I often feel like a heavy weight has been lifted off of me after time in prayer. I feel lighter, I feel refocused, I feel strengthened, I feel energized, and I feel confident that God has heard me and is faithful to work in my life.
Prayer is one of God’s greatest gifts to us. The fact that we, mere humans, can approach holy, almighty, all-powerful, all-knowing God, and have a completely open and honest conversation with Him, anytime we desire, is something we all should appreciate and take full advantage of.
Prayer is our lifeline.
Without prayer, where do we go in times of trouble? To whom do we turn when the difficulties, hardships, and pains of life is coming at us, with everything it’s got?
The overwhelming truth is we need God, and we need the privilege of prayer. We are lost without it.
Because when your life lacks joy, peace, stability, hope, love, guidance, help, faith, or any good thing, it is through the power of prayer, of crying out to God, that we are able to access these good things.
If you want the peace of God in your life, you need the missing piece. The missing piece is prayer.
Prayer Opens Up the Door for God to Work
There are two ways to go through things in this life. The first way is by yourself and in your own strength. The second way is with God, and His unlimited power.
Let’s explore these two options a bit further.
Option 1: By Yourself: When we are living life on our own, according to our own standards, apart from God; whether we are aware of it or not, we are going to lack a few things. We are going to lack:
· Wisdom = Proverbs 2:6 tells us, it is the Lord who gives wisdom. When you choose to operate your life apart from God, you are forfeiting wisdom in your life. According to the book of Proverbs, the opposite of a wise person, is a fool.
In other words, without God you are prone to making foolish decisions. And the unfortunate part
is, you’re usually the last person to be aware of it.
· Truth = Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.”
Please allow that to sink in for a moment.
There is a way of living, where you could be living your life thinking you are headed in the right direction. Thinking you are living by truth. Thinking you are all good. But in all reality, your choices and your way of thinking are leading you to destruction.
That is a scary and sobering thought! It is also the reason why we need the mind of Christ at work in our lives, and not our own limited minds. Our minds have a corruptible habit of telling us what we want to hear. Jesus, through the Word of God, is in the habit of telling us what we need to hear; of telling us truth!
· A Good Conscience = When we operate outside of a relationship with God, our conscience naturally bends towards evil. You may not have any desire to murder someone, but you may be quick to justify a lie; or you may be quick to harbor ill feelings towards someone. It doesn’t matter how big or little the offense is, evil is evil.
It is Jesus who is able to cleanse us from all evil, and give us a right conscience, that is bent towards God and His goodness:
Therefore, believers, since we have confidence and full freedom to enter the Holy Place [the place where God dwells] by [means of] the blood of Jesus, by this new and living way which He initiated and opened for us through the veil [as in the Holy of Holies], that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great and wonderful Priest [Who rules] over the house of God, let us approach [God] with a true and sincere heart in unqualified assurance of faith, having had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water (Hebrews 10:19-22).
Through His sacrificial death and His blood, we are purified inside and out. Without Jesus as our Savior, we do not have this cleansing, and therefore, we do not have a good conscience.
Option 2: With God: Life with God is a life centered around Him, in communication with Him, and fully surrendered to Him.
It’s choosing to pray and invite Him into your circumstances, instead of spending your time in worry and fear. It’s choosing to confess your trust in Him through prayer, instead of struggling to try and make everything work out on your own. And it’s choosing to humble yourself in prayer and confess that He is the one true living God, and you need Him in every area of your life, at all times.
With God, life is still messy, it still gets complicated, it can still be extremely hard at times, but the gift of prayer offers us the opportunity to go through the messy, through the complicated, and through the extremely hard situations with Him, rather than on our own.
Choosing God is choosing peace. It’s choosing to have a relationship with Him through prayer and through spending time in His Word, so that you can grow in and maintain that peace.
When you feel like your life is lacking, and your peace is dwindling, you don’t need to work harder to try and obtain what you feel like you’re missing; you just need to get back to prayer. You need to get back to God.
Because a life in lack often indicates a valuable piece is missing; and prayer is often the missing peace.
Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer
(Psalm 4:1).
If you have a relationship with God, it is imperative that you continue growing and cultivating your relationship with Him, and one of the best ways to do that is through prayer.
God simply never intended for us to do life alone.
But what if you don’t have a relationship with Him, what does that mean for you?
It means you’re in great position to receive a gift, a gift that God has been wanting to give to you. And receiving this gift, starts with a prayer.
God in His perfect goodness and love, sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for your sins and mine. Why? Because He wanted a relationship with us. He wanted to save us from death and destruction, so that we could spend eternity with Him, instead of apart from Him.
It is a gift you didn’t earn, and it is a gift you cannot buy. It is a gift given to you by the grace of God. All you need to do is speak to God from your heart, and through prayer, invite His Son Jesus into your life. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord; and believe with your heart that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, and that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9), and simply receive the gift of salvation that He has waiting for you today.
Peace be with you today and always!
I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s blog! I enjoy sharing content that help women live a life they truly love, because I know what it’s like to be living your life, but not loving your life. I know what’s it’s like to pour all of yourself into others, while your passions and your purpose remains unfulfilled.
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