5. Tips on How to Pray as a Busy Physician

If you are a busy physician you might often find yourself hard-pressed for time and struggle to fit consistent time for prayer into your busy schedule.

In this episode, I'll share tips and stories on how to overcome those challenges, find time in prayer, and draw closer to God so we can live the life God intended for us and be able to serve our patients better.

If you are interested in getting on my prayer list or scheduling a prayer appointment go to:
https://www.ingahofmann.com/prayersupport

Here is a free resource I created for you to help you get into a habit of daily prayer.
https://physicianprayerguide2.plannerpack.co

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Transcript

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We all know that prayer is important, but here's the thing. As busy physicians, it's sometimes not that easy to squeeze time in to really make time for prayer and make that a priority in our lives. And I wasn't any different for a long time. So I want to share a little bit with you how I changed my mind, how I got into prayer habits. So stay tuned and we'll be right back. So welcome back to another episode of Heal the Healers. I'm Inga Hoffman, your host, and I'm excited to share with you today how we can find time and make time for prayer fellowship with God. See, I wasn't always considered a prayer warrior, and if you listen to my earlier episodes when I started this, I shared a little bit of a testimony. It was really through a series of events in my professional life with my patients. But also in my personal life, that really tweaked tweaked is a weak word that transformed me to be a real prayer warrior and an intercessor now for others. And I wasn't always like this, to be honest. I did pray. pretty regularly, I would say, sometimes more, sometimes less. But at some level or another, when I think about the vast majority of time, the vast majority of time of my prayers that felt like they're hitting the ceiling, they're not really getting through, through the to the throne room, which obviously isn't true. That's not what scripture tells us, but it felt like that. It felt like my prayers are hitting the ceiling and I'm just uttering some words and I'm, I'm going through the motions, but I'm not feeling it. Now, to be honest, faith is not a feeling. That is very clear. We should not rely on our emotions for our faith. We should rely on God's word and his promises. But There is a difference when you really feel the spirit is moving you and your prayer is moving you in a direction based on where the spirit is leading us. So, often times, I felt in the past, I was coming with a request. of a list of things to God. I need help with this. I'm having trouble with this. I'll please God help that. And sometimes they were really petty things versus really relying on the Lord to guide me in the prayer and to even have the awareness that there's a whole another level of prayer, that God can show us things as we take time with Him that we should be praying for. And that only came with time and in practice. And going back to that special moment that I shared in another story with my patient, I honestly don't know what happened. I used to pray. I used to pray based on what I read maybe and requests I had, and I even prayed for my patients. But something in the spirit, there was really an act of the Holy Spirit that moved me, that drew me in to pray fervently. for this patient that was very sick, and I shared that in my intro episode. And it's a miracle this patient is alive today. And it was something that shifted in my spirit, and honestly, I cannot take credit for it. I cannot say I did something different, and that's why that happened. It was God's work through me. The Holy Spirit worked for me. But I have to tell you one critical thing that I do think made a difference. My prayer posture over the maybe years before, a couple of years before, had changed. I was at least in a regular habit of prayer and Bible reading up to that point. Well, in other times when that was sort of hit or miss, there were patches of times where I was really doing great and other patches not so great. But now I had built this consistent devotion to the Lord every morning in my quiet time and I would say that was a key factor. That was an important factor that God could now draw me closer, so to speak, bring me to the next level. Now that's just my story, but I want to share a little bit of, well, like the last lesson, why are we actually praying? We know it's important. We know we're supposed to do it, but why are we actually doing it? And again, I want to turn to scripture and remind us of a few verses, and I read a couple in the others. I will have you look up, and we're going to put them in the comments. But number one, Jesus sets an example for us to pray, right? When the disciples ask him, Lord, show us how to pray, what does he do? He gives them instructions, the Lord's Prayer. Many of you have that prayer memorized. And what I would say about that, look that up, study it. Matthew 6, 9 to 13 is one reference. There is another one in Luke, I believe. Study that scripture and really look through. And remember, it's not just a thing we just rattle off. We don't want to just go through the motions. We actually want to really use what Jesus showed us as a model prayer. Because it has all the key components in there. But it's a good jump off point. So that's number one. Also scripture tells us. It's in Hebrews 4 16 that when we pray, we draw to the throne of grace, we come in front of the Lord in his throne room to appeal to him. And that is such a wonderful thing. The Bible teaches us and I'm looking over at my notes to make sure I quote you the scriptures correctly, that we should be praying. Without seizing. You're all very familiar with the scripture in 1st Thessalonians 5 16 to 18 and then here's one of my favorites and I want to read this to you actually so that is from Philippians 4 6 to 7 and let me just pull up my Bible here and actually read this to you because this is a great scripture So Philippians 4 6 to 7 teaches us this do not be anxious About anything but in every situation by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving present your request to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus Christ. Isn't that a beautiful scripture? Do not be anxious about anything, but bring your petition to the Lord. And He, He hears you. He cares. So, and in, in John, he actually shares with us, 1 John 5, 14, 15, I think it is. Let me pull that up for you. It shows us that He promises that He hears us. So 1 John 5, 14 and 15. This is the confidence we have in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of Him. That is a beautiful promise. He hears us. Amen. But there's a key scripture in there. It says according to his will. So when we pray, we're going to go into this, we should be careful what we're praying for. so That is actually according to God's will. Another scripture is James 4. 