Intentional Prayer

What are you waiting for?
I am really enjoying my church here in Philly. It's called Epic. The sermon series we're on right now is titled: An Epic Life. This week was about prayer. Do you do it? How often? What do you pray for? So...I felt a little convicted. Ok, a lot convicted. I don't pray nearly as often as I could. Notice I didn't say should, because there is no magic number of how many times or how long or about what you should pray. But I found myself most convicted in the area of asking for prayer where I fail to pray myself. Or of saying, "I'll be praying for you" and then forgetting to pray.

I am usually too busy to pray or I forget or I feel like I'm not in a place to lay it all out for God right then. Ha! That presumes that he knows nothing about my life when he knows the number of hairs on my head. Ok, so maybe I'm just too busy to stop my life and say thank you or ask for forgiveness. Reading that sentence back to myself makes me really sad. I should never be too busy for God, especially when he is never too busy for me. Jesus says in John 14:14 "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." Anything. Today I learned that this could mean, something as small as a daily meal, to something as big as healing Little Girl. But the key is, I have to ask. I have to take the time whether it's 10 seconds or 10 minutes.

1 John 1:9 tells us to "confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." On the spot; just like that. If God can forgive in a moment, we can ask in a moment. If you don't know how, just talk. Talk to God like you're talking to your bestfriend. Practice prayer. Practice daily, multiple times a day. When the phone rings, "God, please let this conversation be a positive experience for us both. Amen." Before you go into a meeting, "God, I pray for your will to be done and for us to find a positive solution. Amen." When I give blood, "God, please let the tests go well and for my continued health and match to LG. Amen." It doesn't have to be hard, but it does take intention.

Today I am challenging myself to pray in the moment. When I promise someone that I will "be praying for them," I'm going to do it right then. When I ask for prayers on this blog, I'm going to stop where I'm typing and say a prayer. I encourage you to do the same. If you have anything that I can be praying about for you, please do not hesitate to share that with me. I will pray for you.

Martin Luther said, "None can believe how powerful prayer is, and what it is able to effect, but those who have learned it by experience." I am praying that my marrow will cure Little Girl. Will you pray for it too? Will you pray for your own experience?

"So you want to change the world, what are you waiting for? It only takes one voice, go on, shout it out." -Natalie Grant