There was never a shortage of things to do in the Wesley household. Meals needed to be cooked, lessons to be taught, rooms to be cleaned and young ones needed attention. Susanna Wesley had nineteen children in nineteen years. Nine died in infancy. She struggled with her health continuously.

Besides these everyday burdens, there always seemed to be an extra weight to bear. Her husband, Samuel, was a temperamental man – – he had left her and the children for a full year due to an argument they’d had over politics. He had little understanding of money, but refused to let her help with the finances, so they lived in state of constant poverty. Twice, he was put into debtor’s prison due to the large amounts of money they owed! In addition to this, they had lost two houses to fire.

If anyone could claim to be busy it was Susanna Wesley. If anyone was weighed down with burdens or distracted by other things it was her. But when it came to prayer, she looked for no excuse. Susanna knelt before God for two hours every day.

In their little house, there was no place for her to be alone, no secluded closet free from distractions, so she knelt wherever she was and simply flipped her apron over her head. When she did this, her children knew she was praying and even the smallest had learned not disturb her.

In the midst of constant demands, Susanna Wesley made a place for God. She guarded those two hours against all distractions because she knew that He alone could give her what she needed to do everything else. It was a difficult life Susanna Wesley faced but she lived it with grace. The grace of knowing her Savior.

“He is so infinitely blessed, that every perception of His blissful presence imparts a gladness to the heart. Every degree of approach to Him is, in the same proportion, a degree of happiness.” -Susanna Wesley

Making a Place for God

There are two obstacles which seem to get in the way of prayer:

Obstacle #1 Busyness

We consider ourselves too busy to pray — our days too full. Susanna Wesley was no stranger to this obstacle, she refused, however, to accept this estimation as true. Yes, she was busy, but she could never be too busy to pray!

Even in our “busy” lives, we regularly manage to make time for important things. We do this because we believe we have to. For example, even if you are in a hurry you will stop to get gas if you notice the tank is empty. You do this because you understand that, while it takes time, it is saving you time in the long run. It would take you so much longer to get where you are going if you had to walk or wait on the side of the road for someone to bring you gas. This is just common sense and you apply it everyday. However, you may not have recognized that the same is true of prayer.

“Sometimes we think we are too busy to pray. That is a great mistake, for praying is the saving of time. You remember Luther’s remark, “I have so much to do today that I shall never get through it with less than three hour’s prayer.” … If we have no time we must make time, for if God has given us time for the secondary duties, He must have given us time for primary ones, and to draw near to Him is a primary duty, and we must let nothing set it on one side. Your other engagements will run smoothly if you do not forget your engagement with God.” – Charles H. Spurgeon

Obstacle #2 Distraction

The second obstacle that commonly stands in the way of prayer is distraction. This can come in many forms. All of which, if entertained, take us away from our appointment with God. You may be on your knees and still not be praying if you entertain the distractions which come.

In a sermon I once listened to, the pastor spoke of walking through a season in which he found himself distracted every time he would try to pray. As soon as he closed his eyes, all of the things he had forgotten to do would suddenly come to mind. Even though he continued to pray, his attention was diverted for he was afraid he would forget those things again. Meeting this obstacle on several occasions, he finally came up with a practical solution. The next time he went to pray he laid a pad of paper and a pencil beside him. As usual, as soon as he knelt to pray, he recalled of a task he had forgotten. This time, however, he was ready.

He paused his prayer and said. “Thank-you, Satan, for reminding me of that. I will take care of it as soon as I finish talking to God.” He made a note of it on the pad of paper. Returning to prayer, he finally found freedom to focus on God. This became his regular habit.

This man recognized that distraction was a strategic move against his prayer life, so he met it with a plan. Susanna Wesley did the same. She had ten children, between them there was certainly some problem, need, or discovery which could have distracted her. But Susanna Wesley taught them not to interrupt her. Her thin apron proved as sturdy a defence against distraction as a stone wall.

Distractions will come. You are responsible for how you handle them. Bring, “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians x.5) This applies to idle thoughts as well as sinful ones — either one can hinder us from communion with our God. 

“Don’t pray when you feel like it.  Rather, have an appointment with the Lord, and keep it!” – Corrie Ten Boom 

In Conclusion

Susanna Wesley prayed because she knew her need for God. She refused to make excuses or allow distractions because she was desperate to access the supply of grace He had for her.

We also need to recognise our need, to recognise we have made a mistake in allowing prayer to go unused, and ask God to help us to pray.

“Next to the wonder of seeing my Savior will be, I think, the wonder that I made so little use of the power of prayer.” — D. L. Moody

In Christ

Quiana