Someone to Stand in the Gap
Most addicts can pinpoint a moment at which they "hatched" from the addiction and left it behind.
Stanton Peele1
Once convinced of the need for prayer, how does someone form the habit of prayer? Is it a slow gradual process? Or does commitment come quickly, like a flash of insight?
Psychologists who study habit formation say that sometimes habits are made, or broken, in moment-of-truth experiences. Stanton Peele, after studying the problem of addiction for more than a decade, says that more often than we'd expect alcoholics, for example, simply decide a life of drinking is no longer worth it, and quit. No long drawn out withdrawal, no professional help—just a sudden realization that drinking is not what they want to do anymore.2
Peele admits, however, that these "moments of truth" can be identified only in retrospect. They cannot easily be predicted, and they cannot be manufactured in a one-two-three-step process. They seem to be the result of several needs and factors coming together in a person's life at one point so the weight of making the decision becomes compelling. Psychologists have noted that often one need by itself is not enough to stimulate action toward a good goal, but if two or three needs are recognized that could be satisfied by the same goal, change is not only possible but likely. Is it possible that our "bad habit" of prayerlessness can be overcome by a moment of truth?
Alec Rowlands, pastor of First Assembly of God in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, had an experience like this with his prayer life. Perhaps some elements of his story will be helpful to those of us still hoping to be struck by a blinding flash of light, or at least have our darkness illumined by the light of a steadily burning candle.
Rowlands wanted revival ...
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