
Pray As If Your Life Depends on It
We all can pray much more, and much more diligently:
While I pray every day, and have a growing prayer list, I do not regard myself as much of a pray-er. I should be praying far more often and far more fervently. I certainly have a very long ways to go to come close to fulfilling what we find in 1 Thessalonians 5:17: “pray without ceasing”.
I say that at the outset because here I want to encourage us all in our prayer lives. And I must begin with myself in this regard. And the initial inspiration for this piece was something I briefly viewed on television last night. I only saw part of it, but it got me thinking.
The show was called ‘Wild Weather Caught on Camera’ or something like that. So it showed folks going through some pretty wild and dangerous weather situations. The bit I saw had to do with some really dangerous tornadoes that had gone through Oklahoma and other states.
Several people featured in the segment were caught directly in the path of these killer tornadoes, and they had their reactions recorded on their phones or video cameras. One thing that stood out was how similar their reactions were. They all prayed, and they all prayed like mad. They were not just praying, they were shouting, they were screaming: “Please God please!” “Save us Jesus!” “Jesus, please help us!” “Please God help!” “Lord Jesus please help us!” “God save me!” And so on.
I managed to find one of these scenes online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwmM3KMPE3c
It was pretty intense. One thing is for certain: they were praying as if their very lives depended on it. And their lives did depend on it! They were 100 per cent earnest, serious, energised and supercharged in their prayers. They knew that unless God showed up, they were goners.
As I was watching this, I thought that in one sense, is this not how we all should be when it comes to prayer? Not formulaic and humdrum and nominal prayers, but hardcore, fervent and absolutely committed prayers. After all, every second of our life could be our last. Every day could be our final day.
Every day that we walk out the door in the morning to go to work or school, we could very possibly not return home. Life is very fragile and risky, and unless God is with us every moment of the way, we are all toast. At any moment we can find ourselves no longer walking this earth. Should we not therefore always be serious and ardent in our prayer life?
Sure, as we busily go about life, we cannot drop everything and get on our knees 24/7. Consider the busy housewife and stay at home mother for example: She gets up early in the morning to get things ready for the kids – preparing their breakfast, getting them dressed for school, making their lunches, cleaning the house, shopping, preparing meals, and a million other things.
While she cannot drop all that for lengthy periods of mega-prayer and intercession, she can nonetheless pray as she works and does her daily duties. But what a difference a bit of perspective makes. When you are faced with almost certain death, your priorities sure do change massively.
When you realise how short and fragile life is, you should be developing an attitude of prayer that never takes anything for granted, and that puts a real amount of solemnity and soberness in our prayers and in our very lives. Yes, we can play and laugh and relax and so on.
But we should have a view of life that the average non-Christian does not have. We are to be aware of the spiritual war that is taking place all around us. We are to be aware that the devil is working overtime to get at you, your children, your church, your community, and your nation. You are to be aware that the world hates Christ and Christians, and that nothing we do and say is without consequence.
While this article is not meant to be a treatise on prayer, let me leave you with a few key quotes on it from the great preacher Martyn Lloyd-Jones. In the first of his volumes of expository sermons on the book of Ephesians, God’s Ultimate Purpose, he says this as he discusses Eph. 1:15-17:
There is perhaps no aspect of our Christian life that so frequently raises problems in people’s minds as prayer. And it is right that such should be the case, because prayer is, after all, the highest activity of the human soul.
Every preacher will, I am sure, agree that preaching is comparatively simple as compared with praying, because when one is preaching one is speaking to men, but when a man prays he is speaking to God. Many find it difficult to concentrate, others to know how to speak and how to form their petitions, and so on. The moment you take prayer seriously you begin to learn its profound character. Of course, those who ‘say their prayers’ mechanically are not aware of any difficulties; all seems so simple. They simply repeat the Lord’s Prayer and offer up a few petitions and they imagine that they have prayed. But such a person has not started praying. The moment you begin to face what really happens in prayer you find inevitably that it is the profoundest activity in which you have ever engaged. How little we have prayed, how little we know about prayer! It is not surprising that the disciples of our Lord turn to him one day and said, ‘Lord teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples’ (Luke 11:1). But they were probably not only thinking at that moment of John and his disciples, they had been watching their Lord Himself and the way He repeatedly withdrew for prayer. I do not hesitate to assert that unless you have ever felt something of what those disciples felt, and offered that petition, it is certain that you have never prayed in your life. If you have never been aware of difficulties it is because you have never realised what prayer involves. (pp. 326-327)


He goes on to say this:
We all tend to be creatures of extremes; we tend to oscillate from one extreme to the other; And so there are two common excesses in connection with prayer. The one is to take the liturgical view of prayer which concentrates attention upon the beauty of worship, the beauty of language and phrases, the beauty of words and diction, the balance and perfection of forms and arrangements and ceremonies. This applies to the Catholic type of worship, whether Roman or Orthodox or Anglican. It can be very beautiful; but surely, speaking generally, it tends to be remote; there is such emphasis upon the beauty and the greatness and the august that somehow you feel that God is far away in the distance, there is a sense of unreality about it. It may be well-nigh perfect from the aesthetic or artistic standpoint, but it does not suggest a living act of worship.
