Communicating With God

I wouldn't call myself a Woman of Prayer because I know a few "Women of Prayer" and I feel as though I could never come close to comparing to them. However, I will say that prayer is such a key part of my life and it seems to grow more and more essential, day by day. I can see such a difference between one day where I didn't do much praying if any at all, and a day that I spent most of my time praying. It really does make such a difference; prayer gives us hope, peace, love, appreciation, and so much more.

What exactly is prayer? Some may say it's just a ritual that we "Christians" follow in our religion. To be fair, some denominations do make prayer more of a ritual than what it is meant to be. Prayer is communication between us and God. It is the essence of our relationship with the Holy Father! Studying God's truth is extremely important, but we can't always stop what we're doing to read the Bible... Well, some people have the new Bible application on their iPhones so maybe they can, but for poor folks like me we can't stop in the middle of the grocery store and crack open our Bible's that we left at home or in the car, and just start studying away. Prayer, however, can be carried with us anywhere and everywhere we go. In the middle of a restaurant, I can pray. In the middle of school, I can pray. In the car while I'm driving, I can most definitely pray. And technically, nobody can take that right away from me. People may try, they may create laws that prohibit it, but they can't control my heart, my mind, and my spirit and that's where prayer is truly hidden, protected from sin. It isn't so much about the words that flow off your lips or the way your hands are folded, much less whether your eyes are opened or closed (if you pray in the car like me, I hope that you keep your eyes open). Prayer is an act of giving your heart to Christ. Whatever is weighing on it, you are freely handing it over to God and putting your faith in Him to take care of the rest.

If you don't have a relationship with God built on prayer, you won't understand the true depth of it. The acts of prayer are so broad, it is really interesting to see how God makes it possible for us to pray to Him in any given situation. If you feel the need to pray, there is always a way.

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." Ephesians 6:18

"Pray continually." 1 Thessalonians 5:17, the King James Version says to "Pray without ceasing," meaning, don't stop praying. How do we consciously pray 24/7 non-stop? By submitting our hearts to God and always putting our faith in Him to guide and direct us. But there is a time and place for more solemn prayer. For example, if a friend is deathly ill and/or they don't know Jesus Christ as their Savior. Sure, God hears the simple, quick, and to-the-point prayers: "Lord, please show (friend's name) your power so that he/she may believe. Amen." But if you love that friend and really want to see them come to know the Lord, wouldn't you want to spend some extra time with God, selflessly lifting up your loved one to Him?

To me, prayer is not only a way of asking God for something. Prayer is my "phone call" to God. When I call a friend to pour my heart out to them, almost every time it is just therapy for me to get it all out so that I can hear for myself what is actually weighing on my heart. A lot of times I don't even need my friend to respond with advice, I just need an ear. God is so good and faithful to be that friend to us always, around the clock. At 4am, if you need a friend to talk to guess who is already awake with you. He is a great listener! But more importantly, He does talk back to us. Perhaps not in a voice that we can hear with worldy ears, but He does speak directly to our hearts. Many times I have been in a worked up state of emotions but as I turned to God I was overwhelmed with a calmed spirit. That's one way He talks to me; by controlling my emotions (woman may especially understand what a miracle that can be at times). Another way is through scripture. It never fails that when I pray for the Lord to speak to me about something specific, the next time I open the word or go to church, verses are flying at me that pertain to exactly what I requested. I shouldn't say "next time," because God does work in His own time table. There have been times that He made me wait for an answer, but His timing is perfect and there is always a reason that He chooses for us to wait. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, 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." Philippians 4:6-7

If you don't pray at all or often enough, I really encourage you to give it a try. Open you heart to God. It's okay to "test the waters." In it, you will find that your trial run has turned into faith. But you have to be completely open to letting Him prove Himself to you, for as long as you don't believe you will not find Him.

I feel like I haven't done a good enough job explaining myself. Then again, prayer is one of those things that run so deeply that you really have to experience it for yourself to truly understand it. Much like being in love, it's one of those things you can't understand until you're living it.

