Go Deep & Alone in Prayer

1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. Matthew 6:5  And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites.... But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Throughout their time on earth, God continues to shape the lives of His leaders, and He is still shaping my time with Him. Today, I want to focus on a kind of growth that can occur from your deep moments with God during prayer. I am not encouraging you to duplicate my experience; however, I am suggesting a way and time to approach God that you might not necessarily think of trying. Here are two approaches to my time with the Lord that have helped me hear Him better. I hope they might help you.

 The First Approach

 For five out of the last 8 days I have been awakened at 3 am with an uncommon level of alertness. Wondering what to do, each night I left the bedroom and went to the family room couch, figuring the difference would spur some sleepiness. Each time it did not, and each time I turned the light on and spent some time in scripture and equal time in prayer. Similarly, for a period of time in the 1990's He would "awake" me at 4 am, nudging me to meet with Him. I could not help remembering those days; thus, considered my recent "awakenings" at 3 am ( Each night I awakened within 15 minutes of 3 am.) nudges from God who wanted to speak with me.

If this happened to you, your first thought would probably be similar to mine: "How am I going to make up the sleep I lose if I have this devotion time?" You can probably guess what happened to quite that protest. Each of the days that God prompted me awake, I felt rested at my office, and I even felt a sense of God's presence when, on those same days, I had to deal with some difficult people. Friends, our Lord is faithful and knows what we need. However, He wants you to tell Him, preferably when you and He are alone. 

"Our Lord is faithful and knows what we need. However, He wants you to tell Him, preferably when you and He are alone." 

In our American culture, it is very hard to find that time alone to spend with God. If you are having a hard time finding time in your day for this kind of prayer, try setting your alarm for 3 am, get out of the bedroom, and find a room where you can be alone. I will guarantee you will wake up in the morning rested, and better prepared for the day.

The Second Approach

My second experience in prayer came recently after exiting my shower. I sat on the edge of my bed and began to pray. Not paying attention to the fact I had not dressed yet, I just began to speak to the Lord about life. Only a few sentences into my prayer, I began to feel an increasingly emotion of shame and/or embarrassment before Him as I realized the extent of my exposure. I can now understand why Adam hid from the Lord in the Garden of Eden. However, even in this state of embarrassment, I continued to pray.

 Soon, my embarrassment turned to learning as I began to realize the depth of God's grace in my life. My physical exposure taught me about my spiritual nakedness before Him. As I prayed, I continued to learn and experience this truth. Then I began to wonder why He would be so gracious as to continue to listen to me. Yet I knew He was listening to me; indeed, He began to challenge me to apply His listening grace to a person who has inflicted much pain in my own life. My planned behavior was being changed. 

God hears our prayers even when we feel alone.

Every time I pray, I don’t get the same immediate assurance that he is listening. However, in the previous incidences, my ability to repel my own sinful nature did have a positive impact, as He "turned His ear" toward me and let me sense that He was there. These prayer times remain a reminder of how He knows me completely, yet He continues to make himself available to listen to me. If you think about it, this really goes against every human instinct.

 Transforming Your Prayer Life

There are three things that I think you can learn from my experience.

1. He is always near us.
2. He listens to those whose lives are lived within His favor. 
3.  Deep prayer improves our behavior. 

As a practical example, I cannot remember a meeting that began with extended prayer and that ended with guilt and remorse over behavior in the meeting. However, I can remember many meetings when just the opposite took place. Friends, I know that prayer spurs us on toward more good behavior, good behavior spurs on more righteousness, and more righteousness keeps the ear of our Lord turned toward us. If you would like to understand this a bit more, begin to pray alone, and then maybe even pray naked.