I wake up to the sound of a crying baby. This is the third time I’ve been up in the night. But this time it’s the morning. I roll out of bed to nurse the baby. Then the toddler wakes up and the morning is in full swing.

A pile of books and loud footsteps fill the living room as my husband and I make breakfast and get everyone fed and dressed. We sneak in songs and happy playtime before the babysitter arrives. Then it’s time for work – my husband off to his pastoral job and a work-from-home ministry job for me.

The next 8 hours are filled with meetings and deadlines and consultations in between nursing breaks and a long walk and playtime at lunch. My brain is split by the demands of being a mom and employee.

After afternoon naps there are lots of tears. This is the grouchy time of day. We calm down with some outside time and coloring and somehow manage to get dinner in the oven before daddy gets home.

Dinner time is filled with squeals and catch-up conversations, which quickly draws to a close because it’s time to load up for church. My husband has to leave early—he’s running the program tonight. I load up the kids and drive away.

Oh nope, forgot the bottle. Back home again.

I finally arrive for church with a double stroller full to the brim. That hour is full of conversations, a trip to the nursery, teaching the 5^th-6^th graders, loading back up, going home, doing baths and bedtime snack and family worship as my husband walks in the door.

The house is a wreck. The next hour is spent cleaning, doing dishes and laundry and refreshing for the next day. I squeeze in a shower and finish the earlier interrupted conversations with my husband before I give the baby her dream feed and collapse into bed exhausted wondering, “Where is there room in my life for prayer?”

What I’ve realized is that my problem (and maybe yours) isn’t a desire to pray. We know we should. We see its importance. But there is a breakdown regarding when and how.

Somehow our Christian culture has lulled us into believing that prayer has to look and sound a certain way to “count” and when that doesn’t fit into our life, we just give up.

But even with the example I just shared, there are not only opportunities but also needs for prayer in each of our lives, no matter how full. In a single day, I was interacting with others who are hurting, trying to navigate spiritual roadblocks in the lives of my children and holding everything together in my own strength. Imagine how I could have made a gospel impact and postured my heart to the glory of God with simple communion with Him as I went.

So let’s start here. What exactly is prayer?

I read a book this summer that has challenged my view of prayer and I’ll be sharing several truths from it with you tonight. It’s called “Going Higher With God in Prayer” by A.W. Tozer.

Here’s what Tozer said: “Prayer is not something we add to our life. Rather, it is something we ascend to. The result of true prayer is experiencing the presence of God in reverence and awe on His terms.”

Prayer is an ascent – doesn’t that just change the way you see prayer? It’s not just a to-do list item, it’s a moment where you get to experience communion with God through His Spirit.

As Tozer said, “We cannot truly pray without experiencing God.” This experience of God necessitates experiencing LESS of the world, and even less of ourselves.

Experiencing God and ascending to Him in personal conversation doesn’t have to be revolutionary. It can be the simple act of praying before meals, asking for God’s help during times of transition, using moments in the car to intercede for others, confessing when something’s not right, and most importantly acknowledging the majesty and grace of the God we serve every day.

Persevering in prayer has everything to do with pure reliance on the Lord and a growing affection for Him. And as you go about your week I pray that you, too, may assess where God wants to grow your ability to “ascend” into His presence even in the mundane.