More Thoughts on Prayer
How is my Prayer Life Going?
We have this outdated idea that prayer needs to be something special and done at a specific time, generally before bed. This isn’t the case. You can pray in the shower, while you are doing the washing up, doing the garden or while you’re at work.
Prayer doesn’t have to be kneeling at the side of your bed with your hands clasped. You can pray wherever and whenever you want. More importantly, you can pray whenever and wherever you need to.
Prayer is after all just a conversation with God, So why is it made out to be a huge thing? God is our loving father and we can talk to him whenever we want to and whenever we need to. He’s just waiting for us to speak to him to tell him what’s on our hearts, tell him what we need help with and what others need help with as well.
He’s patiently waiting for us to have an exchange with him.
Last year, I wrote a blog post on The Power of Prayer and since then I’ve been practising my prayer time trying to continue to understand it and improve it. I’m still new to the world of prayer since beginning to become a Christian in late 2019, and prayer is something that I have said that I do struggle with.
A few months ago I watched the film War Room which is all about the purpose of prayer and how to pray. The first time I watched it, within about half an hour if not sooner, I knew I HAD to re-watch it with a notebook and pen. It’s a very powerful film, and I’ve made so many notes from each subsequent time I’ve watched it., gaining more knowledge and insight from it.
I have also been reading the book Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver as it was recommended to me by a friend at church. Towards the end of last year, I was prompted to read the story about Mary and Martha in the Bible, where Mary breaks with tradition and the social standards of the time, whereas as well as preparing the meal for a large number of unexpected guests, she ALSO sits at Jesus’ feet listening to Him teach.
We’re all so used to being busy, busy, busy = Martha. That we forget to sit, be quiet and spend time with Jesus = Mary. Yes, things need to be done; the never-ending laundry pile, the food shop, the cleaning and tidying … But, we also NEED to spend time with Jesus.
We CAN do both.
It's NECESSARY for us to do both.
Always being busy and never taking time to rest isn't healthy and it eventually drains and defeats us. We need to spend time in solitude or at least occasional quietness in order to have our well refilled so that we can pour into our loved ones.
If we don't spend time with Jesus, then we end up being a river bed that had run dry and ended up all cracked. We burn out. We have nothing left to give. The trees and flowers that rely on our water start to wither and retreat. If we are careful with the water we have and look after its source then our river will never run dry. And we will always have water to feed into our loved ones.
This post has been written up to this point for a few months, but it never felt finished. I’ve edited it a few times since I originally wrote it but nothing came to me in order to add to it to make it feel complete.
Until last Sunday evening.
Some close friends announced that they are expecting their first baby after about a year of trying to grow their family. Their many friends have walked with them through this journey and have been praying with them and for them.
Back in January, I responded to my friend's story on Instagram with “I keep hearing God say ‘not yet, but soon’ whenever this subject comes up in a video 🤍”
I can’t remember what story I was replying to but I’m guessing it was about their struggling to get pregnant. And within the next few months, they were blessed with a miracle to grow their family. An answered prayer, prayed by many.
I do my first prayers of the day in the shower which is mainly a gratitude list of things that I am thankful for in my life. I do my next lot of my praying on the walk into work, handing the day over to Him, that His will be done. I ask for His help and guidance with customers and that He lead me in what to say to them. I pray that He will steer me through any challenges that may arise and that they will have a positive outcome for all involved.
I give thanks to Him every time I have a successful sale and on my walk home I show my appreciation to HIm for the day, whatever happened. The last prayers I say are when I'm in bed and this is when I pray prayers for other people in my life who need them. These prayers at this time relax me and help me to fall asleep.
Remember, just because He doesn’t answer our prayers in the manner or timescale we want it doesn’t necessarily mean ‘no’. But it is difficult to always hold onto the faith that He has us in those moments.
Sometimes His silence means ‘not yet’, other times it’s the wrong prayer for us. It can also not be big enough of a prayer request, because He has something so much better for us than we could ever hope to ask for.
After all, it's His timing, not ours. He knows the plans He has for us and He knows us best.
We just need to trust Him.
