We must be diligent with our prayers, and we should stop anything from getting in the way. Keeping the connection and communication open with Jesus should be a top priority in our lives. We should seek opportunities where prayer is encouraged, accepted, and practiced. Those of us who are really seeking God’s company and presence will go to and participate in prayer meetings, and be looking for opportunities where they can use and be blessed from prayer.
Prayers as a family are important, and silent prayers are especially important. When we have the opportunity to pray, prayer in all its forms is the source of a healthy spiritual life. It is impossible for our spiritual lives to thrive without prayer. Prayer as a family and prayer in public is not enough to sustain spiritual health. While we are alone, we are to open our hearts and lives up to God in prayer. Secret, silent prayer is to be only heard by God and not by eavesdroppers. Silent prayer allows our hearts to be freed from our surroundings and allows us to focus on God, and it allows us to reach out to God. With calm and simple faith, we can be strengthened to resist temptation. With a strong prayer life, we are fortifying the tower of our lives with God’s strength.
We should pray first thing each day, and as we go about our daily activities, keep the communication open with God. This is what the Bible means when it talks about Enoch walking with God. Silent prayers to God as we go about our day rise like incense before God’s throne.
There is no time when, or no place where, it is inappropriate to pray silently to God. Nothing can ever stand in our way from lifting our hearts with prayer. While lost in a crowd, or in the middle of a business meeting, we can pray to our Father and ask for His guidance in our situation, similar to what Nehemiah did when He stood before King Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 2:4-5). When we send silent prayers to God, we are able to shut out all the worry and external doubt that feels as though it will crush us, take our requests before God, and feel His presence and peace surround us. We should always keep this communication open because this is what allows Jesus to come and live in our hearts and lives.
We live in a world filled with sin, corruption, and even the atmosphere is tainted, but in our spiritual lives, we are able to breathe the pure air of heaven while we are in the presence of God. When we close our eyes, we close the door to distractions and open our hearts to our Father. We must also close off every sin-tainted and dirty thought from our minds, and earnest, sincere prayer will accomplish this. When our hearts are constantly open to God through continuous prayer, we are able to live better lives because we will be soaked in the pure atmosphere of heaven.
We must strengthen and improve our opinions and our beliefs about Jesus, so that we can have a more complete understanding of the value of eternity. The amazing thing about God’s holiness and perfection is that He wants to share it with us. We can accomplish this by having a growing relationship with God and living a life filled with sincere prayerful communication with Him. Let us keep ourselves so close to God that in every problem or surprise that we face in life, He will be the first place we go looking for assistance.
By keeping our goals, our successes, our hurts, our worries, and our fears before God, we will learn to trust Him more. Do not worry about overloading God with your life, because our problems, no matter how great they seem to us, are not overwhelming to Him. Our creator, who is so interested in us that He knows the number of hairs that are on our heads, is not indifferent towards us, and the things that we want. “Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.” (James 5:11). God’s heart is touched when we are sad and His Heart is moved when we share with Him the things that are troubling us. When we have a problem, we must take it to Him, even if it is only a mind-boggling question. Nothing we can bring to God will stump Him. He holds up planets and stars in space, and He rules over the entire universe. No circumstance is too big, or too small, for Him to notice. None of our deep dark secrets are too dark or hidden for Him to find, and no situation from our past is able to confuse Him. God sees everything, from disasters that strike, to our worries and anxiety over a situation, to our greatest successes, and no sincere prayer on our hearts can escape our mouths without Him hearing and being interested. “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3). God’s relationship with us—with the core of who we are—is as important and special to Him as if there were no other person on earth. If you were the only person who ever lived on the earth, and you had sinned, He would have sent Jesus here to save you.
Next week, we will conclude our discussion looking at prayer and how God has given us this responsibility and why its important.
~Cam
P.S. As always, if I missed something, or if you would like to respond on this topic, join the conversation below!