Devotion by JCM Team Member Amy:
How do you pray? I was taught as a child to thank God for our food before a meal, and then at night to pray before we went to sleep reciting, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” Yep, that pretty much sums up my prayer life as a small child.
Fast forward now to me as an adult attempting to grow my faith. I started attending church and joined a small Bible study group at the pastor's house and was quickly made aware that everyone would take turns praying out loud over the group of eighteen people. I was panic stricken! I mean, I pray privately but I wasn’t sure those kinds of prayers would sound right since my prayers were a ‘private’ conversation with God. But then someone directed me to a scripture found in Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving continue to make your requests known to God.” I was like, “Oh, okay, I am going to follow God’s word and start off with thanking God for everything and everyone He has placed in our lives and then I am going to surrender any and all concerns and tell Him how much we honor, praise and love Him.” I have to say, praying this way truly helped me get started in learning how to pray in a group, especially when my nerves got to me! I was so excited to have an easy tool to use when I would meet folks who were new to faith and would ask me to teach them how to pray.
Shortly after that Bible study meeting, I was getting my nails done and the nail technician told me a story about his broken relationship with his father. It prompted me to start sharing my faith. Over several visits we would talk about the Bible and then one day he asked me how to pray. I shared Philippians 4:6 with him. Later, he came to my church, eventually was baptized, and by God’s will, he reached out to his father.
I often think about how, even in our own vulnerabilities, God provides us seeds to help strengthen our walk with Him, and then turns around and helps us use those same seeds for a future planting in someone else to draw others to Him. Sometimes we just have to ‘get out of the way’ and watch God do what only He can do. A few months back I attended a prayer workshop and I learned more ways to view prayer, and let me just say, there is no wrong way to pray - we just need to make it a priority to speak to God.
I want to close by sharing one particular ‘gem' that I have been sharing ever since that time. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we now have a mediator in Heaven, Jesus Himself - our Great High Priest, who lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25). Through faith in Him, we can now come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain grace and help in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Having this kind of access to a holy God should cause us to ask ourselves, “Do we give God the reverence and respect He deserves when entering into prayer?” This question stopped me in my tracks...and my heart wept. I asked God to forgive me for all the times that I did not acknowledge His majesty as the true King of Kings.
When you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and invited the Holy Spirit into your life – you became the holy Temple of God. Take a moment to visualize that, to visualize the gift we have received - having a direct connection with our Father in Heaven.
And so, just like recharging a cell phone every day, perhaps remember to recharge your faith every free moment you get - through prayer. Praying to God is the one connection you do not want to lose! I will never stop learning and I thank Him for not giving up on any of his children.
Today, I pray to do God’s will and thank Him always for all His blessings and corrections. I often pray for purification, forgiveness, strength, courage, boldness, compassion, and continued faith for another day! May God bless and provide you with His faith every day!! Amen!
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