted for three days. I fasted for three weeks!" Jesus clearly condemned this kind of spiritual competition. He warned us not to show off our fasting to other people. Fasting is to be between you and God[1].

Fasting can also become an effort of the flesh to force God to do my will. I don't see success in work or ministry, so I work harder by fasting or adopting some other difficult spiritual discipline. Like other kinds of legalism this attitude in fasting does not restrain my sinful nature[1]. And it will never please God.

However, you can fast simply to devote time to seeking God rather than physical pleasure. You can say, "It is so important for me to pray today that I will skip meals to spend more time with God."

CAN YOU PRAY FOR AN HOUR #7Mark 14:32-40

By David Young

DRAWING NEAR

Not long ago I spoke in a church on the subject of praying for an hour. Between services a man wanted to talk with me. He told me he had trouble understanding the reason for praying for an hour. "After all," he said, "prayer is simply asking God for what you need and thanking Him for what He has done." There are times when such a narrow definition helps me understand my relationship with God. However, for the purpose of these articles we need to define prayer as intimate fellowship with God.

Prayer is close fellowship with God. In this perspective much is included in prayer. I prayerfully read God's word. Time spent meditating on scripture is prayer. Most of my sermon preparation consists of listening to the still small voice of God. That can also be true of writing. And I have often sensed intense communication with God as I presented the gospel to someone.

As we think of drawing near in fellowship with God, let's shift our picture from the garden where the previous articles camped, to the home of Martha in Luke 10:38-42. Martha is rushing around like a pastor overwhelmed by the demands of ministry. But we find her sister Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus clinging to His every word. You know the story; when Martha complained that Mary was not helping, Jesus said Mary had chosen what was best.

Martha was distracted by the importance of what she was doing. It was an honor for her to receive Jesus in her home. What would you have been doing in that situation? At least Martha was not busy telling all of her neighbors like I would have been tempted to do. We often miss what God wants to tell us because we are so impressed with our important tasks.

Martha was also distracted by the fear of impending crisis. How was she going to feed this mob? How could she prepare a meal worthy of the Master? Have you been so distracted by ministry needs that you have no time for God?

Mary on the other hand was drawn by awareness of her need. She knew she needed Jesus more than anything or anyone else. Mary was drawn by an unparalleled devotion. Her love for Him drove her to His feet.

Jesus said Mary had chosen what was best. Mary's nearness to Jesus was a decision. If God did not draw us we would never seek Him. But He also makes us decide if we want to draw near to Him. You will not spend time in the presence of God today by accident. You must decide to set aside the distractions to sit at His feet. Will you decide to give Him one uninterrupted hour today?

CAN YOU PRAY FOR AN HOUR #8Mark 14:32-40

By David Young

PRAYER WALKING

I'm sure you have noticed how little things eat up time that could have been given to more important tasks, especially prayer. I have entered my office to pray, and wound up wasting the time getting coffee, talking on the phone, reading e-mail, some of it pretty frivolous, or playing a game or two of freecell on the computer.

Yesterday I was especially burdened by my need for prayer. I knew I would be distracted if I stayed at my desk. So I went out to prayer walk in the neighborhood. I prayed for every house and business on my route. I prayed for God to change our neighborhood. I prayed with a man I met on the street. As I walked I also reviewed a list of scriptures I am memorizing, prayed about things that were happening in my life, and poured my heart out over some particular needs in my church.

We do most of our prayer walking in teams. There is a dynamic to walking together that is in some ways more important than walking alone. But prayer walking is also a good way to get alone with God.

Walking is, of course, good for my health. Most of us do not walk nearly enough. Prayer walking is good for my spiritual health. It is part of the exercise of godliness, stretching spiritual muscles as I embrace the neighborhood where I live and serve.

The Father often shows me evidences of sin and heartache in yards and curbside trash cans. He shows me where children play and where people work. He shows me things He longs to do in lives. He sometimes shows me what He has already begun in ways that I would never understand in my prayer closet.

Prayer walking reminds me that I must be sensitive to God's still small voice of leadership. Coming to street corners, I ask God to show me which way to turn. Prayer walking gives great practice in sensing subtle impressions from God. I also pray for God's direction for my life and for His church as I walk through the place where God has planted me.

