Does your readiness to pray look more like a 40-year-old woman or a 17-year-old boy?

You need to be in the right mood…

With the temperature correct…

Without any distractions…

In comfy clothing…

With a pressing need…

Having just gone to the bathroom…

With your entire daily checklist complete…

In order to pray.

It can be amazing how many hoops we set up for ourselves in order to have “a good prayer session.”

Why, in short, do we think that our prayers need adequate foreplay?

In some ways our prayers can mirror the stereotypical middle-aged housewife’s sex life. Everything must be perfectly aligned or… it doesn’t happen.

But, what if they reflected the stereotypical 17-year-old boy’s sex drive?

What if our attitude to prayer was hair-triggered? 

What if we were good-to-go at the drop of a hat?

What if our prayers were spontaneous?

Always at the ready?

Of course, the analogy is crass, but the idea behind it - I think - accurately depicts they reality of Western Christianity.

We need to GET ready to pray.

We don’t start ready.