Prayer as a Vocation
By Rick Ezell
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35 NIV).
Glenn Hinson, professor of church history and spirituality, tells about taking a church-history class to the Abbey Gethsemani in Trappist, Kentucky. Their host was Thomas Merton, a Trappist Catholic monk who wrote more than sixty books on spirituality. To Hinson’s horror, one of his students asked why someone with Merton’s intellect would waste his life in a monastery.
Hinson said that, rather than rebuking the student, Merton smiled and answered: “I am here because I believe in prayer. That is my vocation.”
“You could have knocked me over with a feather,” Hinson said. “I had never met anyone who believed in prayer enough to think of it as a vocation.”
The vocation of prayer in a believer’s life is an incredible, virtually untapped power source. Prayer moves the hand of God. It is the key that unlocks the storehouse of God’s riches. It is the call that moves heaven to act on behalf of earth.
The vocation of prayer is not merely communicating words with God, but communion with God himself. Prayer is not a utilitarian practice aimed at achieving an accomplishment. Neither is prayer an exercise in which a person gets exactly what he asks for if he takes great care to state the request properly. Prayer is communion with God, more than communication with God. Communication implies an exchange of words and logic. Often prayer consists of nonverbal outcries that are far more emotional than rational.
The vocation of prayer does not depend on the one who makes the prayer, but on the one who hears the prayer. We live in a loud world. To get someone’s attention is not easy task. We must turn down the radio, turn away from the monitor, turn the corner of the page and set down the book. When someone is willing to silence everything else so he can hear us clearly, it is a privilege. But God is different. Your voice matters in heaven. He takes you very seriously. When you enter his presence, he turns to hear your voice. Even if you stammer or stumble over words, even if what you have to say impresses no one, it impresses God—and he listens.
He listens to the painful plea of the elderly in the rest home. He listens to the gruff confession of the death-row inmate. When the alcoholic begs for mercy, when the spouse seeks guidance, when the businessman steps off the street into the chapel, God listens.
The vocation of prayer is to join God, not God joining us. Its power is to rearrange us, not us to rearrange God; to ask what is on God’s heart, not us telling God what is on our hearts; to adjust us not us adjusting God.
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Reading this brings tears to my eyes. As a very busy young missionary mother I asked the Lord to make me an intercessor...sometime. Now after many years that time has come, and what a privilege it is! God has answered my prayer. He has taught me much, and there is so much more!!
I've been a Christian for 17 years now, and I've never really known what my purpose was in the Body, until recently. I'm not an orator, teacher, prophet or any other glamorous title-holder. I thank God for those folks, don't misunderstand me, but my personality isn't cut out for many of the duties that are attached to the "public" services. Instead, I have realized that my purpose, my position, and my function is primarily prayer. Never have I met anyone who has said "prayer is my vocation" but it's something I believe applies to me. I recently told my wife that if I weren't married, it would be very easy for me to become a recluse - dedicating my life to prayer and service in my assembly.
I recently had a four month season that God had called me to prayer. I thought in my mind that it was my vocation- even to the point where various people had implied I had heard God wrong in leaving my job. Shortly there after, He called me to work in another job. I MISS the hours of study and prayer so much, and I may be called again to do that- But for now, I follow him wherever he leads and whatever that looks like.
May the Lord Bless you all with an intercessor's heart!
Thank you Richard for the reminder. In pursuing prayer as a vocation, I have learned to HEAR GOD, and to understand His Voice. His Words are illuminated in the Bible. There is communication. At times, I can literally Hear Him speak words of wisdom, comfort, encouragement and love. He knows my need. Then there is also communion. By being still before the presence of God, I am in communion with Him. Be still and know that I am God is a truism I now understand. In the stillness and silence of the room, God's presence pervades the atmosphere, and peace descends.
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I've been a Christian for 17 years now, and I've never really known what my purpose was in the Body, until recently. I'm not an orator, teacher, prophet or any other glamorous title-holder. I thank God for those folks, don't misunderstand me, but my personality isn't cut out for many of the duties that are attached to the "public" services. Instead, I have realized that my purpose, my position, and my function is primarily prayer. Never have I met anyone who has said "prayer is my vocation" but it's something I believe applies to me. I recently told my wife that if I weren't married, it would be very easy for me to become a recluse - dedicating my life to prayer and service in my assembly.
This is a greatly encouraging message. Thank you!
I recently had a four month season that God had called me to prayer. I thought in my mind that it was my vocation- even to the point where various people had implied I had heard God wrong in leaving my job. Shortly there after, He called me to work in another job. I MISS the hours of study and prayer so much, and I may be called again to do that- But for now, I follow him wherever he leads and whatever that looks like.
May the Lord Bless you all with an intercessor's heart!
Kristi
Thank you Richard for the reminder. In pursuing prayer as a vocation, I have learned to HEAR GOD, and to understand His Voice. His Words are illuminated in the Bible. There is communication. At times, I can literally Hear Him speak words of wisdom, comfort, encouragement and love. He knows my need. Then there is also communion. By being still before the presence of God, I am in communion with Him. Be still and know that I am God is a truism I now understand. In the stillness and silence of the room, God's presence pervades the atmosphere, and peace descends.
Janet H E Lim