Prayer: Week #1

I am so excited for this prayer series! Each week for the next 4 weeks, I will be sharing with you things about prayer that have helped me to connect with God and to live with more peace and clarity.

My hope is that this information will make you more excited to pray and that you will begin to look at prayer as a way to feel God’s presence, experience His love, get guidance and clarity in your small and big decisions, and ultimately discover the life you were created to live.

Sadly, I’ve heard from too many people who look at prayer as something they do just so they can check it off their list. They know they are supposed to pray, but they don’t know what to say. They aren’t really noticing anything different in their lives because of praying, so they’re not super motivated to make it part of their daily life.

I get this because, probably for the first 10 years of my Christian life, I didn’t really get prayer. I felt like, why should I tell God what I want when He knows what’s best? When I did pray (which wasn’t often), I did 100% of the talking. I never sat quietly and waited for God to speak to me.

Over the last 10 years, I’ve slowly realized that prayer is much more than what I was doing (or not doing). When I started to look at prayer as a time to be with God and a space for Him to help me through life, it allowed me to live with more joy and peace! As I spent time with Him in prayer, I began to experience more of His peace, joy, wisdom, comfort, and guidance—and I want that for you.

So here are a few things that have helped me with prayer:

You Can Talk to God Anytime

You may think of prayer as something you do in church or before a meal. And those are both wonderful times to pray. But I want you to know that you can talk to God anytime, anywhere.

Maybe you love starting your morning with a cup of coffee and your Bible. Before you read, you can simply say, “God, speak to me through Your Word today. Help me see what You have for me.” As you read, if a particular verse catches your attention, stop and ask, “God, what do You want me to know about this?” You’re simply opening your heart and asking Him to speak to you through His Word.

Maybe you connect with God when you go for a walk. As you move your body and take in the beauty around you, you can talk with Him. You can thank Him for what you see, tell Him what you're thinking about, ask Him for guidance, or pray for someone you love.

But you don't have to wait until you have your Bible and your coffee, or wait until you’re out for a walk.

You can talk to God in the shower. You can talk to Him while you're driving. You can talk to Him while you're cooking dinner or getting ready for the day. You can talk to Him when you’re lying in bed at night. And if you wake up in the middle of the night and can't sleep, you can talk to Him then, too.

You don’t have to be in a certain place or have your body in a certain position to pray. When you believe in what Jesus did for you, His Spirit comes into you and will never leave you. He is always there with a listening ear and excited to talk with you. I love Psalm 116:2: “Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!”

Isn’t it great that our Heavenly Father, who created everything and watches over everything, also bends His ear to YOU? Psalm 145:18 is also such a great reminder: “The LORD is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth.” When you call out His name in prayer, He is with you.

Find What Helps YOU Connect With God

Maybe writing your prayers in a journal helps you slow down and really express what's on your heart. Maybe praying out loud helps you focus. Maybe memorized prayers give you words when you don't know what to say. Maybe sitting quietly with God helps you become more aware of His presence.

I want you to experiment. Don't feel like you have to lock yourself into one place or one prayer style.

The best way to pray is the way that helps you calm your heart, open your mind, and become more aware of God's presence so you can hear from Him and allow Him to help you with all areas of your life.

Prayer Isn't the End Goal. Being With God Is.

Praying is a means to an end; it isn’t the end goal. If we look at prayer only as something we do because we know we should, we are going to limit what God can do in our prayer time.

Prayer is about setting your heart on God so that He can speak love and truth into your heart, which allows you to live with more joy and peace.

Hear me, I am not saying that every time you sit and pray you will hear His voice whispering into your heart, but just keep doing it. It may take a few weeks or even months of consistently talking to Him before you “hear Him” and your life starts to feel the impact.