Daily Prayer-It Really Works: Chase Lenard

I cannot stress the importance of daily prayer enough and the peace of how it has helped order my life. I have been given freedom in my life in ways I could not have previously imagined or hoped for. Earlier this school year in the fall, I was yearning to know what it felt like to be loved by God. I did not understand what it meant to have a relationship with Christ or a real solid idea of Christ’s personhood. Jesus was an idea or concept to me rather than someone who desired an intentional relationship with me. I had slowly come to understand his love for me through others, but I still felt a lack of connection. I had expressed this to my friend Philip during one of our hangouts at the Wesley. In that moment he said, “I am going to speak for Christ and tell you, you will know my love.” At that time, he was speaking on Christ’s behalf to me and of what would come to fruition in my life.

At The Well, our Tuesday night worship service, we have been reading Revelation and talking about what it means to prophesy. The prophets are recorded to speak the word of God with authority. It is often written how they came to speak truth to the nation of Israel who has turned away from the teachings of God. In Revelation the two prophets speak, and the world wishes for their destruction, and when they are finally given over to the enemy to die and be left in the streets, the whole world rejoices at their deaths with gift giving and celebration. On that evening in the fall, Philip had faith to prophesy in my life. It is a scary thing to speak in the name of the Lord, yet still, he continued to pray in faith that I would know the same joys and security in Christ that he had come to know.

In these past couple of months, I have met with Christ through daily prayer, and it has changed how I order my life. My prayer and daily devotion turned my attention from myself towards others. I would pray for those around me in my small group, my dorm, my church, friends, family, and my community. I prayed that I could be a better witness, and God gave me opportunities to witness. I prayed that he would reveal sin in my life, and he showed me my sin. Each day, my attention turned less from myself and towards others. Time and time again, God answered my prayers. Like others at the Wesley, I have come to practice Lectio Divina where I read, meditate, pray, and contemplate on the revelation of the scripture that I read that day. I can spend a week on a chapter in this practice. The time spent in scripture and prayer is building relationship with God. 

Whatever one’s daily devotional life is, it is important that it exists daily. If you are looking for time for daily devotion, start by making time. Set aside space in your day for God. It can be difficult to pray when there is so much to do and so much left undone in the day. It is difficult to set all the other priorities of the day aside when one prays in the middle of the day. If so, pray in the morning. Let it be the first task of the day to align oneself with Christ before the challenges of the day begin. Whatever the schedule or day looks like, one should order their life after Christ first and foremost, whatever the sacrifice may be. God desires peace for our lives and that we would have power and dominion to take hold of our lives. For years I had attended church, worshipped with others, and prayed for freedom from the sin that brought me shame. After committing to setting a time for daily prayer in my life, it has provided a space to rest and be still. I feel as though I am finally getting at what it means to be a Christian, as though I have found salvation for the first time.

If there are major stumbling blocks in one's walk as a Christian, daily devotion and prayer is not a catch-all fix. It is, however, a fantastic place to start. When one prays, they are met with the call to act and be affected by the answer to prayer. God answers prayers, and that can be confrontational. If one prays to be a better witness, God will provide an opportunity to witness. If they pray for a closer relationship with Christ, they might have revealed to them the very things they care about that are getting in the way. If one is tired and frustrated and unable to focus, then they should pray. If there are challenges in the day and resentment being built, then they should pray. If one is bored with a mind left to wonder and it feels like there is no escape from temptation, they should pray.

Whatever excuse can be made to not commit to devotion to prayer and scripture comes from the enemy and not the Lord. When we do not pray for others and to the Lord, we are not operating at the fullest capacity we could be. We are facing the day in our communities underequipped. We are doing ourselves and our brothers and sisters a disservice. We are called to spread the gospel, make disciples, and continually disciple one another in the body of Christ. We can only get so far on our own. I pray that you will be blessed as I have been and know that God loves you. We are all sinners, and we need Christ. Let him love you.

Chase is a treasured member of the Wesley Foundation. He is currently a senior Studio Art major at LA Tech and serves as a RA on campus. Chase has a great talent for art (particularly painting) and enjoys making others smile and laugh. He’s a joy to be around, and we’re thankful for his presence in our community.