Word of Encouragement (2/15/2021)

We have been speaking of the necessity of prayer. Let me introduce another reason today.

I’m sure we all want to have a “better” prayer life. We don’t want prayer to feel burdensome to us; we want to look forward to praying. We don’t want to close our eyes to pray and have nothing really to say; we want words to flow out of our hearts and minds. We don’t want to struggle through all our prayer time, fighting off distractions and racing thoughts; we want to be able to focus and go into fellowshipping with God right away. When we are done praying, we don’t want to feel glad that it’s over; we want to reluctantly tear ourselves away from praying because God is calling us to do other things for Him. But when we stop praying, we want to know that we have been changed by that time with God, not feel more depressed because we feel like we haven’t been heard.

Is that possible? Yes! That may not happen every time we pray (after all, whatever delight we experience in prayer is by the grace of God) but it can happen more frequently. I heard of four different stages of growth and I think it’s very helpful even in thinking about growing in our prayer life:

The first stage is “unconscious incompetence.” This is when we don’t even know we are incompetent. Those who don’t really pray and don’t feel anything wrong are in this stage. This is obviously not a good place to be in, especially, in our spiritual life.

The second stage is “conscious incompetence.” This is when we know that we are incompetent because we are becoming more and more aware of what being good is like. When we get to this stage, we start feeling frustrated with ourselves. But there is a light of hope that’s beginning to show.

The third stage is “conscious competence.” When we don’t give up in the second stage but keep on trying, we can get to this stage. There is a lot of joy here as you begin to do what you could not do before. You are amazed, seeing yourself where you thought you’d never be when you first began your journey/training.

The fourth and final stage is “unconscious competence.” You have mastered a skill so well that you don’t even have to think about it to do it well. For many of us, driving is like that. But this stage is more like an accomplished musician or athlete, who is able to improvise an amazing feat of skill without thinking.

If you really want to have a better prayer life, you are at least in the second stage of growth and that is a good sign. But you should expect that you will experience much frustration, at least at the beginning stage. As you experience frustration, you must keep in mind this simple truth: the only way you can get better at praying is by praying! This is another reason for the necessity of prayer. Even when you don’t feel like your prayer life is good, you should know that God hears your prayers, knowing what is deep in your heart even if you yourself don’t know. And we have this assurance: “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Rom. 8:26). And as you keep on praying without giving up, you are getting better and better at praying. I have seen this happen with many of you as you faithfully attend and participate in our prayer meetings. How encouraging! So, let us be persistent in our prayers, not only for our present needs but also for our growth in prayer life!