Is prayer “the work”?

You might have heard something like this before: We don’t pray for the work, prayer is the work. I’ve heard it said various ways. I think it may have come from Scottish writer Oswald Chambers. He said it various ways too, but here’s a quote: We take for granted that prayer is preparation for work, whereas prayer is the work. Intercessory prayer is God’s chosen way of working.

I thought I’d write a bit here about prayer, and I was wondering what might be helpful to share. What’s prayer really all about?

I agree with what Chambers says here, as far as it goes. And I admit, I haven’t read it in context. But I have heard how it’s used in Christian conversation. There’s no doubt that prayer is important. And there are many people that may be able to do little else. We will find in the end that many of these people did more for the Lord than those who worked long hours in His service in a “visible” way.

At the same time, I’ve always felt a little uneasy about saying prayer is the work. Why? Because prayer isn’t the only work. It’s not as if prayer is the highest calling, and if we all spent all our time in our rooms praying God would be pleased. The fact is that God has called us to other things as well – teaching His Word, making disciples, caring for our families, for example. If God has given us the strength to do these things, we can’t neglect these things, even if we neglect them for prayer.

I wonder if we sometimes make it too much of an either/or. One summer I was at a camp and I had the children write down their questions for me to answer. One question was about finding God’s will. I shared a list of ways that people can begin to understand God’s will in a situation. Prayer was on the list, but it wasn’t just another thing to do. At each step I suggested, I added prayer in as well.

It’s not like prayer is the first thing we should do each day, or like we should spend x number of hours in prayer. Both those things are great. But prayer is more like breathing. It’s something that should be a given all the time – it should be a part of the work always. Whatever we’re doing, wherever we are, we can be conversing with God about. We can talk with God about the TV shows we’re watching, about the people we’re meeting with, about the sermon we’re listening to. I think this is what Paul meant when he said “pray without ceasing” (1Th 5:17).

Perhaps the reason why the Bible doesn’t exhort us to speak with our Lord more than it does is because it’s just assumed. Those of us whose lives have been transformed by His love, who need Him every moment, should be living constantly in His presence – like the branches on the vine (Joh 15:4-8).

This isn’t a lesson I’ve learned, but one I am learning and want to learn. We really can do nothing without Him. What a friend, what a God we have. What transforming power when we let His Spirit into the everyday circumstances of life. Yes, God has chosen to work through prayer. But in His grace He often chooses to work through our prayers and our service. Weak on our own, we can bear fruit if we’re connected to the vine. When we learn that, we’ll see God’s power in our lives as we’ve never seen it before!