The danger that arises is that many of us, in reacting against the liturgical type of worship rush to the other extreme and regard praying as just a series of telegraphic petitions, with no adoration or worship or praise. Indeed some seem to think that this is a sign of great spirituality. They feel that they are so familiar with God and so sure of their standing before Him that they can rush into His presence and offer a sentence or two of petition, and finish. But surely both the extremes are wrong; and we find it in the model and the example provided by the great Apostle that he invariably combines what is good and right in both the extreme methods. The two elements are always present, and he invariably places them in the right order. No man knew better how to pray than this Apostle; and there has been no man who has had a greater abundance of answers to his prayers. He prays with confidence, with boldness of access, and assurance; and yet the other element of worship and adoration was always there and always came first. (pp. 329-330)
I know how easy it is – at least for me – to be all rather formulaic, mechanical and rote in much of my praying. I go through my mental list of people to pray for (I do not have a written list) and can too easily rush through it. But with most of these folks I am praying for their salvation. A bit more urgency, a bit more energy, a bit more earnestness in seeking their salvation as I pray really should be in order.
So I have a long ways to go in my prayer life. If I knew those I was praying for, or myself, had just a few days left on planet earth, I would likely be far more intense and serious and solid in my prayer and intercession. We should always be like this, and not just when we find ourselves in the middle of a tornado, or some similar disastrous situation.
As Samuel said in his last address to the people, “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you” (1 Samuel 12:23). So let’s keep at it friends.
[1575 words]
I was just reminded of the timeliness of the last track on Carlos Santana’s “Supernatural” album (where he is joined by Eric Clapton), especially the second movement where it talks about “Freedom – don’t you want freedom for your children” and “let’s celebrate – this is the time for redemption.” Even with it’s shortness of lyrics, I would not mind this being sung in all churches.
We are definitely at a crossroads where evil has prevailed and people need to wake up, push back and celebrate what God has given. As was preached at my church last Sunday “the joy of the Lord is our strength” – a cry which should unite all people opposed to the wickedness which is being imposed on us. Sooner or later we are on the winning side but will only get there through repentance and receiving God’s redemption. It is a time of decision – a time to come humbly and in contrition to receive the redemption that comes only from God.
Thank you, Bill- this is a great encouragement! I struggle with prayer, coming from different church backgrounds with wildly differing approaches. I was recently encouraged in prayer in John Bunyan’s ‘Grace Abounding etc’.
Also, I wanted to say thank you for something else. Many years ago, after you had likewise quoted Martyn Lloyd Jones, I asked you where I could begin reading. You recommended his exposition of The Sermon on the Mount, which I promptly bought and finally began reading last year (my reading level wasn’t up to it at first, but I have been working up to it on purpose.) Well, I am about a third of the way through (I am one of those very busy housewives you mentioned, with six children), and I am SO blessed by the little snatches of reading I am managing a couple of times in the week (after I have managed my Bible readings- my habit of reading the Bible once each year, was also begun at your prompting one January, some ten years ago.)
So there, I just wanted you to know of the fruit you’ve had in my life, (not to mention, that any fruit of mine generally drops down to the children also) to the praise of God.
Many thanks Lauren.
Your post came at the right time when I was confused about what one pastor said about prayer, how it has sadly become “formal” for him, and reflected on how he used to have a “conversation” with Jesus as he does with a friend. So he wanted to get back to what he used to do, to casually talk to Jesus.
I think there is a difference when you address God, the father and Jesus. I find myself talking casually to Jesus throughout the day, then when I address God the Father I find myself more focused and praying in awe of Him, in desparation, and conclude the prayer in the name of Jesus. The disciples were asking Jesus how to pray to God, while they talked casually with Jesus everyday, right?
Is this a trend of some Christians to mix addressing the two or have we just lost the “fear of God”?
Thanks Yuzuri. Given that the three persons of the Trinity are all equally and fully God, what is true of the one is true of the other two. So we should have a healthy reverence, fear and awe of all three members. But we can also have loving relationship and friendship with God – all three members. I speak to this further here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2023/07/26/spurgeon-and-the-needy/