Prayer is a fundamental part of the Christian life. It is a practice echoed in Scripture and in our Christian meetings as not something we do once in a while when the need arises, but something that must be done continually (1 Thessalonians 5:16). The practice of praying continually in a world where you have to wake up to get your children ready for school, while still getting ready for work, then commuting to work, jumping into a heavy workload and working until the close of business, rushing out to pick up the kids from school, making dinner, helping with school assignments, and doing house chores before finally going to bed can be challenging. With a schedule like this, moments for prayer can easily become neglected, and the few moments of prayer can become mindless.
What, then, is the solution? How did Jesus pray even with His busy schedule? What was His prayer pattern like?
Prayed in the middle of work: We see Jesus pray at His baptism (Lk 3:21-22), pray while speaking to the Jewish leaders (Mt 11:25-26), pray before feeding 5,000 (Jn 6:11), pray before raising Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11:41-42), and pray when little children came to Him (Mt 19:13-15). Jesus did not stop in the middle of His daily business to take long hours to pray; He prayed as His day went on. He was always conscious that God was with Him and so carried God along as the day went.
And so, can you pray while cutting okra? Absolutely, yes. You can pray while cooking, preparing for work, driving to work, speaking with a colleague, or writing a proposal. Just like Jesus, it could be short sentences, but very intentional and mindful—acknowledging that God hears your prayer and is pleased that you are conscious of Him in your daily business.
Pray before and after work: We see Jesus pray very early in the morning before heading out (Mk 1:35-36), and we see Him pray all night before choosing His 12 disciples (Lk 6:12-13). It was a regular practice for Jesus to take time very early in the morning to be with God before He was overwhelmed by the demands of His work. He also took time at night, leaving His disciples and the distractions of His work to be with God.
It is important to take time before our busy schedule to pray. We cannot afford to be carried away by our schedules to think that we can go through life without taking sufficient time to be with God in prayer, allowing ourselves to bask in the wisdom, grace, and light that being with God provides us.
God loves us and wants us to be intentional about our walk with Him, and so whether we are cutting okra or waking up at 3 am to pray, we are enjoying the communion of being with God and can impact and transform our world for Jesus. The grace and clarity of purpose we need to transform our world can only be accessed by being with God.