Mike Rutledge.CA

At least that’s how it feels quite often. If we are honest about it, sometimes it feels like prayer literally accomplishes nothing.

At all.

Moments gone.

Life wasted.

Especially when you consider the fact that during those moments of prayer we could have been doing something that could have made an impact, or could have been really incredible, effective, wise, etc.

Just as a reminder, I’m a pastor, and sort of wrapped into the job description is this idea of prayer. I am paid at times to pray. To pray for people, pray for the church, pray for my own soul (God knows that needs a lot of prayer), pray for the city, etc… and if I am going to be transparent, I find that prayer, more than I care to admit, feels empty, it feels powerless, and quite literally a waste of energy and time that could have been used to make a decision or do some action that would impact a life or the church. So sometime I either don’t pray as I should, or I feel the guilt of not praying as much as I should, so I drudgingly pray. Maybe you are not a pastor. You probably don’t have a job that requires prayer from you in the same way (though you might have a job that drives you to prayer because of its frustration, I get that), but you do have family, maybe a spouse, children, futures to worry about, life stresses that creep up on you, bills to pay, charity to give to, volunteering to make a difference. You may have papers to write, exams to do, classes to attend, seminars to lead, interviews to rush off to, dates to go on, dinners to make, and literally the list goes on and on and on, and then right in the middle of it all there comes a simple request from our Father… Stop. Pray. Spend time at rest.

Even in the short list I just wrote, prayer seems like a compete time sucker from all the other important things that need to get accomplished, not to mention the ‘spiritual’ activities, church services, small groups, men’s bible study, women’s bible study, youth groups, worship nights, prayer meetings, board meetings, committee meetings, clean ups, set ups, dinners, pot lucks.

All these things are important, and all need our attention, and used right are all opportunities to make an impact in someone’s life, all can be moments of family growth, and yet still there is this call to get away and pray. What a waste of time! Doesn’t God know how important these other things are? Doesn’t He know that the time spent quiet and alone could be used for his Kingdom? Doesn’t God know that I could literally be an instrument to change someone’s life if I show up to this or that event? Doesn’t God know I have deadlines? Doesn’t God know I have children? Doesn’t God know I just need some me time? Doesn’t God know they only have so much time left? Doesn’t God know…

Yep. And maybe that’s the point.

Maybe, prayer is supposed to be a waste of time. I read a book once called ‘A Royal Waste of Time’, it was a book about worship, and clearly prayer fits right into that.

Maybe one of the beautiful things about God asking us to retreat to Him in prayer, is to precisely remind us about our time, to remind us who we really are in this world and whose we really are.

Maybe prayer at times is supposed to feel empty as to remind us that its not the quality of our prayers that matter but the quality of the one to whom we pray.

Maybe prayer is meant to stop us from doing so much and remember that the world keeps on spinning even when we stop.

Maybe prayer is meant to remind us that this is God’s world, His time, and we are living on borrowed breathe.

Maybe prayer is meant to reorient us, to remove us from the center of the universe, to remind us of our dependence on Him, His grace, and His power.

Maybe prayer is meant to waste our moments in the most glorious way possible.

Maybe prayer is meant to show us truly what usefulness looks like. As a pastor I can get caught up in a ‘messiah complex’, the guilt of needed to help everyone, right now, or else! Maybe for you its not that, but maybe it’s a control issue, maybe its security issue, maybe it is pride, and maybe prayer is meant, in a beautifully humbling way, to remind us that we aren’t all that we think we are. That I can’t (and shouldn’t) help everyone, that we aren’t in control like we think we are, that our priorities might be a little out of whack, and that maybe just maybe, we need to learn how to trust more in our inactivity.

Prayer may feel like a waste of time sometimes (to be fair, there are many times it truly is awesome, invigorating, exciting, intimate, passion filled, glorious, as we commune with God) but it’s never a waste of our life. Don’t miss the opportunity to be still and yet move so much. Don’t miss the opportunity to be humbled, yet reminded of your value. Don’t really waste your time on things that don’t really matter.