Struggling in Prayer: Seeking to 'Pray Big' with Alistair Begg

 About a month ago, our pastor bought copies of Alistair Begg's Pray Big: Learning to Pray Like an Apostle (TheGoodBook Company, 2019) for our congregation, inviting us to pursue a life of persistent and purposeful prayer together.  Personal prayer has always been a struggle for me.  It's not that I find it difficult to find some time to pray for the needs of family and friends; it's not that I find it hard to praise God for His majesty, glory, and goodness; it's not that I doubt God's attentiveness or responsiveness.  Rather, I struggle to find intimacy and connection in my prayer life, and as a result have found it difficult to devote significant time and energy to spending time alone with God in my 'prayer closet'.  

In several other fashions, I experience what I think is a close and vibrant relationship with God: I experience His reality and presence in worship; I love His Word and experience His truth communication through reading Scripture; I enjoy learning, reading, and teaching theology, Bible, and apologetics; I find spiritual reward in serving others through church and community.  But I have always felt that my prayer life is lacking.

I'm not convinced that reading Alistair Begg's Pray Big has cured my shortcomings in prayer.  But nonetheless, I was reminded of many important truths regarding prayer, and learned a number of new things.  Given my passion for reading and teaching, I wanted to share six insights from Pray Big that I pray will be an encouragement and exhortation for you.

God is Greater Than Google

Praying to Almighty Google


I can’t remember how many years ago my son, now 10, first asked me a question that I think all Christians ask at one point or another in their journey of faith.

“Dad,” he asked, “when we pray, does God hear us?”

“Yes, son,” I answered wisely, “of course God hears us when we pray.”

“If you and I are both praying at the same time, does God hear us both?”

“Yes, son, of course God hears us both.”

“What if there are lots and lots of people all praying to God at the same time, Dad? Can God hear all of them praying at the same time?”

“Yes, He can.”

“But, dad,” he asked, “if Mom and I are both talking to you at the same time, you can’t hear us both.”

“That’s right, son,” I answered, “I can’t hear both of you at the same time."

“Dad - if you can't hear two people talking to you at the same time, then how can God hear lots of people praying to Him? How?”

That question, “How?” is a tough one to answer, isn’t it? I can’t make sense of what anybody is saying if there’s more than one voice coming to me at the same time. If I can’t do that, how is God able to sort the simultaneous prayers of millions of His children?

Last night I heard what I think is the best illustration I have ever heard that describes God’s ability to hear and respond to simultaneous prayer. It came from the lips of our BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) teacher in Louisville, KY—Richard Ross. What follows is a rough paraphrase of Richard’s illustration, with some of my own embellishments and additions.

PRAYING TO ALMIGHTY GOOGLE