Philippians 4:6 & 7 (The Message)
“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”
So first and foremost I must go back to my childhood. Did any of you have congregational prayers in your church? Oh my goodness, bless the heart of each one, but those prayers are probably when I ate the most lifesavers. They were looooooong! I remember always looking in the bulletin like, oop there it is. It’s so vivid still in my brain today. Now, don’t get me wrong, long prayers are not bad BUT they’re not the end all. I’m sure some of us have come in contact with an amazing prayer warrior or two. One who has the most perfect words and eloquent thoughts spoken and here am i like, Dude, Lord, I’m drowning!! It’s easy to get wrapped up in how we are supposed to sound praying, right? Like there’s this perfect way but I’m here to tell you, so not true. I can only say that because He has answered or heard my prayers before, I mean, I’m still living and breathing so there’s that! Let’s just say these prayers of mine can go from a whiny 2 year old to, well, a whiny 42 year old. No, but really, He is a real and down to earth God. There is no where in the Bible that states you must use big words in order to get your prayers through the pearly gates. It says just speak your worries, concerns, anger, all the ugly, and at the same time, shoot Him up some praise and gratefulness. For example, (in case you needed one) I’ll go from asking Jesus to help me not kill the dog because she keeps stealing everything in sight, including my razor this morning, to being on my hands and knees in tears because my heart is so broken. AND, in all honesty, when I’m at a place of total meltdown, I really don’t have words. I just sit with Him. Just sit.
He is like your best friend. How would you chat with your best friend on your hard days or good days. That’s how I look at prayer, although when we chat with Him, He can literally change the world so that’s kind of cool. I’m all about realness. He created us each unique and different. HE created us that way so I’m pretty sure our prayers will all look different yet get to Him at the same time. Jesus is powerful, mighty, sovereign BUT He is also your daddy, love, your best friend, a shoulder to cry on. Your prayer can be 3 words in the car “Lord Help me!” (mine on a regular basis) or 100 words, He doesn’t care. All He cares about is talking with you. Cause that’s how much He loves you.
I challenge you today to find time to pray EXACTLY what’s in your heart. No judgement, no big words (unless that’s what’s in your heart), no perfect place. He already knows what’s in there, He just wants to hear from you.
“Sometimes it takes just one prayer to change everything.”
Wounded to Warrior 