Lent 2018
Name: Paul Yoo
Lenten Commitment: Wake up early every morning and spend time with God in prayer
Prayer is an amazing thing. To be able to communicate and commune with God is nothing short of a gift. It is not only that we can talk to God but also that he listens to us. To know that the God of all creation listens to my prayers is something that fills me with awe. Then, beyond hearing our prayers, He even answers those very prayers.
As much as I may know the power and purpose of prayer, this has been my biggest obstacle in knowing God more fully and deeply. I read about prayer and speak about prayer, but have such a hard time actually praying. How can I know God without speaking to Him and spending time with Him in prayer?
I have always been able to pray to God little by little throughout the day, but have had trouble setting aside time for prayer because I get distracted so easily. It is a lot easier for me to spend my time doing other things, like watching TV, than actually spending it in prayer.
Another big reason I have struggled is that deep inside I believe I can do things myself. Whether it is preaching or becoming more like Christ, there is a part of me that thinks that I can do it without help. If prayer is a cry for help and acknowledgment of being weak, then my lack of prayer points to the fact that I think I am strong.
So, this Lent I am waking up 30 minutes earlier each day to start my day off with devotion and prayer. It has been hard waking up and giving up sleep. I am learning just how difficult it is to pray when I have just woken up and my brain is not fully functioning yet. So I have been using the PrayerMate app on my phone to help me organize and go through my prayers. I have set it so I first pray about scripture, pray for my sanctification, and then pray for my family. This has been extremely helpful in focusing each morning.
I have also learned that I have to move on from not always being able to wake up or pray each morning. Although I have failed, this is something I want to keep working on it so having a time of prayer will be built in my life. I believe this time of prayer will help me grow as a Christian and come to know God more. It will also help me rely less on myself and more on God.
I want to pray instead of just thinking about it. I want to go into every day reminding myself of the Gospel and crying to God for help as I go through the day. I want to rely not on my own strength, but on God’s strength every day. I want to be a person who lives every moment of his life reliant on God through prayer.
Editor’s note: Paul also wrote a Lent Reflection in 2017. To read that post, click here.
This post is a part of DSYG’s Lent Reflections series meant to educate and inspire readers on the season of Lent and its value in any Christian’s relationship with Christ. For more information on this series, click here.
To read more posts in this year’s series, click here.
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