Go Deep and Alone in Prayer Encore

Encore Post - Every month the most viewed post for three years. Real then, still real today!

I 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. Any leader who leads for any length of time will find themselves leading or leading alongside difficult people. Today, I want to focus on a kind of growth that can occur from your deep moments with God during prayer. 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 of those nights I left the bedroom and went to try to sleep on the family room couch, figuring the change would help spur some sleepiness. Each time it did not, so 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" near 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 quiet that protest. Each night I awoke and had this devotion time I felt rested the same day at my office. 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 

(This was not and is not a sensual experience although it may be part of the reason this post from three years ago is the most often read even today. This is also NOT a group exercise as I have found on other internet posts. Do not be tempted to justify spiritually an unrighteous thought or action.)

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 became more aware of my undress and 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 how spiritually naked I was too. God could see everything about my spiritual life ... my mind, my past... and my present condition. 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 other difficult people. My future behavior was being changed. 

Many months later I came across this passage which brought more meaningfulness to the memory of my previous experience.   "And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account." Hebrews 4:13 ESV

Every time I pray, I don’t get the same immediate assurance that he is listening. However, in these special times of prayer my ability to repel my own sinful nature was strengthened 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 we all can learn from these experiences.

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

As another practical example, I cannot remember a meeting that began with extended prayer 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.