Last night as I was trying to wind my brain down to the point where I could go to sleep, I thought, I’ll just pray.
It’s a simple statement, but the enormity of it misleads…
I’ll just pray.
As if praying is trivial…
I am a firm believer that the Lord wants to hear from us all the time. He is our Father, our Husband, our closest friend and he yearns for us to share our burdens, our excitements, our disappointments and fears. Just thinking about how often I call my best friend, and the conversations we have. That’s what Jesus wants from us {maybe not the gossip part…}. But he wants to be on speed dial. He wants to be the first one we reach out to for all the things.
Even as we pray and try to remember all the things in our prayers: giving thanks, acknowledging Him as Lord of all, confession, and petitions, you literally could be in some version or part of a prayer for a solid 24 hours. Especially in 2020 – all the pleading that we could do…
As I started thinking of all the people, things and situations for which I could pray I almost became overwhelmed. There’s so much. I debated even getting out of bed so I could spend a longer span of time in prayer.
Then I thought of this verse from 1 Thessalonians…
Paul is telling the Thessalonian people essentially, continually pray to the Lord; to be in a constant state of fellowship with God. And last night as I was lying there in my bed praying for various people, I could only think to myself, this is why.
You can’t just sit down at your morning table for your quiet time and pray for all the things in that short amount of time. I can’t possibly go thru all the people and things that need to be prayed for each night as I try to make myself drift off to sleep – someone is bound to get left out when I finally do nod off!
No, our prayers are meant to be constant…communion with the Lord. Beseeching Him on behalf of our loved ones and friends all day long. Bringing our burdens and laying them down at his throne of grace {and leaving them there for Him to deal with). Casting our cares on Him, while begging for His Spirit to lead…and praising Him for all the ways He cares for and loves His children.
May I not take praying to you for granted, Lord, but find joy and comfort in knowing that you are listening.
A couple of questions I have are:
1. If you keep a prayer journal – paper or digital?
2. How do you keep track of all the things that need to be prayed for, because as the day goes on I feel my list just keeps growing.
Until next time dear friend…
As I am reading your post on my iPad, my prayer journal is underneath it in the stack. My journal is paper. In it is names of people I am praying for, prayers I have written, because they were just to hard for me to say aloud, favorite scripture, song lyrics, words of encouragements, I don’t want to forget, and lots of blank pages, indicating when I have let my practice of written prayer fall to the side. It is an ever present reminder, that I need, to keep me focused in my prayers and then see visually when prayers are answered and the ones that may never have the answer,I want, this side of heaven.
I am thankfully, consistently convicted, that I often call my mama, sister, best friends to discuss concerns that I am not yet willing to lay at the feet of Jesus. It’s like the “control freak” side of me knows that control is an illusion, but I continue to white knuckle the situation like a stubborn 2 year old. Then Jesus… He gives me grace, forgives me again and reminds me that His plan is so much better than mine. His patience with me is never ending and I am tearful sharing this with you now because it is so beautifully perfect and so undeserved. Love you and thankful for you and your constant encouragement in my life!
I love this and you so much Nicki! Thank you for sharing your reality with me! And I am the same way about the white knuckles and illusion of control…Lord help us.