MARISSA BONDURANT | CONTRIBUTOR

We had finished our conversation at the coffee shop and were hugging in the parking lot when my friend mentioned she was going to walk home. Summers in South Texas are not known as prime walking weather, so I quickly offered to give her a ride. She eagerly refused, explaining that she prays as she walks and didn’t want to miss that time with the Lord.

Driving home with my air-conditioning blasting and a podcast playing I felt convicted by her joy. I tend to actively avoid situations where I will be uncomfortable, yet here was my friend— excited to sweat(!)—because that light and momentary suffering was nothing compared to spending time with Jesus.

What is so compelling to her about prayer? Why is she willing to suffer a bit to spend that time with God? Part of what drives her is that she knows that prayer changes her. She sees sanctification unfolding in real time. And she hungers for it.

If I’m honest, most of my prayer time is spent asking God to change things in my life. I want him to remove suffering, give wisdom, open doors, fix people, and give me more patience while I wait for Him to act. It’s about getting God to do things. And it’s about me being unsatisfied with what He’s already done.

But reflecting on my friend’s prayer walks has been humbling. It prompted me to look at Scripture and see what the purpose of prayer is. Some things I found include:

  • An opportunity to praise God: “Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.” (Nehemiah 9:5b),
  • Thank Him for what He has done: “Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!” (Psalm 95:2),
  • Express our needs to Him: “Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
    for I am poor and needy.” (Psalm 86:1),
  • Expect God’s goodness to be revealed: “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!” (Psalm 27:3)
  • And be transformed by the Holy Spirit (through conviction, repentance, and/or a change in perspective): “I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.” (Psalm 38:18)

This last one–being transformed—was intriguing to me. How could prayer change me? I tried praying like my friend and here’s what I discovered:

As I told God about my struggles, anxieties, and wants, the Lord began to flood my mind with Bible verses about His goodness. He anchored my heart to what was beautiful and true. He planted my feet on the sure foundation of His unchanging character. That anchoring changed me.

It took me from the uncertainty of my present circumstances and reminded me that I live under the authority of a good, just, and gracious God. It took the rocking boat of anxiety and strapped it down on the pier of God’s kindness. It turned my focus away from my struggles and onto the one who suffered for my sake.

By the end of my prayer walk, I too felt less insistent about my need for a simple, tidy solution to my problems. Instead, my problems seemed much smaller compared to knowing that I am known and loved by God.

I don’t think my friend and I can blame the Texas sun for the changes we experienced through prayer. It’s the Holy Spirit at work. He met us on toasty pavements and down tree lined streets. He listened attentively to our needs (of which He was already aware) and was sympathetic to our struggles (which He had allowed in His gracious sovereignty). He knows us better than we know ourselves and was eager to increase our trust in Him. As we prayed, He slowly turned our hearts toward this knowledge so we could rest in Christ.

I sent my friend this piece to see if she’d add anything to what I’ve shared, and she humbly insisted that she doesn’t pray every time she walks, and when she does pray it’s not always this life changing. It was a good reminder to me that our relationship with the Lord is a slow and steady process of being transformed into the image of Christ. One walk at a time. One prayer at a time. The Lord is graciously changing us.

Photo by Emma Simpson on Unsplash

Marissa Bondurant

Marissa, her husband Rob and their four girls are members of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, TX. Having walked through childhood cancer with her second daughter, Marissa now writes to encourage weary caregivers to know they are cared for by Jesus, their friends, and their local churches. When she’s not at doctor appointments you might find her learning to enjoy camping, cleaning up her daughters’ artistic endeavors, or trying to convince someone to play a board game with her. She is also the author of “Who Cares for You?”: a 4-week Bible study for caregivers. You can find more encouragement at her website www.marissabondurant.com.