When I Pray
“Now He was telling them a parable to show them at all times they should pray and not lose heart.” - Luke 18:1
I long to be a prayer warrior. I want to live in that influential place of heartfelt communication and sweet communion with God.
Prayer is the force that makes hell quiver in fear and causes heaven to stand to its feet with joyful applause.
I know it deep within my soul.
Nothing eternal is accomplished on earth without the power and focus of a saint who is committed to the discipline of prayer.
I know that I know that I know.
Prayer is the vehicle through which the greatest work of my life will be done.
I absolutely know it.
“Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. - Mark 11:12
Why do I feel so bad at it then? Time after time after time, I feel like a failure in the arena of prayer.
I long for my prayers to move mountains, to calm storms and to heal sick people. I long for it day after endless day.
And yet ... day after day after day ... all I see is one mountain range after another. And over all of my mountains, there always seems to be fierce and defiant storms brewing.
What is it with prayer and me?! What is it with prayer and anybody?!
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4: 6 & 7
I must tell you ... I refuse to give up. I refuse to be paralyzed or crippled by what my eyes see. I will pray when others give up. I will pray in spite of a quiet heaven.
I will pray.
I will pray when storms sneer and when mountains mock.
I will pray.
“Pray without ceasing.” -I Thessalonians 5:17
I defiantly refuse to believe that prayer is a waste of time. I will set my resolve and pray on when nothing changes.
I will pray in the dark of night when the towering mountains minimize my value.
I will pray when the howl of life’s storms threaten to drown out the volume of my solitary and desperate prayer.
I will pray in the face of sickness and pain. I will beg for God’s sweet presence to heal and restore.
“ In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” -Romans 8:26 & 27
It’s all I have. Prayer is all I have. It’s the only power with any potential of making even a temporary difference.
I will wear out the carpet beside my bed with the pressure and insistence of 2 middle-aged knees whose resolve has been set. Nothing will move me from the battle that takes place from this position. Nothing.
“Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.” - Jeremiah 29:12
I will get up in the morning with worship in my heart and a prayer on my lips.
I will choose to pray rather than worry as I fold laundry, dash to the grocery store and answer e-mails.
I will lay my head down at night with the determination that any day is a magnificent day that has been given to prayer.
“To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” - II Thessalonians 1:1
My calling is to prayer. It is my life’s work. God’s responsibility and response is to answer and to move.
When I pray, my desires are fulfilled in Him and not in the magical change of situations, circumstances or events. When I pray there is a mighty work that is done in me ... it is a work of faith and power.
I will stand in faith and continue to believe for the miraculous change of situations, circumstances and events. And while I stand, I will pray on. It’s my calling, remember?
While my prayers may not change a situation, I now know that my prayers change me.
When I pray, Jesus is glorified in me and I am glorified in Him.
When I pray, His grace is dispersed into my world.
I have learned that you don’t have to be “good” at prayer for prayer to be “good” in you.
I now know that in order to be good at prayer ... you just have to mean it. And I do.
“Pray then, in this way:
Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but delivers us from evil.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Matthew 6:9-13
