Pray Much?

Friday, August 26, 2011
Pray Much? There are a lot of people that have some misconceptions about prayer, I think. So often people have the assumption that prayer is something you do only while at church. There are some who may believe that there’s more of a chance of God hearing them if they pray at church, as opposed to other locations. To some, prayer is more of a ritual or routine than a simple conversation or dialogue with God. What do you think about when I mention the word prayer?
The first thing that comes to mind when I consider the idea of prayer is talking. Turns out, I know a little bit about the “art” of talking. Ask anyone that knows me very well and they will agree: I can talk…a lot. That used to bother me, and I’ll admit that there are still moments when I catch myself holding my words for fear that I’ve already used too many. But not with Him – He wants to hear everything I’ve got to say!
There is no such thing as “talking to God too much.” Can I get a hallelujah from the saints because our God never gets tired of hearing our voice? No matter what is on your mind or heavy on your heart, He’s always ready to listen. He loves you just that much.
But prayer isn’t always talking, either. There have been moments in my life when I came to God to pray and simply didn’t have any words to use to express what was in my heart. Though I wanted desperately to talk to Him, I was speechless. I couldn’t come up with anything to tell Him what was going on inside of me. Yet I could still pray. Is that possible?
Yes, it is. You see, I think the best part about prayer is that God already knows what we’re going to say before we even say it. True, He still wants to hear from us, but when we can’t speak it’s still ok. Scripture says that in those moments when we don’t know how or what to pray that the “Holy Spirit makes intercession for us in groans that cannot be uttered.” There’s a “language” that the Holy Spirit can pray in for us when we can’t pray ourselves. Isn’t that exciting?
You’ll have countless conversations today with everyone from your husband or wife to the gas station clerk to a co-worker to the drive through worker at the fast food restaurant. No matter who you’re talking to, no doubt you’ll talk about a few things that really aren’t that important. We’ll expend energy and oxygen to talk about the weather, sports, hobbies, and who knows what else.
What if we had conversations with God as frequently? What if every time a worry or concern came to mind we took just a moment to mention it to God? What if when things are going great we took just a second to utter a “thank You” to Him for His goodness? What if when we saw someone hurting or struggling we mentioned them to Him? What would happen if we actually began to pray like we truly believe He’s listening? What if…?
PS: Prayer Request – right now there’s a beautiful little newborn baby named Morgan Noelle Summers that’s having some tests run to find out what her struggles will be in the days to come. They’ve already discovered a few of them, and it already appears that her little life will be a testimony of God’s faithfulness in the coming days, weeks, months, and years. She has an awesome dad named Marty and an awesome mom named Jordan. I’ve never known any two people more special or in love with their Savior than these. And the heartache and uncertainty they feel right now is bigger than most of us can understand. So would you take a moment and call their names out to the Father, asking Him to intervene and show Himself mighty in their lives right now? I appreciate it, and I know they do as well.



That’s just a thought, and I welcome yours.
Until next time,
blake

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