I was so honored when precious Anna asked me to write for her blog! I went back and forth about what to write about and then it hit me: at this season of my life I am learning the most about Prayer! I met the Lord through the awesome ministry of Young Life when I was a freshman in high school. Over the past 30+ years I have gone through seasons of having a very committed prayer time and other seasons of just offering up a few prayers here and there throughout an entire day. I have always loved journaling and writing out my thoughts. I started turning my journaling time into mostly prayer time when my kids were younger and I had to maximize the little bit of free time I had. Now that my kids are older I have been able to carve out a more intentional time with the Lord for prayer each day.
If you know me you know I love to talk and have conversations so it comes as no surprise that I cannot wait to wake up, grab my cup of coffee and journal and start my conversation with the Lord. You certainly don't have to write out your prayers, but it has always helped me to stay focused. When I was in high school one of my YL leaders taught me a tool to help me to pray by using the mnemonic ACTS. A-Adoration, C-Confession, T-Thanksgiving and S- Supplication. Although I am definitely not super rigid in my prayer time, this has helped me to try to keep my heart focused on the Lord and not just jump right in asking Him for things. I have loved this model in my extended prayer time because it helps me to start out Adoring/Praising God for who He is. After that I spend time Confessing- which is such a humbling part of my time, but so important. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (KJV) I take such comfort in this verse knowing that of course I am gonna mess up, but the Lord is faithful and just to forgive me, and He also purifies me. Incredible! After that comes Thanksgiving: 1 Chronicles 16:34 says, " Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!" (ESV) Sometimes it is so easy to skip over this part and get to the last step, but we all truly do have so much to be thankful for. Take a few moments each day and focus on that. My son shared with me that it is really difficult for gratitude and anxiety to co-exist so oftentimes when I am feeling worried or anxious I will start saying the things I am grateful for. It really is amazing how much that helps calm me. The last step and the step that takes the majority of my prayer time is Supplication. Supplication means to plead humbly. Each morning I plead humbly with the Lord on behalf of my husband David, my three children: Tyler, Lindsay and Lucy, and I pray for things important to them, things on my heart, prayer requests brought my way, and honestly just anything and everything that the Lord places on my mind. This is such an exciting time for me. I love it. I truly cannot wait to talk to God and see Him work.
Currently I am doing the study ELIJAH by Priscilla Shirer and learning so much more about prayer through the Prophet Elijah. Elijah was bold, unashamed and confident that the Lord would hear and answer his prayers. In one of the video sessions Priscilla says, " Prayer doesn't manipulate God. Prayer just unlocks all the things He planned to do for us anyway." We have to remember that God sees the bigger picture. His ways are higher than our ways and we have to trust Him. She also challenged me to remember that God is the same yesterday and today and forevermore and just like hearing and answering Elijah- God hears and answers us. Ephesians 3:20 says, " Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all that we can ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us." (ESV) I get so excited about this! God wants to hear our prayers. He wants to know what is on our hearts and minds, but the coolest part is He can do even more than we can wrap our minds around. One of the things I have learned the most in this study is to ask the big prayers, the miraculous ones, the ones that seem impossible and not just our simple prayers. He cares about all of them. He loves it when we ask and when we talk to Him. 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your cares on him because He cares for you." (NIV) All cares means everything- big or small.
One of my favorite things to do is to look back through my old prayer journals. I found one just the other day from twenty years ago and was able to look through and see that indeed He had answered so many of the prayers in that journal alone. Prayer doesn't have to be super structured. Oftentimes I pray when I am driving or out for a walk or really anywhere. God just wants to hear from you. Maybe if prayer isn't a big part of your life you could start out by simply just talking to Him a few minutes each day and then eventually get to a place of more intentional set aside time. I am excited and wait expectantly to see how the Lord is going to answer my prayers. There are some things I have been praying about for almost 30 years and some that I just added today. I am hoping and waiting and trusting that He will answer each prayer in His perfect way. I know He wants to do the very same for you!
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