What if...Prayer?

by Katie Harding on October 21, 2024

What if there is more to prayer than we’ve understood? We often pray before our work, about our work, and after our work. But what if, as Oswald Chambers says, “Prayer is our work.” How does that change the thought of prayer for you? What if prayer isn’t something we do, but the way we live?

Prayer is not only talking to God, but prayer is talking with God. Talking with insinuates a conversation – a back and forth. It’s about a relationship. It’s not only talking but also listening. It’s not only sharing your heart with the Father, but also listening as He shares His with you.

If we understand that prayer is our work, it shifts our perspective and creates a new paradigm. Instead of prayer forming the boundary of our work, it becomes the center of it. It becomes integral to everything else we do. Instead of a quick, “Help me, Lord,” when we run into trouble, it reminds us to become more intentional and conversational with God as we go about our day – as we rise in the morning, as we sit down for breakfast, as we go to work and school, and as we interact with others. Focusing on prayer as our work helps us to become more acutely aware of Jesus’ never-ending presence with the Father and His ongoing presence with us. “Father…just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us...” (John 17:23). Once we realize we don’t pray so we can get going with our work, but we pray because prayer is our work, it encourages us to become more focused on being present with Jesus and still ourselves in His presence. It’s not about learning to do; it’s about learning to be.

We often think when we pray with others we are asking Jesus to intervene in their lives, and we are. But what if when we pray with others we are also allowing others to experience our relationship with Him? Because when prayer has become our work, it begins to affect others’ lives around us in the same way Jesus’ prayer life with the Father affected those around Him. “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so they will believe you sent me” (John 11:41-42). When prayer becomes our work, the evidence of Jesus becomes more real not only to us, but also to others.

What do you need to do differently for prayer to become your work today?