Unlimited: The Best Prayer Life

Dec 15, 2021 939

Unlimited: The Best Prayer Life

Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live (Psalm 116:2, NKJV).

Funnily enough, we have a strange idea about prayer. We think that prayer is for when we get up in the morning and before we go to bed at night.

When Ruth Graham (evangelist Billy Graham’s wife) was asked about her prayer life, she said, “I pray on the hoof.” The kind of prayer that the Bible recommends is not long, public prayer, but brief, frequent prayer. Prayer is constant communion with God.

The best way to pray is the way Christ exemplified. His prayers were short, powerful, but frequent. That’s the best prayer life. By all means pray in the morning; by all means pray in the evening. But prayer “on the hoof” is the best way. This is what theologians call “ejaculatory prayer,” or short, brief prayers. (See Nehemiah 1:5-11; 2:4; 4:9; 6:9; Genesis 17:18.) 

For the best prayer life, follow Christ’s example.

Prayer “on the hoof” is real praying: praying all the time, about everything. The way you should pray for people is when the Lord puts them upon your heart. As soon as you have a worry about them, commit them to God.

I pray when I collect mail, and I pray as I answer all those letters. For 50 years I’ve prayed as I’ve walked, or as I’ve jogged. True prayer life is a constant communion. – Des Ford (adapted)

Reflection: This is very different to what I was taught as I growing up, however I must confess that it has become my predominant mode of prayer. If you would like to start, it takes a little bit of reminding yourself to do it in the beginning, and then it becomes a habit.

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