Today is the National Day of Prayer. It’s a time when believers come together as one to pray for our communities, leaders within the community, our nation and those who protect it, and those in elected positions. Prayer is an essential for any follower of Christ. It’s not just random words being thrown out into the air with the hopes that God will hear them. It is direct communication between you and the Creator of the universe. When you pray, you have the undivided attention of the One who has control of it all. God listens to your request. Yes, God already knows things before we ask it, (Matthew 6:8) but God wants to hear from us. Imagine being in a loving relationship with someone and never saying a word to each other. It would be impossible to work. We speak to God through prayer and in return, God speaks to us through Scripture or He may use someone in your life. When God speaks, it’s not always like the burning bush that Moses heard from. In reality, when God speaks, He speaks when things are quiet. So when you pray, don’t just rush through, take time to listen, to reflect, to mediate on God’s Word and just listen.
Sometimes when we pray, we can’t come up with the words. These times usually come when we are at our weakest. Romans 8:26 says “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” As a follower of Christ, you’ve been given the Holy Spirit who dwells in you. So God hears our cry whenever we don’t even have the words to say. When the only thing that can come out is “Father” among all the tears, God hears you and knows what you need. Honestly this happened to me this morning. This week has been a rough week. I’ve had a lot going on in my personal life as well as within in the church and this morning I got to the point where I couldn’t say anything but “Help me Father.” That’s it. That’s all I could say and within a few moments of just sitting there, a feeling of peace appeared. Things I had been stressing over were discussed with some friends and I got a different perspective on things. How wonderful to serve a God who can answer without having the words to say.
So today, let me encourage you to be in prayer for those around you. If you’re having trouble staying on track, like I do time to time, open up God’s Word, pull up one of the Psalms, read through it each line one at a time as a prayer and then say what comes. Again, the Holy Spirit will guide you on what to say. Have a blessed week everyone!