shadow

praying

Perk Up Your Prayer Life

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It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray. . . “  
Luke 11:1 NASB

As a follower of Christ, I have enjoyed fellowship with Him for over 50 years now. However, being a creature of habit, time with God can become just that – HABIT – if I’m not careful. To develop a growing, vibrant relationship requires time, effort, desire, and a whole lot of love. The same applies to our prayer life.

Let’s look at the discipline of praying. Simply stated, it’s being with God, talking to and communing with Him, which includes, but isn’t limited to, praise and adoration, confession, thanksgiving, requests, appeals, and complaints.

How do you spend time in prayer with God? Do you do the same thing every day? Do you feel that your prayers are just falling to the floor and going nowhere? Has it become just a ritual?

If so, check out these recommendations to help bring new life to your prayer time.

  • Stand with hands lifted and pray aloud to the Father.
  • Go for a walk in the woods or the neighborhood, praying as you go – aka prayer walking.
  • Literally make space in your closet to get alone with God. The times I’ve done this have proven to be very intimate times with Him. In fact, I think I need to try that again soon.
  • Conversation is a two-way street. Intentionally implement times of silence to listen to God.
  • If physically possible, lay prostrate on the floor before the Lord. Consider kneeling or simply covering your head with a cloth to shut out distractions.
  • Meet with a friend at the playground and spend time together conversing with God while the kids play. After all, whoever said you had to bow your head and close your eyes to pray?

What a blessing to know the Father longs to be with us. Seek Him for His input as you converse with Him. Think outside the box; don’t be afraid to try something new when it comes to being in His presence and sharing life with Him.                                                                                                     [Digging deeper – 1 Kings 8:54; Matthew 6:6, 26:39; Mark 1:35, 6:46; Luke 18:13]

Starting anew,

Beverly <><

Watching and Waiting

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Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, For to You I pray. In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.

Psalm 5:2-3 NASB

sorrow_bwThe same prayers had been muttered day after day, week after week. In search of guidance, my heart was heavy, and my prayers had become routine. A spiritual blind spot that had taken residence in my heart was revealed through conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Was I praying just for the sake of praying or did I pray like I believed? Did I believe that the Creator of the universe was hearing my prayers and was going to answer? I soon realized that I hadn’t heard His guidance, in part, because I wasn’t expecting it.

Praying-it’s what we do. Christians pray. We most certainly pray in church. Many of us pray before meals and say bedtime prayers with our kids. We pray for healing for those who are sick and for comfort for those who are grieving. The list goes on, but do we pray expectantly? Do we pray like God is not only going to hear our prayers but that He is willing to answer our prayers with the same power that created this world and everything in it? Often times, my answer is no.

I find myself believing the lie that my problem is just too big … or too little to even pray about. I listen to the enemy when he tells me that someone is too lost and can never change. Oh, the lies we listen to.

What if we changed how we pray? What if we prayed like we believed God and that He was going to hear our prayers and answer them? Not according to our will but to His. For us to believe that God is going to answer our prayers in the manner that we desire is faulty theology.

How wonderful it is that the God that we pray to is the same God who created the heaven and the earth and raised Jesus from the dead?! Praise Him!

There is no need too big that our God cannot meet. There is no financial situation too desperate or a marriage too broken. No child has run too far from the Lord that He cannot bring back to Himself.

Friend, as we enter the throne room of God, laying requests for the salvation of loved ones, the healing of diseases, and comfort for the grieving, let us leave those requests with Him and wait expectantly for His answer.

Waiting expectantly,

Traci