In Mark 14:37 Jesus specifically asked His disciples, "Could you not watch with me for an hour?" Watching is at the heart of prayer walking. I recently received a note from Walt DeJager who teaches prayer walking for the North American Mission Board. They teach groups to "pray onsite with insight." When I told Walt I was going to include this quote he insisted that I credit refer to you to the Waymakers[1] website, which offers excellent information on prayer walking.

You can pray for an hour if you know how to walk.

CAN YOU PRAY FOR AN HOUR #9Mark 14:32-40

By David Young

CAN YOU PRAY ALL DAY LONG?

Chang Moon, pastor of the largest SBC church in the Northwest, once told me about bringing a man from Korea to preach a revival meeting in his church. At one point in the week the visiting preacher said to the people in all seriousness, "After you have prayed for ten or eleven hours straight, you need to take a break and rest before you begin to pray again."

The challenge of Jesus in the garden, "Could you not watch with me for an hour?" carries the assumption that an hour is a minimum rather than the maximum expectation for prayer. Jesus often spent longer times in prayer.

Devoting whole days to prayer is not beyond what God may be doing in some of our lives in this crucial hour. However, most of us would have to quit our jobs or abandon ministries that God has called us to, if we regularly spent that much time closeted in prayer.

There is another facet to praying more than an hour. Paul called the Thessalonians to, "Pray continually." You can pray through each day calling on the Lord to work through and around you. You can pray for people on the street, at your work, in stores, in the bank or at the coffee shop.

There are several guides to help us pray for people we may not know. I sometimes pray for Burdens, Bitterness, Blindness, Bondage and Barriers that may plague people. A guide suggested by Houses of Prayer Everywhere is easier to remember. It uses an acrostic for bless; Body, Labor, Emotions, Social and Spiritual.

While aids like these help us get started, I think it is better to be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit may impress on me. When I look people in the eyes, I often know things to pray for them. It is amazing how revealing a person's eyes will be when I care enough to look. Some of what I see requires little spiritual discernment. I can detect physical pain, bitterness, anger or sorrow. I may also get impressions of things to pray for that cannot be read on a face. I don't waste time worrying about how accurate my impressions may be. I am not trying to impress people. I am talking to God. I know I can trust Him, even when I have not accurately read a person's need. The Spirit of God intercedes for us in this weakness.

This is not a substitute for sustained prayer. Jesus walked in constant communion with His heavenly Father, yet He repeatedly went off alone to pray. I have worked for more than twenty years with Jim Gantenbein who is a faithful prayer warrior. Jim says a good extended time of prayer in the morning is the key to praying all day long.

CAN YOU PRAY FOR AN HOUR #10Mark 14:32-40By David Young

RESTING IN PRAYER

Like the disciples that night in the garden, I have been drained by the spiritual turmoil of ministry. It is interesting that these fishermen, who could fish all night, casting nets till their muscle ached, could not pray for an hour. They were unable to handle the emotional and spiritual exhaustion of waking with Jesus. When you come to such burnout in life and ministry you must either escape from prayer or rest in prayer. The disciples went to sleep.

The rest of fellowship

Looking back several years in the Gospels we see Jesus and His disciples being worn out in frantic ministry. On one of these occasions Jesus said to His followers, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."[1] Arriving at the resort they found the multitude and the ministry had followed them. Jesus taught and healed all day long. Then He fed the multitude with a little boy's lunch. He must have been exhausted.

What did Jesus do on in His exhaustion? He went up the mountainside to be alone with His Father. Jesus rested in prayer. What do you do for rest? Do you go fishing? Do you play games on your computer? Do you play golf? Have you tried relaxing in fellowship with God? Jesus calls us to rest in Him,"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest"[1]

The rest of faith

Matthew 11 does not call us to loaf. We are to take up our Lord's yoke. The burden of prayer in the garden was hardly restful. Jesus sweated drops of blood under that yoke. Most of us have faced times of turmoil in ministry where we had to wrestle like Jacob before God. In those times we struggle to come to faith. Hebrews 4 speaks of straining toward the rest of faith.

