Learning to Love Prayer - By Guest Jessica Mathisen
Nearly three years ago, I moved from a town I lived in for over ten years—about a third of my life at that point—to a neighboring town of where I grew up. On the surface, this move looked like a welcome change. My family walked through several trials and endured many losses for the months leading up to our relocation, and a fresh start seemed like the perfect balm for our weary souls. However, upon arriving at our new home, we quickly discovered that fresh starts, while beneficial in the long run, are still a change. The truth is, change can be difficult, even when welcomed.
As the weeks bled into months, my heart continued to feel raw, vulnerable, and exposed. I finally had the space to process the grief of each loss and challenge we endured in the prior year, and my emotions were a roller coaster ride. At times, I wondered if God could really hear me. Did He really care? And if so, was He ever going to do anything to help me? Even though I knew the “right” answers to these questions in my head, my heart still wondered if He was really going to come through again. I didn’t know if I could trust Him to provide a new church community, friends for my children, and a sense of belonging when I felt like a fish out of water. But as I considered His perfect track record, I had the tiniest sliver of hope that He would indeed come through.
The next year, I turned 35. My life felt more settled than it did the year prior—I felt alive in our new church, our new town felt more like home than the old one had, and my marriage had weathered its toughest season yet. As I reflected on the blessings and the hardships of my life thus far, the Lord impressed upon my heart a desire and a calling—become a woman of prayer.
My mom has a saying she adopted from another friend that the Lord often brings to mind: “Go to the throne before the phone.” This wise saying originated years before cell phones and instant messaging. The point is this—before you reach for comfort, advice, sympathy, or wisdom from someone else, take it to Jesus.
We often discount the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, who indwells us (Romans 8:14-17). We forget Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father, daily interceding for us, so we neglect to pray (Romans 8:34). Instead, we falsely believe we can handle everything on our own. We think the instant relief of “just venting” with a friend will be enough to carry us through our dark times. However, Scripture clearly says we do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord (Matthew 4:4). When we neglect prayer, we fail to invite God into every area of our lives. We miss out on hearing His heart and learning to see situations with His perspective. We cannot enjoy the beauty of answered prayers when we haven’t prayed at all.
If you don’t know where to start when praying, consider how Jesus taught His disciples:
“Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” - Matthew 6:9-13 CSB
In this model prayer, Jesus instructed the disciples (and now us, too!) to pray with the following in mind:
God’s glory
God’s will
God’s provision
God’s forgiveness for us
Our forgiveness and relationships with others
God’s strength to live a holy and Christ-exalting life
It’s tempting to be overwhelmed by all we need to pray for. But consider this, friend. We are not omniscient nor omnipotent, and we never will be. Our Heavenly Father sees and knows everything, and when we ask His Holy Spirit how and what to pray, He will teach us. He will bring people and situations to mind that we need to lay at His feet. He will give us a heart that longs to worship Him and be with Him, not solely for the purpose of trying to receive something from Him. He will meet our every need. And He does this through the beautiful, simple, yet incredibly powerful act of prayer.
Prayer is not a skill we will ever master, but rather a practice of strengthening our relationship with God. When we make prayer our first defense instead of our last resort, we will find the peace, joy, and hope we so often search for apart from Christ. Through prayer, we find Christ to be who He says He is—our all-sufficient Lord, Savior, and friend.
