Prayer non-stop

Hannah Atkins

I guess I’ve been talking with God for about 22 years now, but I really don’t feel qualified to write on this massive subject! Do I really know the first thing about prayer?!

I guess one of the difficulties is that we always say, ‘I find it so hard to pray.’ But, I guess, on the other hand – is prayer really that hard! God must be gutted that we can’t even make conversation with him – our CREATOR. Prayer starts with the acknowledgement that God wants to chat all the time! It’s a two way dialogue. Please don’t think I’m being irreverent, I’m just being real. I think God even wants us to ask him for parking spaces. He wants us ask him when the evil parking ticket men will next be on the prowl as to how long we’ve got after our ticket has run out. He wants to be involved in the most menial tasks and thoughts of our every day life – and of course, all of our big decisions, that goes without saying. You hear people saying that there is an issue of ‘over spiritualising’ everything. Well, in my opinion, if God tells us to ask him for everything we need, then who’s to say that a parking space doesn’t count?

I don’t know why our prayers don’t always get answered, but I do know that when Jesus prayed, he always saw what his Father was doing first and then jumped on board. Basically, you’re on to a winner if God’s already on the case! So let’s ask the Father what’s on his heart, and we can join with Jesus asking to see it happen.

Hearing God speak back can be a tricky one. But then, what meaningful and long term relationship doesn’t have communication issues? We just have to learn his way of talking to us. For me, he talks just like thoughts in my head – now you’re thinking I’m crazy! I still hear him wrong sometimes, but more often than not now, I have learnt to distinguish between what’s him and what are my normal nattering thoughts. If you don’t hear him already, I dare you to try it out. Dare you to ask him some meaningless little thing about the quickest route home tonight, or what time a certain TV programme is on, or which of your friends needs an encouraging text right now. When you hear him right, try something bigger. What is there to lose!

I heard Pete Grieg speak on prayer the other day (the guy behind the 24-7 prayer movement – check it out if you haven’t come across it). He reminded me that although our prayer doesn’t always seem to start revivals, every revival recorded in history EVER, started with a prayer movement! I don’t know about you, but I’m so desperate to see our cultures completely transformed by God – our industries too.

So, let’s start a prayer movement. Not just praying every other month, but daily, hourly, every minute. Let’s be the people who persistently present our requests to God, diligently doing what God is telling us to do. Then and only then, will we see our industries changed for the good here on earth. Not forgetting the unseen battle in the heavenly realms, let’s pray in the spirit at all times.

Let’s start to meet to pray in our work places too. If we wait on God, praying with expectation, we will be transformed by the presence of God, so that we can be making a difference in our families, in our offices, by the songs or columns we write, the films or productions we’re in, the music we play, the photos we take – in all of our creativity. Let’s be world changing prayer warriors and see God really do things far beyond our wildest dreams in our industries today.