Although Jesus wrestled with the will of God in the garden, He prayed until He had come to the peace of surrender. That was His goal, and it should be ours. You cannot come to God's rest without struggling in prayer. Can you wrestle in prayer for an hour? Can you stay on your knees until you rest in faith?

CAN YOU PRAY FOR AN HOUR #11Mark 14:32-40

By David Young

ACCOUNTABILITY

When Jesus interrupted His prayer in the garden to urge His disciples to "watch and pray," He made a powerful statement of priority. Can you imagine anything more urgent in the life of Jesus than that final prayer before the cross? James tells us that Elijah prayed earnestly[1]. But Jesus prayed so earnestly in the garden that sweat fell to the ground like drops of blood. Still, encouraging His disciples to pray was important enough that he stepped away from that prayer to ask His disciples if they could not pray for an hour.

Believers have a number of crucial sources of encouragement. We receive the encouragement of the scriptures as Paul wrote in Romans 15:4. We are encouraged by the faithful testimonies of others like Barnabas in Acts 4:36,37. We are encouraged by great preachers like Paul in Acts 20 and elsewhere. And we are encouraged to be faithful by brothers and sisters who stand with us in the church. When we encourage one another to pray we emulate the ministry that Jesus thought was important enough to do in the middle of His prayer in the garden.

Our accountability in the church ought to include faithfulness in service, morality and even spiritual disciplines like prayer. I am part of an e-mail accountability forum. There are only four of us in our group right now. Several more have reported with us over the years. We agree to pray for each other daily and encourage one another to "super faithfulness. Each week we e-mail one another reporting on how we have kept a list of commitments." Our commitments include devotional Bible reading, witnessing and disciple mentoring, reading good books and physical exercise. Our list includes praying an hour a day and praying with our wives at least three times a week.

I encourage any of you who are so impressed to form accountability groups. E-mail works well for us, although I suspect meeting in person would be better for many. Pray together as you agree on your commitments. I suggest that you make them demanding and practical. Most of all I recommend that you seek guidance from God as you make your list of things to report on each week. If you write and ask, I will send you our list with a few suggestions for your own group.David Youngdavidbyoung@q.com

In a group we can encourage one another to pray for an hour and do other things God's word urges us to do.

CAN YOU PRAY FOR AN HOUR #12Mark 14:32-40

by David Young

STARTING AGAIN

What do you do when you have fallen away from a commitment? What do you tell others to do when their faith failed them, when their moral resolve failed, when they have not kept their commitments?

Do you remember the movie, Chariots of Fire? Early in the movie we see Eric Liddel competing in the All Scotland games. Sam Musibini, the professional coach has come to observe. And Harold Abrahams, the Cambridge standout, has come up especially to see Liddel run.

The gun starts the final heat and the runners are off. Deliberately another runner trips Eric Liddel causing him to fall out of his lane into the infield. The camera shows Eric's cousin and trainer urging under his breath, "Get up! Get up!" It turns to Abrahams in the grandstands. He is shouting with clinched fists, "Get up!" It pans to Sam Musabini on the infield shaking his stopwatch and saying, "Get up! Get up!" Turning back to Liddel we see him struggle to his feet to chase the others far ahead around the track. One by one he passes every other runner to collapse in victory at the finish line.

Musabini reaches him first and with a hand under his head says, "Young man, 'that was not the prettiest quarter I have ever seen, but it was certainly the bravest.'"

When others you care about fall from their commitments, I hope you tell them to get up and start over again. I suspect you tell them what you need to hear when your prayer life has been squeezed out of your busy schedule or by carelessness or some other sin. You tell others they can start over again. Is that what the Lord is saying to you?

In the Garden when Jesus asked in amazement if His disciples could not even pray for an hour, He was giving them a chance to wake up and pray. When He came back to His disciples a second time, He was again giving them a chance to start over again.

Our Lord is doing the same in our lives. Some of us have considered sustained prayer or even begun praying an hour a day, but have fallen back into spiritual slumber. God is urging you to you get up. You can start over again.