This past Sunday, I was busy, like down to the minute from 5:00am to 1:00am the next morning, I did not stop going. I ate in my car, did multiple things at once, drove the equivalent of 100 total miles, but I still made sure that I went to church. And boy, was I glad I did. My church is doing a series entitled "Drinking Deep" and it is all about spiritual disciplines that allow us to form a deep connection with God. This week, we talked about the importance of meaningful prayer. Those thoughts have been heavy on my heart since yesterday morning, and I feel like they're good reminders for some of us.
I'm often "too busy" to spend meaningful time with God. Or maybe, I say that I don't have time today, but I'll pencil Him in my agenda for tomorrow. I know I'm not the only one guilty of this.
A couple of the important points I wrote down were:
-Prayer ushers us into perpetual communion with the Father
-Prayer is simply conversing with God; we can't have a close relationship with God unless we spend time talking to Him, BUT we also have to learn to listen to Him.
My preacher gave 9 reminders for prayer:
1. Pray concisely
2. Pray humbly
3. Pray with persistence
4. Pray for those who offended us
5. Pray for our needs
6. Pray against temptation
7. Pray for Workers
8. Pray for our enemies
9. Pray for our children
At the end of the sermon, a lady came up and shared her story about her struggle with prayer. She said it was too hard for her to try and imagine a God and speak with Him constantly. She instead turned to something tangible: journaling. I wrote my first letter to God last night, and I'm honestly so excited to see how this changes the dynamic of my relationship with God.
Talking with the God of creation, the God of everything I know and love, the God that loves me and accepts me, no matter what, wants to talk to me. Not just when I need something, but all. the. time. He wants a relationship with me. I am worthy enough, I am important enough for Him. That realization completely changes my outlook on life... I challenge you to join me on this journaling journey. Take a moment, even if it's only in the Notes on your phone while you're waiting to do something else, and talk to Him. I know He wants to hear from you.
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