Folks, I have come to know Lyn Smith through social media. I’ve been impressed with what she’s been writing. I especially appreciate what she’s been sharing about her prayer life. As we enter this year’s version of stressful holidays, I would like to draw your attention to prayer. And Lyn has graciously agreed to answer a few questions from Serving Strong about her prayer life. Please allow God to examine your heart and life. Is your prayer life all it could be?

By the way, you can read more about Lyn at LynSmith.org and LeadHer.org

SS: Were you raised in an environment where prayer was a part of life? If so (or if not), how has that shaped your prayer life as an adult?

Yes, and it shaped my prayer life immeasurably! Five prayer memories from my childhood that molded me:

1) Every morning very early: my Mom on her knees praying

2) Morning devotions:  my Mom read the Daily Light to us and my Dad prayed over us as a family.

3) Evening devotions: we read a chapter from the Bible aloud as a family, then we held hands and each prayed – youngest to oldest.

4) Every night: my Mom and I kneeling by my bed to pray

5) Every night: seeing my parents praying on their knees together by their bed

It was consistent. It was non-negotiable. It was never forced. It just was. It was the reality of their lives so it became the reality of ours. Because of my Mom’s example, I developed a love for praying on my knees. It gets my heart in the right posture of submission. It feels strange when I don’t.

SS: Before you got serious about prayer, what did the extent of your communication with God look like?

After all of that outstanding training, there were dry periods of my adult life, with a particularly long one. During that time, I prayed at meals. I would occasionally have an “official prayer time” but it was minimal. I talked to God conversationally sometimes during the day but, again, it was not intimate. I was aware of His presence but I was distant. I was struggling with some sin areas but not repentant. It was uncomfortable talking to God with willful sin in my life.

SS: What would you say is the ratio between talking and listening in your prayer life?

I want to listen more than I talk. If I consider prayer as an ongoing all day activity, which I will expand on in question #4, it’s a fluid conversation. The ratio is hard to pin down. I’m guessing it’s pretty even – 50/50.

SS: Logistically-speaking, do you have a specific place you go to pray? Do you have a prayer routine that includes meditation, music, scripture?

I have a daily prayer time at a specific place. What I do varies somewhat on what I sense from the Holy Spirit. I read my Bible first, then I kneel at my desk chair with my Bible open to the passage I just read. Sometimes I begin with singing. I focus my mind on the words and am actually praying them back to God as I sing. That flows directly into talking to Him. I start by praising His character – saying His names. I blend that worship of Him with thanking Him for how those qualities impact my life. Then I go back to the Bible passages I read and talk to God about specific thoughts I had from them. That moves easily into concerns and requests.

“I want to listen more than talk.”

Because my relationship with Jesus is intimate and dynamic, prayer is, in a sense, continuous. The concentrated morning times set the foundation for the day, but we have an ongoing conversation all day. Sometimes I talk to Him, other times He tells me things. It is sweet!

SS: What has prayer done for you in real life? How has it made a difference in how you see, and respond to, the world?

Prayer has changed me from being just a Christ follower to being a Christ lover. I don’t read my Bible, pray and obey because it’s good and right. I now do those things because I am so in love with Him that I long to. He has become my heartbeat, my very breath. I can’t live with out Him. I pray mainly because I enjoy Him but I also pray because I love seeing answers.

“Prayer has changed me…”

Praying keeps me close to God’s heart so it enables me to love more as He does. Open communication with Him combined with truth from His Word, help me approach life and people from His perspective.

SS: What would you say to young ministry leaders, both men and women, about the place of prayer in their ministry?

Don’t bother attempting ministry without praying. Intentional, strategic prayer is crucial. We don’t have the full power of the Holy Spirit without it. We can “do” ministry without prayer, but why? It pales in comparison with Spirit filled ministry.

“I only discovered the dynamic

Of real prayer when I

Got real with God.”

Peeling back the word “prayer” gets to the actual crux of the issue – true intimacy. I only discovered the dynamic of real prayer when I got real with God. I stopped ignoring certain pet sins and began letting God into every nook and cranny of my heart and mind. I invited Him to press His fingertip into every space and I committed to respond. When that daily exchange began to be totally authentic, my prayer life exploded, because I began to see true cause and effect. He pressed, I obeyed, and power filled my life and circumstances like I’d never known.

Prayer nurtures intimacy but, more importantly, intimacy drives prayer. I crave it because I crave Him.

What is a “Conditional Whatever”?

Perhaps it’s praying things like,

“Make this person go away and I’ll be able to serve you better.”

“Lord, if you could see your way to giving me that job I will be able to increase my influence for you tenfold.”

Anything short of a “whatever” is a condition. Conditions are like logs damming the flow of God’s best.

God’s best is ideal.

God’s best is 100% pure life.

