My wife and I love going for walks at local parks and ocean view streets. But the conditions have to be just right. We have to be in the mood. If we have a cold or feel tired or have any sort of physical affliction, then, we usually put off exercising to a better day. If it’s raining we don’t walk, and if it’s cold—I especially hate the cold!—we don’t walk. And then, if it’s hot and humid, ugh, no way. If there’s snow in the ground, my goodness, we could slip, so we push it off for a better day. But if none of these things are an issue, we walk.
We’ve noticed that there are several people around town who are out exercising—usually running like they are in an Olympic competition—no matter what the conditions. Heat, humidity, rain, snow, sleet, wind … they are running. I’ve also noticed they seem to be, not only embracing the harsh conditions but harnessing them. You can see it on their faces.
One of the mistakes we make in our pursuit of God is that we insist on near-perfect conditions in order to pray. There must be quietness. We need a steaming cup of coffee or tea. We can’t be too tired. Or too energetic. We need to be relaxed. And, of course, we need to be in a good frame of mind. In other words, if we are weighed down by concerns then it’s just too hard to focus. We also need to feel “holy.” If we have recently been hurt by someone or our Christian performance wasn’t great, then we put off praying for a better day. The problem with this is that 99 out of 100 days are less than ideal conditions for the perfect prayer time.
One of the reasons I love the psalms is that we find that the writers approach prayer like the runners in our town who use the terrible conditions to drive them with more intensity. Rarely do they seem to be praying on a perfect little cloud of peacefulness far from trouble. They are frequently overwhelmed with cares. But they turn their cares into prayers throughout the day.
David’s troubles
I’ve been reading Psalm 55 today and it’s a perfect example of what I’m talking about. David, the writer of the psalm, is really going through it. He is restless and moaning his complaint to God. The noise of his enemies was in his ear. He was oppressed. He had people in his life who were angry with him and holding a grudge against him. He says,
My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. And I say, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; yes, I would wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah — Psalm 55:4-7
He speaks of “the raging wind and tempest.” I don’t think he was being dramatic. He was dealing with serious afflictions on every side. He had reasons to be fearful and anxious. He also goes into detail telling us about a familiar friend, one with whom he used to fellowship sweetly and go to God’s house together. But now this friend has turned on him and taunts him. David said,
His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords. — Psalm 55:21
Being wounded by people this way can consume our minds and utterly squelch prayer. Really, anything that causes us to be worried, anxious or fearful has a way of occupying our minds to the point of killing the spirit of prayer. It’s not that we don’t love God and don’t want to talk with him but we feel we must figure stuff out. At the root, we are trying to control things. We don’t see God as deeply involved in all these earthly afflictions we are dealing with. So we put off praying for another day, a better day, a day without trouble.
A better way
But listen to David’s advice—
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah — Psalm 62:8
David poured his heart out to God at all times. That means the good times and the bad, the times he was loved and the times he was betrayed, the times of joy and the times of anguish, the times of peace and the times of war. All times were ideal times to call upon the Lord.
Back to Psalm 55, under a load of cares, David cries out to God. He asks God to give ear to his prayer, to listen to his plea for mercy. He carries all of his burdens to the Lord one by one. Then he makes this statement:
Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. — Psalm 55:2
Peter in the New Testament echoes a similar exhortation to us:
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. — 1 Peter 5:6-7
What a Friend
Here’s what I’m saying. Don’t wait for the perfect conditions to pray. Just run toward God with every burden. In every affliction cry to the Lord for help. Every fear and anxiety that enters your mind, bring straight to the Father. Let Him deal with it. He cares for you and He wants you to cast burdens on Him. It reminds me of the old hymn "What A Friend We Have In Jesus"—
What a Friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!
I know many of you are reading this early in the morning. As you head into the day today, notice the times when your mind is anxious, worried, fearful or troubled. When those moments come—and they will come—instead of just entertaining them and following them down the trail to nowhere, take them to the Lord in prayer right away. In other words, turn your cares into prayers.
If we can learn to do this we will find ourselves praying without ceasing from morning till night. David says,
Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice. — Psalm 55:17
He cares
It’s funny that sometimes we really struggle to think of what to pray for. We pray formal written prayers or recite certain phrases to God repetitively. Or we are just blank. Take advantage of the raw material for prayer within you by turning fears and anxieties, cares and worries, into prayers.
Remember that the Lord cares for you. He cares about the little things. He doesn’t want us to think He’s too busy for our petty requests. He’s not like the friend who doesn’t have the capacity to listen to all our complaints. We weren’t meant to carry the burdens we carry. Cast your cares upon Him today. He doesn’t want us to carry heavy burdens. What gives Him pleasure is when we let Him do the heavy lifting and we just walk by His side.