2. We don't have because we don't ask. A lot of times we feel we cannot ask God or this request is too small or this request is too big. God cares about all of them. Ask God. Petition to Him. Don't let the enemy tell you, Oh, that's not important enough. That is a lie. Okay? And then Jesus tells us that we should pray and that we should believe and receive. And that is a scripture from Mark and I think that's a good one to read too. 11 24. So Mark 11 24 shows us Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. All these promises that God is giving us, that's amazing. Now sometimes we feel like, why, why am I not getting it? Well, maybe, number one, it's not in God's will. Maybe he has a different plan, or it will happen later. Be patient, trust God, and the Spirit's leading. Another important scripture is Ephesians 6, I'm not gonna read that, but you know the armor of God in the end God, Paul really calls us to petition and pray. JaMes 5 talks about when we pray we should pray and for one another and ask forgiveness for one another for healing. That's James 5, 16. And then how do we pray? Matthew 6. Five to nine shares with us that we get quiet in front of the Lord. We got quiet and we retreat in the room. We don't pray like the Pharisees out loud so everybody can see it, but we get in a personal space for the Lord. What a beautiful thing. So these are just a few scriptures to help you understand why we pray. I know. You probably heard them before and you know them, but it's always good to go back and study these and say, wow, what are God's promises in here? He left them, every word in there is for a reason. Now, I want to leave you with a few tips on how we pray as a busy physician and how we can establish a habit. And you heard in the last lesson about How we establish reading God's Word. This is very similar. It's a different thing, but the two of them really go together. Number one, I would say find a quiet space just for your Bible reading and prayer time. Find a quiet space where you can be uninterrupted. I'm very sensitive to noise. When I sit in our, in our kitchen. I love our kitchen table. But man when my husband is in the nearby office and I hear him typing and working, I get distracted. So I go to my bedroom in the summer. I love sitting on my screened and porch. You probably hear a lot of screened and porch stories from me where I sit on my porch, looking out on the lake. It's just my, my special time with the Lord. And a lot of special things have happened in that very special location where God just. Met me in amazing ways. I encourage you to tag on your prayer time and embold that with your Bible reading time. So I start with prayer. I read. And I pray some more and sometimes for a long time then if you don't know what to pray for, number one, you can ask God to just give you direction. Sometimes I just start with gratitude. I pray over my family, over safety, over protection. You can start with a prayer list. That can be very helpful as a jump off point. Now I started interceding for other physicians. And if you're interested, I will put a link in the notes below so that you can reach out for prayer appointments or to get on the prayer list. And so I have a list, so I keep track of all these people. But you might have a list just for your personal reasons that you want to intercede in front of the Lord. Or there might be other things that come to you as you start with a list. Sometimes the God moves us and the Lord moves us and the Holy Spirit moves us and we just go off on a, on a good tangent, so to speak. I know that I want to say, let the Spirit really lead you, to you, to give you prompts what to pray for. Right now. A lot of us, everybody should be praying for Israel, and when I record this, we are in a very special time, and the Lord will show you how to intercede for Israel, for example, for what's going on in the Middle East, for people that are innocent and in harm's way, and for my example with my patient, for my patient. God really clearly showed me, in the spirit, you need to pray for this specific organ. Pray over the liver, when I wasn't worried about liver. Pray over the lungs, when the lungs were doing just fine on room air. So, that was the Holy Spirit prompting me to pray into these things. Before that happened and that you need to listen to and it takes time to listen and learn You have to spend time with God to pick up his nuances how he speaks to you and to know this is my voice This is God's voice, and that will grow you exponentially in your relationship with the Lord and in your faith. So then just listen to your heart. There are certain things through the Holy Spirit. He puts heavy on our heart. Reap what the Lord weeps for. I pray for physicians all the time because I'm reaping over them. I'm weeping over you. It might be like that's a little extreme. But I know what's going on out there. We are all no strangers to burnout struggles. Physicians are broken. I weep over that because I know the Lord weeps over that. Over injustice, over broken families, over difficult situations. So that's what we should be doing. What the Lord prompts you to weep over, what you get angry or passionate over, in righteous anger with the Lord, Weep over that. Pray his will. I alluded to this earlier from the scriptures, but it is really important to pray his will, not just what we want. And I want to give you a word of caution here. Sometimes we think we know what God's will is. Haha. But we don't number one, we cannot understand his perfect will. We, when I say pray according to his will, pray according to the scriptures, to his word. If it's in contradiction with that, like, don't even, don't even bother. But sometimes we think we have an insight in a situation, and this has happened when I watch people pray. I have to guard myself all the time when I pray over people or intercede for people that I don't put my own interpretation in what's going on. Really