God’s best never leads to our burnout.

So, why would we want to create such a blessing dam?

I am famous for giving God conditions. I pledge to work on my “whatever”.

How about you?

I stopped putting so much stock in who follows me.

Stats are good. Don’t get me wrong. They indicate a connection to your target market. But they are a double-edged sword. They also distract from what’s REALLY important (read John 15.4-8 and you’ll understand what I’m talking about).

I started putting much more stock in Who I follow.

God is the one Who calls the shots. Unless I’m undeniably, unabashedly, unwaveringly connected to Him on a daily and consistently-deeper way, I will miss the mark. In fact, the closer I get to Him, the less it is about me anyway.

How’s your new stat?

The change-up is thrown with the same arm action as a fastball, but at a lower velocity due to the pitcher holding the ball in a special grip. This difference from what is expected by the arm action and the velocity can confuse the batter into swinging the bat far too early and thus receiving a strike, or not swinging at all. Should a batter be fooled on the timing of the pitch and still make contact, it will cause a foul ball or the ball being put into play weakly, usually resulting in an out.

Your aim: Strike out burnout. Keep it from ever getting on base (God forbid, a home run). Are you in a rut? Been doing the same ol’ same ol’? Maybe it’s time to change-up your routine.

Watch a baby laugh on YouTube.

Take the long way home and meditate on God’s provision and presence.

Write a thank you note to your spouse with your non-writing hand.

Read Psalm 100 backwards.

Allow yourself 30 minutes of uninterrupted day dreaming.

Stay fresh. Stay strong.

You do you change things up to stay strong?

UP

Most of us compare up, getting the short end of the stick.

“That church has a greater platform than ours.”

“She can speak so much more eloquently than I.”

“Why can’t our worship times be as electric as the ones at this conference?”

DOWN

Ever  compare down?

“At least we have a great bunch of board members.”

“We don’t have the space issues that church down the road has.”

“I’m glad I don’t have a speech impediment.”

Same result. We still get the short stick. We may have delayed gratification. But truth is, we’re still comparing – and that always leads to trouble.

IN

Why not compare IN? Look at your life from God’s perspective. See your life as a journey of continual improvement under the loving watch of an immensely gracious God. You’ll find motivation to be better when you know you’re loved unconditionally by the One who really matters. (takes a load off too!)

What are your next couple steps in your life’s journey?

The following is a guest post by a very good friend and mentor of mine, Len Boesger. Len has been speaking into my life not only on a professional level, but more importantly on a spiritual and personal level as well. I asked him to expound on a phrase he shared with me recently on the importance of 4 books. He graciously responded and I’m pleased to share it with you here. As you read it, think about your own personal journey as you seek to serve strong in ministry leadership.

Four books are important in every person’s life:  date book, address book, check book and “The Good Book.”  Taking a few minutes to think about the role each of these play in a person’s life can be a most worthwhile exercise.  In addition, it makes a lot of sense to encourage young people to use these books to bring structure to what can easily become a collection of random experiences.  Far too many people live “unexamined” lives because they do not reflect on what shapes their lives.  Those who understand they are spiritual beings going through a human experience (as opposed to a human being preparing for a spiritual experience) need to ensure their lives are purposefully shaped.  Such people have “examined” lives.

DATE BOOK.  Your date book (or calendar) is a guide to how you spend your time and is useful both in a prospective or future sense but also in a retrospective way.  Every well organized person I know keeps a calendar to aid their time management and the really well organized people use it to look back and consider if they are using their time wisely.

ADDRESS BOOK.  An address book may be simply a collection of friends and acquaintances or it can be a tool to understand with whom we spend our time.  Does your address book contain only those who share your values or does it also have people for whom you may be the only “salt.”  I will never forget the observation by a pastor that Jesus was the friend of sinners.  He associated with them while staying sinless and from all I read, it appears they enjoyed being with Jesus.  Even in a state of perfection, Jesus apparently had no “holier-than-thou” aura that would offend.

CHECK BOOK.  Your check book can give you a pretty good idea of what is important to you…that is, unless you put everything on a credit card and write one big check to pay that every month.  In that case, your credit card statement becomes a proxy for the check book.  Like your date book, using your check book retrospectively can pay big dividends as you consider how wisely you apply your financial resources.  Too many times we think we “need” something but if we are honest with ourselves we would acknowledge we simply “want” it.

THE GOOD BOOK.  I use the term “Good Book” because it fits a sort of alliteration of this model.  Most reading this already acknowledge the importance of the Bible in giving direction to our lives and so I am likely preaching to the choir.  You understand it is this Book that defines and brings clarity on how we should use the other three.  I have found, especially when talking to young people, this model is not easily disputed and that is of great value in such a contentious age.

What are your 4 books saying about your life?