Prayer as Desire
“Pray without ceasing… Do not quench the Spirit.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17,19 (NASB)
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21 (NIV)
“How can I learn how to pray?”
Whether you’re new to the faith or not, I think prayer remains one of the most difficult spiritual practices to develop and practice. The reason for this is because we are constantly bombarded with technological distraction and if you aren’t called full-time to the monastery, you’re most likely working for an employer most hours of your waking day.
Our culture is so busy a life of prayer can seem so unattainable. It can feel overwhelming to even get started. Or, we wonder if we should even bother.
Let me share how I approach prayer, and what I share with my students.
Instead of thinking about prayer as an activity, I approach it as a desire or intention. If I set my desire on knowing God and His ways, I open myself up to heavenly influences. It’s about a life that is saturated with the presence of God. It’s a lifestyle of baptism (immersion) in the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11).
The desires of the human heart and mind are like a magnet. What we desire, we tend to attract. This is a spiritual law that is undeniable. If we desire good, we will attract good, If we desire evil, God will allow our evil (Romans 1:24).
James says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8). The Psalmist says the following:
“You do not delight in sacrifice or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” Psalms 51:16-17 (NIV)
There is something spiritual, even energetic, that happens when we fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2). We become in tune with God, with our open heaven, and the angels and Holy Spirit begin to descend and ascend in, through and around us. In Him, we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).
Time spent in silence and stillness is valuable and spiritually rewarding (Matthew 6:6), but not always a practical starting point for the modern Christian. This kind of disciplined activity tends to come naturally, after we have learned to genuinely set our desire and intention on God.
Prayer, therefore, is a lifestyle of attunement with the Holy Spirit. It is walking in alignment with God’s design and remaining sensitive to the motions of God that descend from the heavenly realm into our daily experience. This is why Paul says “pray without ceasing” in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Remaining in tune with God ensures that we do not “quench the Spirit”- the presence of God - in our mind, body, and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19).
We have to want God. Prayer is ultimately about desire. If I don’t desire God, I will never create movement toward God. Jesus said, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be” (Matthew 6:21).
I try to “pray without ceasing” by setting an intention and desire in the morning to walk with God throughout my day. As my day continues, I certainly slip in and out of being aware of God’s presence. The goal ultimately is to remain in constant sensitivity and awareness as the Holy Spirit breathes and moves through us in every moment. If I feel like I’ve stepped out of awareness, I simply bring myself back in gently by thinking of God. It doesn’t have to be complicated.
Prayer and focus on God invites the presence of God into our minds, bodies, and spirit. This allows us to partner with what God wants to do in, through, and around us as we go about our daily lives. You are the vessel, the Spirit of God is the water. Jesus said, “whoever trusts in me, out of them will flow living water” (John 7:38). This “living water” is the presence and power of God in our daily experience.
To summarize, I approach prayer as a lifestyle that starts with intention in my heart and mind. As I focus on God, I become more aware of the presence of heaven in, through, and around me every moment of my day.
