We are invited into the very throne room of God for a conversation with our Creator. The Bible reminds us that He is bursting with mercy and compassion, abounding in love. When we draw near to Him, when we turn to Him, He draws near to us. He’s always glad to see us! Imagine. And, when we bring our requests before God, when we talk to Him about the things on our hearts, He hears us, He responds, and He begins to change things on the earth. Why? Because one of His children came to Him in faith, believing that He cares, and trusting that He’ll intervene in the best way at the best time.
If it’s true that the One who put the stars in place, knows our name, loves us deeply, and knows us thoroughly, why do so many find prayer to be such a struggle? Is it because we feel obligated? Ill-equipped? Indeed, it’s not because we have no needs, right? Especially given the current state of things. Maybe we wonder if our prayers will ever make it past our ceiling. Does God hear? Does He listen? Here’s what scripture says:
But in my distress, I cried out to the Lord;
yes, I prayed to my God for help.
He heard me from his sanctuary;
my cry to him reached his ears.
Read that again. God hears you from His sanctuary. Your cry reaches His ears. Our prayers matter. Our prayers accomplish things on the earth. Our prayers change us.
Recently on Susie Larson Live, I spoke with my friend Chrystal Evans Hurst about her book, “The 28 Day Prayer Journey: A Daily Guide to Conversations with God.” In her book, Chrystal offers a fresh way to pray. If your prayer life has grown stale, or you’ve experienced all kinds of starts and stops, this journey might just be what you’re looking for. She lays it out this way:
Monday – Praise and thanksgiving (gratitude to God)
Tuesday – Repent (seek forgiveness from God)
Wednesday – Ask (presenting your requests to God)
Thursday – Yield (surrendering to God)
Friday – Family, and friends
Saturday – Saturday challenge
Sunday – Sabbath prayers
Chrystal writes:
“What does trusting in God actually look like in your life? What would you do differently if you chose to rely on God to do the heavy lifting? Breathe deeply. Take a chance on Him. What’s your first step if you believe that He is good and that He’s got everything under control? It’s okay if your heart is beating a little faster. Feet don’t have to follow feelings, but they should always follow the Father.”
Give this a try. Spend your Mondays thanking God for who He is and for every blessing in your life. Make it a grateful Monday. My guess is that you’ll begin to feel as rich as you are. Consider Tuesdays a day to be thoughtful and reflective. Be open to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. Use your Wednesdays to ask bold, big things of God, for yourself and for others. And then on Thursday, open your hands and offer your agenda, timeline, the idea of how things should go, back up to God, and yield to His timing and wisdom. Pray on Fridays for your family and friends. Use Saturday to get out of your comfort zone and offer to pray for the store clerk or your neighbor. Anticipate some needs and meet them. Use Sunday to pray for every person who sows into your spiritual life, from Pastors to podcasters.
That we get to have conversations with the Most-High God is a treasured gift we cannot fathom. But prayer changes things. So, let’s pray.