Learning to Pray Anywhere at Any Time

Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.

Hebrews 4:16 CSB

I’ve prayed in a lot of places in my life, but never have I ever prayed in Costco. And when I say I prayed, man, I was praying out loud, to the God of all that is good. It was written all over my face, I am sure and my lips were certainly moving a million miles a minute. I think at one time my eyes were even closed as I immediately walked to the self-checkout needing to get out as quickly as possible.

Recently, because of practice, and constant study and journaling, I have become a pretty good prayer warrior. It has become my practice to actually pray when I tell someone I will pray for them. I try to journal prayers each day as a letter to Christ, to present needs of others and myself, to Him. The Bible describes prayer as a necessary practice for believers. There is an emphasis in the role of prayer being a way to build a personal relationship with God. Hebrews 4:16 directs us to, “…approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.” (CSB).

I certainly was calling in the chips on my relationship with God that day in Costco. I was asking for a lot of free passes to happen in a really short amount of time and fully expected God to come through. I had received a phone call from a beautiful friend asking if I had time to talk. Sure, why not, I’m in Costco, what else do I have to do as I perused the shelves. With a shaky voice she asked if I could help her calm down. She was in her car at home, slumped over and unable to move; crying. She had sent the kids in the house and really needed me at that moment. That’s when the praying started. Silently, at first, while she shared the current struggle, then moving to a more excited tone and action when she said she needed me to come.

Prayer is a channel through which we can experience God’s grace in our lives. In prayer we can encounter God’s presence, receive His guidance, and be strengthened in our faith. This encounter is exactly what I was needing at the time and so was my friend. My first prayer, “Please let the self-checkout line be short!” Sure enough, not a soul there. How often does that happen? Next, you guessed it, “Please, let no one be in the line for receipt check at the exit!” I had to blink my eyes clear a few times for this one. No one in line and two checkers available. I ran to my car and began begging, “Please, please no long car line to turn out of the parking lot!” I knew I was really asking for a lot with this one. Heavens to mercy, not a car in the line, I turned left directly and then onto the main road. One last obstacle and I was trying to muster up all the faith I had to believe this one would happen. “Please, at 4:30 p.m., could there not be a jillion cars on the freeway entrance and a clear shot heading north on the I-580?” I am here to tell you, no cars at the green turn light, none entering the freeway and only two the entire distance to my exit. My next prayer, “All praises and glory to the God most High!” I was astonished, my prayers were answered in front of my eyes. God’s grace and mercy showed itself in miraculous ways.

Now, I know these don’t seem like world changing miracles, but in my little part of life, at this important time, I was counting on miracles. The above verse from Hebrews calls us as believers to live in dependence on God’s grace and mercy, recognizing human strength is insufficient for the challenges of life; big or small. We aren’t able to help ourselves heal from cancer just as much as we can’t remove cars from the freeway. We aren’t able to afford that perfect house without God putting all the parts in place, just as we aren’t going to make it safely home through a snow storm without the guiding hand of God on our car. And we aren’t able to have honest discussions with our friends, about Christ, as we sit in a stuffy car holding each other’s hands and crying without the Holy Spirit sitting right there with us.

Prayer is the pathway to a Father whose desire is to communicate with us. It is the human hearts only way to communicate with Him. It is the way we express a genuine relationship with God in praise, thanksgiving, confession, and request. Ephesians 6:18 tells us, “With all prayer and petition pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season]” (Amplified Bible). This is the way we resist temptation, discern spiritual truths, and stand firm in faith. Sharing specific requests with God on every occasion and in every season is truly the only way I can manage day-to-day. I mean how specific were my prayers that day. Who’d have really thought God could move people and stop traffic?

Why aren’t we praying audacious prayers like, “Please remove the traffic”? We should be screaming out to God to take away the pain, remove the sickness, and bring our lost children home. He hears each and every moan, plead, and praise full of thanksgiving. He feels every clenched fist, wet tear, and fast beating heart. Because of this, we should be talking with Him every second of the day.

We need to be praying every second of the day because it is important to God and to ourselves. Praying helps us to realize what life is really about. Praying helps us know God should be our focus and He is the center of the universe and is in control. Praying helps us align with God’s will and helps us realize life is not about us after all.

I like the quote by Hudson Taylor that captures the true importance of prayer – “When you work, you work. But when you pray, God works.”.  We cannot do anything by ourselves without God stepping in. Prayer shows we have faith He will and that we trust Him in it all. That’s why audacious prayers are important. “God, please bring the snow!!” Yes, He knows we need the water in our dry soil. “Lord, place a hedge of protection around this airplane as we fly over the ocean.” He is even in control of your vacation. God even hears our prayers when we cannot put them into words, when our hearts are to broken or confused to speak. The Bible says, ‘the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do no know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express’ (Romans 8:26).

I was certainly amazed to see each and every prayer answered on that day. I know it doesn’t always happen this way and many of us will pray for years and not physically see an answer but that doesn’t mean God is not working. We need to have faith that God’s will be done when we pray and that faith means we continue to pray and wait on Him. During this time of waiting, we need to be sure we are seeking God for the right reasons, confess any sins we may be living in and be sure to continue to grow spiritually. In doing these things, we are trusting God for his timing to come to fruition.

Learning about prayer and understanding how God uses prayer will help us walk through our everyday trials, successes and situations in peace and joy. Having a genuine relationship with God is His desire and humbly we need to recognize that God knows what is best and is faithful to respond to us in love and truth. Our heavenly Father delights to meet with us in prayer and is faithful to respond. Test it for yourself. Lean into God, repent, grow spiritually, wait on His timing and ask for His will to be done. Take God up on His promises and begin to pray. He will be faithful to respond.