Praying extended prayers

I got saved in an interdenominational fellowship which meant I had all sorts of doctrines in one melting pot. But, the fellowship was evangelical so the bible was the ultimate authority. We prayed in tongues and danced. We had an amazing choir that could compete any day yet, we were steeped in the word.

Not too long after I got saved, I heard you could pray in tongues for an hour. I was intrigued because I had never imagined the possibility. I got home, raised my mattress against the wall and paced the room for an hour praying. My curiosity was satisfied but a seed was also sown; God is available for as long as I want Him to be.

I got saved and went straight into ministry even though I did not realise it. One day, we decided we were going to stretch for 24 hours (we didn’t make it but we stretched).

About four years after that, I became a member of a church that prayed long and hard and I remember sitting in service and hearing my pastor say to someone “you can do 3 hours consistently”. Again, I’m curious! See, God has a way of meeting you where you are. For me, all God has to do is introduce something I previously never imagined and my mind expands with it.

I don’t think I prayed for three hours that day. But I gave myself a challenge to pray for a certain number of days. I remember hitting a total of forty hours and calling my friends like I just won the Olympics.

Why does the length of prayer?

In all honesty, extended prayers are not required to meet God. If you say “Hello God” He will hear you. I have found extended prayers are for me. Sometimes, I am too crowded, overwhelmed, distracted, disconnected, or unaware to hear.

The first few hours are usually about getting me out of God’s way. Sometimes, that means praying in the Holy Ghost. Sometimes, just talking with God about where I am takes some time and other times, being silent and asking God what the focus for the day is takes the time.

Some days, God graciously gives a cheat code like a song, a scripture, a sentence of meditation that causes faith, silence or grace to well up inside me.

The goal of extended prayers is never to brag about the hours, it’s leaving there knowing God’s stand on any and everything for that day.

Years ago, I had asked the Lord to show me something and He had asked if I’d do with that knowledge what He does with it. I can open my big mouth and say YES. But when I keep quiet long enough, I receive grace for the responsibility that comes with that yes.

As you go about your day praying, ask God today “Lord, what’s on your heart?”. If it is something in your life you want addressed, ask God what He wants you to know about that situation. You may need actual intervention and other times, the answer may be with you but you’re using it wrongly.

The goal of prayer is to come up to where God is as often as you can.

After I realised how much clarity came with dedicating three hours to God that I could spend doom scrolling away my sorrows, I stretched again. I did not pray 3 hours for a whole year but my bandwidth to stay with God and my capacity to receive God’s word expanded massively.

Next came my first 6-hour stretch which happened because I combined my new 3-hour prayer time with a 2-hour intercessory time and a 1-hour corporate prayer time. My first 60-day prayer (30 minutes daily) streak happened because the Lord asked me to intercede for a group and my prayer went up from there. My first 90-day (I was not consistent) happened when we were corporately praying for the marriages last year.

See how corporate prayer added to the mix has helped my consistency? Sometimes, we think we need to do more alone when we just need community. You may have intensity but no consistency; get a community to build consistency with. If you are willing, ask God to give you a prayer assignment. I usually don’t like when they come (like this blog post) but I am realising that every assignment God gives me is a show of mercy.

The spirit of prayer is a gift from God but the habit of prayer is a muscle you develop.

I am not a Pastor’s kid. I do not run a church. But, I have discovered that God has a lot to say about everything in my life if I would just hold off my bad decision for a few hours and listen.

Please listen even if it means spending more hours in prayers. The goal is not the number of hours but your ability to tune in quickly and stay until you know where God is.