“The foundation of our second calling is prayer.” -- pg. 119
Up until Chapter 8, this book had been giving us good ideas on what changes we need to make to enhance the second part of our lives. Now we are starting to find out HOW to make those changes. First things first…. How’s your prayer life??
I’ll be the first to admit that my prayer life has always been a bit of a struggle. Of course, I think it must be for everyone, because I honestly can’t remember ever talking about prayer with anyone who said, “Oh MY prayer life is a breeze! I can sit still for HOURS staying in perfect peace and communication with God. I never get distracted or (gasp!)-fall asleep during my prayer and it’s easy to make time for it in my schedule.” Yeah, I think it’s hard for all of us. And I’m pretty sure I know why now. --- 'Cause the Devil knows how powerful prayer is, so he makes sure to attack us harder when we are in prayer. He uses every tool he can come up with to discourage us from finding our prayer time because he knows it can change lives in BIG ways.
“Prayer is non-negotiable, and it must take on new meaning and a new role in our lives if we are going to live with passion and purpose.” – pg.120
I’ve talked about my friend Diane Moody’s book, “Confessions of a Prayer Slacker” many times on my blog, but I can’t write this blog today without mentioning again how much it changed my “prayer thinking”. I would highly recommend anyone who wants to strengthen their prayer life to pick up a copy. It’s an easy “read” and is full of good prayer tools!
“Learning to hear God’s voice began to define for me the person He created me to be.” – pg. 120
Prayer time is a two-way street. It’s a conversation with God. Have you ever sat down with a friend over coffee to “catch up” and they spent an hour (or more) pouring out every detail of their life. Then just when you were about to talk about YOUR life, they said, “OH look at the time! Gotta go! It was SO great catching up with you! Talk soon! Bye!” --- I’m sure God must feel the same way some days. We never give HIM time to talk to US. We just dump all our problems on Him, ask Him to make things better, then rush off to more pressing things in our day. I’m sure guilty of that, but I’m trying to work on it. For me, it’s essential to get up early BEFORE pets need to be fed, kids need to be woken for school and phones start ringing. I can’t do it at night because I’m just too exhausted. All that I can really do at night is my “Bookend prayer”, which IS important too.
“Bookend Prayers” – living everyday within “holy bookends”.
-This is one change I have made lately and I love it. Before I get out of bed every morning, I offer my day to the Lord. I ask Him to guide me, cover me, and use me for His glory that day. I actually had to put a post-it note on my alarm clock for a few days to remind myself, but now I can honestly say that it’s quickly become a morning ritual. It’s not a long prayer, but still effective. Then at night, as I’m crawling into bed, I thank Him for the events of my day that were joyful. I turn over the events that were worrisome. And I ask Him to show me something that I might have missed. Again, a short prayer, but very effective. You’d be surprised at what God can reveal during those times.
“I don’t want to be wrestling God for each day.” – pg. 125
I think the biggest thing that comes with prayer is the constant reminder that YOU don’t have to do it all yourself. YOU are not in charge. He is. When we “Let go and Let God”, our daily lives are not nearly the struggle that they used to be. Why wrestle God for control? It’s just silly really…. as IF we would actually WIN that fight! Ha! -- Plus, His ways, His timing, His plans… they are ALWAYS better than what I had in mind.
SO... How's YOUR prayer life? Please share any tips you might have found that make your prayer life more fulfilling! I know we can ALL use help in this area! - Have a great week friend!!
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