important, do not put your own perspective in the situation. reAlly let the Holy Spirit guide you. Now sometimes, you are the person specifically praying for that other person, with that other person, interceding for that person, because The Lord knows you understand. Because you have been in a similar situation that happens a lot yet. I want you to have a posture of Submitting yourself to the Holy Spirit and guard your heart to not pray into based on your cultural perception Political views anything We could be very easily off and very easily tainted with how we pray for very specific things, and I have honestly seen that to harm to people as well, because somebody prayed something that wasn't from God, that was from them, and it was off the mark and was harmful. And we all are prone to that. We all have a risk of doing that. And that's why you really need to understand there is a reverence. We're standing in front of a holy God interceding in his throne room and at his feet to have a reverence for what we're actually doing and doing it with a posture of humility, being humble, and understanding that God knows much more. Now, on the flip side, you don't want to get into wishy washy prayers and make everything look, look wrong, right? And say, well, it may be this, if it's your will, but if it's not, no, be confident in your prayers. Be confident. But. Be careful not to put your own little flavor in there, okay? And then, this is maybe new to some and it was new to me, honestly. Pray in your heavenly language. What does that mean? Praying in tongues. The Bible talks about that a lot. I know there's varying opinions, and I have lived on all those spectrums of opinions before. Coming from a church where it was like from the devil to pray in tongues. So when I became a believer I don't believe that anymore and I'm grateful that there are times when I don't know what to pray and when I started to learn or when that's not a skill when God gave me the The inside, when, when his spirit filled me and I was able to speak in a heavenly language. Sometimes I don't know the words to say, or I don't know what to pray for. And I have had a number of times happen that I just started to let go, to praise him. Sometimes I go into my heavenly language and suddenly I have a very specific prayer request. Or a very specific point that I needed to pray for that person in need that I was interceding for. So, here are some extra tips. You can pray on the go. So yes, you should pray during your quiet time, absolutely. There should be designated time for intercession and prayer, but you can also pray on the go. So when I was very busy, and I still do this but during earlier times, I often took the pray without ceasing. How does, what does, what could that mean? So I would pray in, I would continue to praise and worship and pray in the car on my commute to work. When I was in Boston at Boston Children's, it took me 45 minutes an hour to get to work for a very short commute. And I was like, I'm standing in traffic, I'm praising God and I'm praying. So I would just do that. And that is a wonderful use of time. So when I'm walking. I might pray. Prayer walking, right? You have heard these terms. Pray at work. What specifically can you do? You can pray for patients. You can pray before you enter a room and again, it doesn't have to be a long prayer. Sometimes just like, Lord, give me wisdom and discernment and serve this person in this room well. Honestly I have done this a lot, especially when I enter difficult conversation. As a PT monk doctor, as a transplanter, I've had more difficult conversation than I would like to. End of life conversations with families. I know that I'm not equipped. I think I do pretty well with them, but I've done this for a long time. I'm trying to be very compassionate and yet very honest. But here's the thing, I know I cannot do it without the help of the Lord. Because these people, on the other end, those parents of those cancer children, of these desperate, devastated parents, they need somebody who has a word for them. It doesn't mean I've quoted scripture. What I'm saying is, Lord, in those times when I prayed for those people, or when I, when I had conversations and I prayed for the conversation, sorry, that I went ahead and said, Lord, help me, Lord, I'm not enough right now. Give me the wisdom and discernment to speak the right words, let my compassion come through, and sometimes honestly, when it was really hard and I felt really burdened. I remember many times walking down that hallway towards the ICU to have a family meeting for withdrawal of care. I would just walk and I would cry out to the Lord, even about my team next to me, I don't care. I wouldn't do that loud, but I was praying in my spirit. I was quietly praying, Jesus, just walk by my side right now, send your angels and help me, help me to, to serve these people well. And. That's, that's just what I experienced. And then last thing, don't just pray, dump your request off to the Lord and then go. Wait and listen and I will share a very quick story. I know we are we're quite longer than I usually like to speak But I want to share a quick story from a book that I read that was very eye opening to me like really sitting and waiting and listening and waiting on the Lord and there was a story in a book that I Read about a nurse and she was a cardiac ICU nurse, but before she came a nurse She was trying to figure out from the Lord What am I supposed to do with my life? And she was asking him every day And she was just talking, she was just putting her past there, praying with the Lord, and she was just sitting and waiting, sitting and waiting. Sometimes she said, I was sitting and waiting, I don't remember, like it was sometimes hours, I think. And eventually, I don't know how many weeks or days or months later, I have to look back at the book. Eventually, God gave her an answer. He made it clear. He said, this is what you ought to do. You gotta go to nursing school. Now, that was nowhere on her radar, but she was patient to listen. And I'm encouraging you, be patient to listen. Don't just rattle off your stuff, but really listen. Because God is also speaking to us. Because remember, prayer is as communicating with God, which is not a one way dialogue. Just like you don't have a one way dialogue with your patients. So I hope this served you. Be blessed, have a blessed evening, have a, have a blessed day. And then next time we're gonna carry on our conversation.