When I was going through my divorce from my first marriage, I was four months pregnant. I remember questioning God so many times, why? And I had a co-worker speak truth into my heart. She shared her life verse with me and in that moment, I felt peace. Peace with the circumstances God had laid before me. Peace with the outcome. Peace that I was in fact strong enough to do this on my own. She shared with me, Philippians 4:6-7,
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Don't be anxious, pray. Pray and present your requests to God. Ya know, prior to getting pregnant, I had been dealing with a very unfaithful marriage. I knew that I wasn't loved or respected as I should have been and yet, I didn't have the courage to leave. And I remember one night just asking God to give me somebody that would love me, need me, care about me and just be there with me. I remember saying to Him, I just wasn't strong enough to leave on my own, I needed a push from Him. And then, then I was blessed with a baby. Fear griped me and took over. A baby? And then after lots of time pondering and staying in prayer with God, I realized, this was His answer for me. He was giving me the courage to step outside of this broken relationship and be responsible for something. I was now forced with facing the fact that it was no longer about me, it was about me taking care of this little gift from God. God had gifted me a purpose greater than myself that forced me to summon all my strength and rely on Him for every step. Prayers get answered my friends, we just don't always see the big picture on the how.
God is a zealous God. He is devoted to His children. He is purposeful in all He does. Nothing in our life goes unused by God. Nothing in our life is so horrible that God won't passionately pursue us. And as Elizabeth Elliot has said, "What God gives in answer to our prayers will always be the thing we most urgently need, and it will always be sufficient". God hears us. God walks with us. God is eXtraordinary, marvelous, miraculous, wonderful and eXceptional. He is our Abba, our Father, our Yahweh. He is all things. He is in control of all things. He is.
As a society that far too often gets blinded by the lies and snarls of Satan, we need prayer more than we know in our lives. "The center of power is not to be found in summit meetings or in peace conferences. It is not in Peking or Washington or the United Nations, but rather where a child of God prays in the power of the Spirit for God's will to be done in her life, in her home, and in the world around her".- Ruth Bell Graham
Praying isn't some polished conversation with God. It is a simple conversation with your Father in heaven. It's not formal. It's not always full of words. Sometimes, your heart does the praying for you when you just can't put words into motion. Sometimes, it's the flash prayers, those arrow prayers that you send up quick as a need or a thought arises. I'm quite familiar with those. Far too often I find myself in the car alone and that's when I start sending up those arrow prayers to God. Prayers like, please be with Matthew today during his exams. Please walk with my sister through her struggles today. Please keep Chris safe on his drive to and from work. Arrow prayers may be short, but God knows our hearts and our needs. He knows the whole story.
Then there are times when we just fall on our knees and are unable to form the words of our prayers. God knows our hearts then too. We don't have to have the perfect words, just an obedient heart. Bottom line, your prayer time is your time with God. It allows Him into your circle and gives Him the opportunities to be with you, hold you and hear the concerns of your heart. Even I allow myself to miss out on those moments because I too fall short of spending time in prayer with my Father. But guess what? He still loves me. Don't think for one second that just because you aren't on your knees everyday that God doesn't love you and want the best for you. Don't get me wrong, prayer should not be taken lightly. What I am trying to tell you is that you don't have to be perfect, you just have to be obedient.
Friends, if you don't know God, I invite you to step out and allow Him into your heart. Prayer is an important part of a believer's life. It helps us in times of worry. It gives us strength in times of weakness. It allows us time to sit at God's feet and be given peace. It gives us hope.
I am fortunate to have a circle of prayer warriors around my life. These people commit to time with God on my behalf and I feel so unworthy at times. The intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful. James 5:16 Find people in your life that can be prayer warriors for you. There is power in a circle of prayer warriors. As this blogging challenge comes to an end, I challenge you to start a new habit this summer. Start a habit of spending time with God in prayer. Start small and build. I assure you, as your time with God begins to build, you will see even more glimpses of God answering prayer in your life. Sometimes, it may not be the answer we thought we wanted. God is amazing like that. Sometimes God answers prayers in ways we could never imagine. Like I said, God is zealous. He is eXtraordinary. He is our Abba, our Father, our Yahweh. He is all things. He is in control of all things. He is the great I Am. Trust your life with Him for He is faithful, compassionate, merciful and full of grace for each of His children. He knows each of us intimately and desires to hear our prayers, our requests, our petitions. He alone can bring calm to our storms. He alone can hold us when we can no longer stand. He alone hears our biggest and our smallest prayers. Nothing is too great for our God, and nothing is to small. Pray constantly. God is listening.
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