Finally, I'll leave you with some ideas that have kept me devoted to prayer and strengthens me even more:

*I'm exactly 50% Visual and 50% Auditory on learning. In other words, I learn/communicate best by seeing and hearing things. So for me, praying silently doesn't work too well unless it's one of those short prayers I mentioned earlier. When I try praying quietly I always end up losing my focus and start creating a to do list in my mind or day dreaming about my future husband, rather than talking to God. In order to avoid distractions, I keep a prayer journal. When I have the chance to, I write my prayers out in a notebook. This uses my visual learning style and it really does help me to stay focused. It also gives me more time to think about what I'm truly seeking God for. If I'm in the middle of doing something that keeps me from being able to write, I practice my auditory learning style by praying out loud. People must think I'm crazy when they drive past my car, because often times I am having a conversation with God.

*Listen to praise and worship music. This is like singing your praises to God, it's a musical way to communicate with Him. "Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute. praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord." Psalm 150:3-6

*If you like reading, I recommend you check out "The Power of Praying" series written by Stormie Omartian. I have read two of her books, "The Power of a Praying Wife" and "The Power of a Praying Parent," both are excellent. I continue to read through the Praying Parent book and always will. If I ever get into another relationship, I will continue reading the Praying Wife book as it was not only good for married couples but for dating couples as well. I recently purchased "The Power of a Praying Woman Bible" which is NIV with side notes throughout the Bible for guidance on how to pray about a particular subject. Stormie's husband, Michael, has also written a few books, such as "The Power of a Praying Husband."

*If you're like me, you feel stuck at times about what to pray for. "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us..."Romans 8:26 First and foremost, a lot of times if you begin your prayer asking God for guidance in what to pray for, He will reveal it to you. Another thing that has helped me which I started a few years ago after going to one of Jackie Kennedy's seminars, is to create a prayer book. Take blank flash cards and on each one, write a certain person's name or subject that you should pray for and if you prefer, write the details of what you should pray for them. Put the index cards in a small 4x6 photo album and you have yourself a prayer book. Each morning or whenever, open the book, flip to the subject that is weighing most on your heart, and begin praying! This also helps to keep your prayer life structured.

*If you are a parent, try to wake up before your children do so that you can assure yourself alone time with God to pray but also pray with your children. My son is only 3 and I have already caught him praying on his own a few times because I also pray with him. If you work, set your alarm clock at least a half hour earlier than usual so that you can start your day out in prayer before heading into the world. If you're married or in a serious relationship, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray together! Make it a priority. Do not rely on your significant other for prayer, though. Spend your time separately with God, but definitely make a point to pray together as well as FOR each other.

*Most importantly, stay committed. Believe me when I say prayer changes lives. But once you start, you shouldn't stop because just as it increased your life, ceasing to pray can decrease your life. I know this from experience.

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LIFE MEANS SO MUCH
by Chris Rice

Every day is a journal page
Every man holds a quill and ink
And there's plenty of room for writing in
All we do is believe and think
So will you compose a curse
Or will today bring the blessing
Fill the page with rhyming verse
Or some random sketching

Teach us to count the days
Teach us to make the days count
Lead us in better ways
That somehow our souls forgot
Life means so much
Life means so much
Life means so much

Every day is a bank account
And time is our currency
So nobody's rich, nobody's poor
We get 24 hours each
So how are you gonna spend
Will you invest, or squander
Try to get ahead
Or help someone who's under

Teach us to count the days
Teach us to make the days count
Lead us in better ways
That somehow our souls forgot
Life means so much
Life means so much
Life means so much

Has anybody ever lived who knew the value of a life
And don't you think giving is all
What proves the worth of yours and mine

Teach us to count the days
Teach us to make the days count
Lead us in better ways
That somehow our souls forgot
Life means so much

Every day is a gift you've been given
Make the most of the time every minute you're living