Prayer Life

A couple of weeks ago, I heard this quote in the Sunday sermon at church. “Is prayer your steering wheel, or your spare tire?”

Now, I have heard that quote before, but for whatever reason it stuck with me like glue this time around, maybe because it was so impactful.

It got me thinking about how much I use prayer in desperation, begging God to do something I want Him to do. If I am being real, this was a gut check.

Take a moment to be honest with yourself, too. What does your prayer life look like? Are you someone who prays and talks to God regularly, or do you just wait until you need something and then ask Him for it?

Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” We often hear the “present your requests to God” part, without hearing the “with thanksgiving” part. This is huge for me! Thanksgiving truly is so important, yet we often struggle to express our gratitude.

Let’s be honest, we could all be better with our prayer life. This quote and the verse above should encourage us to verbalize our thanksgiving and gratitude more. We should worship and praise God more because He deserves it.

This is a beautiful reminder of where my heart posture should be. I want to have a mindset that remembers what God has done in my life and praise Him for it. I want to utilize prayer for direction and walk in confidence with where I am led.

So, why are we so comfortable only going to God when we need or want something?

Here is the truth: God will never abandon you. He always has your back and He never fails. He is “the Alpha and the Omega, the God who was, and is, and is to come.” Revelation 1:8

God patiently waits for us to come before Him, and every single time He is there to greet us with open arms. We have direct access to God, through prayer!

This is our hope, friends. You and I can go before the Lord with confidence, knowing that He loves us and invites us into His presence. We can be best friends with Him and talk to Him about anything. He is not this big guy up in the sky who grants wishes and is far away from us. He is so close and near to you, and He wants a relationship with you and with me. How do you strengthen a relationship? You spend time with that person, in this case, time in prayer and devotion through reading the Word (the Bible).  

So, moving forward, I want to challenge you all to find ways to spend time with God and have those conversations and thanksgiving with Him. If you find yourself slipping into the “only talking to God when you need something” phase, recognize it and pull yourself out. Begin to think about how you can prioritize your prayer life and make it more natural to talk to your Heavenly Father all day long.

Remember, you are so loved and pursued by the King of Kings.

Journal Prompt:

What does prayer mean to you? How would you like to see your prayer life improve?

Ref: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Matthew 6:6, Romans 12:12