Is Prayer Work or Rest?

In my last post on intimacy with God, I mentioned one concern many of us have in our busy and tiring lives: is encouraging people to delve deeper into prayer and intimacy with God adding “one more thing to do” to their busy schedules? In other words, is prayer just “work” and so one more thing we must add to our lives?

The answer to this question is a bit more nuanced than a “yes or no” answer can provide. First, let’s explore prayer as work.

Prayer as Work
Let me get one thing straight: prayer is work. We must be intentional about it, otherwise, it slowly dissipates in the myriads of activities we are engaged in. Prayer can require a great deal of energy. When we engage in intercessory prayers for others, our minds, spirits, and bodies are engaged in work. When we engage in spiritual warfare, our whole beings are engaged in the battle. This is tiring and at times exhaustive work, make no mistake about it.

Prayer as Rest
But there is also prayer that is restful. There are moments in contemplative prayer where we are not speaking, but simply listening or contemplating God’s beauty. God’s presence can envelop us in such a way, that all we can do is observe, mingle in it, and rest. “Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11: 28-29 NIV).

Hebrews 4:1-11 reminds us to enter God’s rest. I want to highlight verses 9 to 11 of that magnificent passage:

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. - Hebrews 4: 9-11 NIV.

The author of Hebrews 4 connects rest with obedience. This is a fascinating take on obedience! Obedience is seldom seen as rest; the opposite seems to be true. Obedience is seen as work, perhaps the most exhausting kind of work. But if we believe that God’s commands are borne out of love for us, then they must also be life-giving to us. Obedience to God is rest from our ceaseless work and pursuits. But obedience and rest, Hebrews 4 makes clear, are also promises of God (that is, the power to obey God is given to us). Obedience through God’s grace is what makes Jesus’ yoke easy and light. God’s grace is what makes obedience restful, and so our prayers must be drenched in that grace to find rest for our souls.

Pursuing a Balanced Prayer Life
Our prayer life should reflect a balance between prayer as work and prayer as rest. Many times we get caught up in monotonous prayers. Doing so prevents us from growing in intimacy with God. The paradigm we must adopt for prayer is a relational one; if we only engage in prayer as work, for example, it would be like spending time with our dear ones in a meeting setting only, discussing pertinent matters in a business-like fashion, leaving almost all personal matters aside. This attitude will lead to a cold, utilitarian relationship with God.

If we only engage in prayer as rest, that is, only praying to enjoy God's presence, then this would be like spending time with friends discussing only amenities, or only having our emotional needs met by them, but when things get too serious, or when they need something from us, we freak out and leave them. If things get too deep for comfort, we don't know how to react and we shut down. Another weakness of the over-dependence of prayer as rest is that we quickly become obsessed with seeking experiences in prayer, trying to recreate a spiritual high we might have encountered in the past. This prayer is hard to sustain in times of spiritual dryness.

Clearly, what we need is a prayer life that incorporates both work and rest. A prayer that enjoys God. A prayer that asks for God's benefits like grace, healing for ourselves and others, while at the same time getting personal with God by allowing God to work in us, heal us and sanctify us. Only a prayer life that is able to incorporate both work and rest is able to delve into intimacy with God, to that place in God's heart where we can rest and allow God to change us from the inside out. This is what happens with our best relationships: we enjoy their presence (they provide rest and comfort) but they also challenge us (work) to learn and grow.

In Conclusion
Prayer is so much more than just "adding one more thing to your life." Prayer, more than simply an action, is an attitude, and intention to keep open a relationship with our Creator. Prayer is a posture. It is not an activity that is simply added over to the legions of duties you already have, but it is something that affects and fills all the activities you are engaged in. That is why Thessalonian 5:17 can encourage us to "pray without ceasing."

Prayer is work, especially when we are interceding for one another or waging war against the powers and principalities of this world. But prayer is also being nurtured in God's presence. Prayer is rest from our restless seeking. Prayer is the most restful place our souls can be. It is the only place our hearts can truly rest, as St. Augustine proclaimed in his Confessions: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."