Prayer = Priority
I'd be lying if I told you I ALWAYS make prayer a priority in my day to day life. Do I believe I possibly pray more than the average person my age? Yes, however, I've noticed that on this journey with God, there have been seasons where my prayer life has suffered from lack of consistency. And a lack of consistency translates into a lack of discipline. Lacking discipline translates into a strained relationship with God.
I've reached a pivotal stage in my walk with Christ. I'm learning that while He is the God that provides, heals, restores, makes a way out of no way, and all of the many things He does for us, He is also the God that requires our commitment. A lot of us believers do an amazing job at sharing God's love, His goodness, His grace and His mercy, but we fail to share the part of our lifestyle that requires WORK! Yes, God will meet you where you are, dust you off, make you new and whole, but He gives us the choice to use what He teaches us, and go forth in His glory or fall back into our old ways. We don't teach that deciding to go forth requires constantly choosing God, dying to your own flesh daily, making sacrifices, handing over your life to Him, and developing and maintaining an intimate relationship with Him. All of which will not happen where there is a lack in consistency and discipline. We don't tell them how bad it may hurt, or the reality of how hard it can get facing the trials of this life and still choosing to have faith, or the entirety of the life commitment they're deciding to make.This is why we have so many people finding God, experiencing His works, and then developing this expectation that God HAS TO show up and bring them out no matter what effort they've put in because they said so. And don't get me wrong, He can and He will, but what they fail to realize is that to understand how His blessings flow, you must first understand Him. How do you do that? By building a relationship where you trust His word, His timing, His decisions, and His direction. We must make our connections with God a priority. The more you grow in Him, the more you're required to bring forth to the table, and that is what we need to teach babes in Christ and remember ourselves on our own walks with God.
"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things." - 1 Corinthians 13:11 (NKJV)
Make Prayer Your Priority
In order to endure this lifetime, we must train our minds to constantly seek God in every situation. Through the good, bad, pretty, ugly and everything that may fall in between, we must continue to pursue our relationships with God. We can do this through reading His word, going to church, and many other ways, but the biggest way to build a consistent, committed relationship with God is through prayer.
There are many benefits to prayer, here are just a few:
Prayer helps you gain an understanding of God.
Prayer brings forth miracles.
Prayer provides answers.
Prayer helps you find direction in your life.
Prayer aligns your will with God's will.
Prayer gives you comfort.
Prayer can help you ACCEPT God's will.
Prayer gives you strength to avoid temptation.
Prayer brings comfort.
Prayer pulls you closer to God.
These all play intricate roles in a believer's life. This is why in the year of 2024 we have got to make prayer our priority. I believe prayer is where we draw our strength and understanding from. But in order to make it a priority we have to gain discipline and face the realities that come with a strong prayer life. You will get busy, you may get distracted, or tired, but we have to train ourselves to press forward ANYWAY!
Do It Anyway
I know firsthand how hard it can be to develop a strong, consistent prayer life, but I want to encourage every person reading this blog to DO IT ANYWAY! Your life as you know it can change drastically just by conditioning yourself to go to God in prayer daily! It's a labor of love, but nothing brings you closer to God than spending intentional, uninterrupted time with Him. Just like any worldly relationship we desire to grow. You can read about the person, hear about them, maybe watch videos about them, but it's nothing like talking directly to the person to actually strengthen your relationship with them. And also like any worldly relationship, if you go days without communication, ignore them when they want your attention, or break commitments you make to them over and over the relationship begins to suffer over time. We all must keep this in the forefronts of our minds when we recognize ourselves becoming distant from God, or find it hard to stay connected to Him.
Prayer
Dear God I thank you for each person reading this blog. I pray Lord that you would help us navigate to a life where we make YOU our priority! Teach us how to grow our relationships with you Lord. God we thank you for blessing us, dwelling with us, and covering us even when we stray away from your presence. Forgive us for sins known and unknown. Grant us the discipline we need God to grow in your kingdom. Continue to guide us, cover and keep us Lord as we continue to Heal, Evolve, and Rise together. AMEN!