Embracing Prayer

Psalm 55:17 "Evening and morning and at noon, I will complain and murmur, and He will hear my voice."

Psalm 62:8 "Trust in Him at all times, O People; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us."

     Praying has never come easy for me. I usually find it feeling unnatural. I tend to find my prayers becoming repetitive as if I'm going through a mental checklist. That's not what prayer is supposed to be. Prayer is meant to be the most intimate of times with God we can have on this earth. It's a bonding experience. It's vital to your relationship with God. When a husband and wife stop talking intimately, trouble is coming. Distance creeps in. We must communicate with God-the more frequent the better. When my husband checks in with me throughout the day, I feel loved and closer to him. I imagine it works the same with God. Fortunately for us, there is never a time God can't talk. We never have to stop communicating. We can talk as much as we want and he will never get tired of hearing our voice. Prayer involves listening on our part too. God has plenty to share with us. 

     But what about difficult times? Sometimes I feel like I don't even want to talk to God about it. Usually things get harder at that point. Prayer is crucial during difficulties. We can look at hardships as blessings when we hide away in God our refuge. We can unload on Him and trust Him. That makes God so happy when we let Him help us. Through Him we have the power to not respond negatively, but prayerfully to hard situations. That is a blessing in disguise. 

     On my missions trip this past summer to Cincinnati, OH I met a man named Gordon who was a professional dancer. He had a crazy personality and just sucked people in. But what was most amazing about this man was his prayer life. Prayer WAS his life. I have never met someone who was so in tune with God. When I spoke to Him, I felt like I could literally see Jesus in him. When he prayed, you could feel the presence of Jesus filling the room. Gordon loved prayer. You could just tell. Every day we arrived at the site he would tell us to go pray while we waited for him. We were always stopping to pray throughout the day--and not just when it felt natural. All the time. Randomly. For no apparent reason. But, there always is a reason, isn't there? Why not pray? Are we really too busy to stop our day for the creator of the universe? That sounds crazy--and it is!! I wish everyone could get the chance to meet Gordon once in their life and pray with him. It is an experience I hope I never forget. Praying isn't just something we should do because God says so. Prayer is a gift, a blessing beyond compare, and open line of communication to the one who loves us beyond measure. Use it. Cherish it. Grow in it. It's as close to heaven as we can get.