It’s funny how speechless people become when you ask them about prayer, especially when you ask them to pray aloud. It’s a bit of an uncomfortable topic for most. My top priority this year is to be Spend More Time With God! I think a lot of spiritual and religious people have similar goals every year. Or maybe they hear a profound message at church that speaks to them and they instantly think “I need to spend more time with God…”, but then everyday life sets in and the goal or wish that they once had seems to slowly disappear. Maybe there are people out there that don’t go to church, they aren’t very religious but they do believe in God and want to grow closer to him, but it ends at that. Simply a wish or a thought. Wishes and dreams are nice, but without an action plan nothing will come of it. What if an architect just wished and thought about building someone a house. Well that would be all well and good, but without a plan or blue prints that family would remain homeless.
So what about you? Do you have the wish or desire to spend more time with God? Maybe your curious about who he is and what he is all about. I think the first step to growing in a deep relationship with God is prayer. I used to think that prayer had to be done with your eyes closed, hands folded, using amazing eloquent words that were spoken aloud making perfect sense, but that was just my childhood perspective of prayer. The model of prayer that I knew was the way a Pastor prays. So when I would go to pray I was trying to pray the “perfect” way, and since perfect is impossible I would get discouraged. As I got older I began to realize that perfect prayer isn’t what God wanted from me. All he wanted was genuine, thoughtful, truthful prayer.
Sometimes you can know something, but not fully grasp or believe it. This is exactly what has been happening to me with prayer. I know that perfect sensible prayers are not what God intends for us to bring to him. I know that my juvenile belief in what prayer should look like isn’t always accurate. I know that all I have to do is come to God with authentic prayer.
Over the past few weeks I have really been working on growing closer to God. In my last post, one of the steps to help me grow closer to God was to pray continuously. I know that my struggle with prayer isn’t uncommon. There are lots of people who can relate. This past weekend at church can you guess what the topic was at church? Prayer. I mean REALLY!!!?? Come on…God is just amazing. I was so intent on listening and learning all that I could about prayer and how to do it. Pastor Bill talked about how people typically come to God when they need something. DING DING DING. That’s me and about a million other people in the world!! Don’t get me wrong, I do pray at other times, but I find myself most often turning to prayer when I need something. I mean we are human, so that’s our nature. Pastor Bill shared with us this 5 step process to use when we pray. I added in a few key words and phrases I want to use in my prayer along with a bible verses.
1. Recount God’s Greatness: Dear Lord, I just want to thank you so much for who you are. You are an amazing God. I surrender to your greatness and praise you for your mercy.
“Take a long, hard look. See how great he is-infinite, greater than anything you could ever imagine or figure out. Job 36:26
2. Respond to God’s Purpose: Lord, I just want to reflect on what you’re doing in my life. Thank you for the many blessings you have given me. May your will be done in my life.
” I know what I’m doing. I have it all planed out. Plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.” Jeremiah 29:11
3. Receive his Provisions: Sometimes it’s hard for me to come to you in prayer without automatically asking for your provisions. Please help me to stop worrying about tomorrow & feeling guilty for my past. Help me live in the moment today and accept the blessings you have for me right now. I know that you are a God who provides and I can come to you for anything, but help me remember it’s your will not mine!
“Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.” Proverbs 3:5
4. Relate to God’s Forgiveness: You are a great and forgiving God. Please forgive me of my sins. I am far from perfect and I have made mistakes. Please help me to learn and grow from these mistakes so I can help others who struggle in their daily walk. Please help me forgive others they way you have forgiven me. I know in my heart that I need to forgive this person. They have really hurt me, but holding onto this grudge is only hurting myself. Please cleanse my soul and wash away all bitterness. I want to be filled with joy & happiness.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just he will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
5. Request God’s Protection: Thank you so much for who you are. My life is so full of joy since I have invited you to live in my heart. I trust you in every way to guide and direct my life. Please watch over me. Keep me safe and protected. Amen.
“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
I encourage you these next few weeks to really focus on your prayer time with God. Your relationship with God is like any other relationship. If there is no communication, your relationship will suffer. Talk to God like he is sitting right next to you. Don’t feel like your prayers have to be perfect or make sense. Just start talking. I guarantee the more time you spend with him, the easier it will become. Try to avoid praying in bed. It’s too comfortable and you can always count on falling asleep in the middle of your prayer (I speak from experience). Lately I have been using transition times to pray. Any time I’m moving from one activity to the other I will say a quick prayer. I talk to God like he’s my best friend (well he actually is, but you know what I mean). He never judges me, there is never awkward silence, and he is the best listener in the world. The hardest part about prayer for me is listening. That will have to be a whole nother’ blog post, but I also encourage you to start listening for his voice. It may not be very loud, but I guarantee if you take the time to listen he will speak to you.
Lots of love to my readers! I hope you have a blessed day.
Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
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