Prayer isn’t something I do to change God. Prayer is something God uses to change me.
That’s why prayer so powerful. Prayer connects me to the ultimate source of power in all the universe—God himself. Now it’s no longer me facing the world with my gifts and insights alone. I face the world with the Giver of all wisdom and strength at my side.
How big a part of your life is prayer? Is prayer something casual that you throw out there when you’re in trouble or it crosses your mind? That’s not best, but it’s a start. We’ve all been there. God is so kind He’ll hear us and help us even when we haven’t been paying attention like we should. But let’s never be satisfied to stop there.
The real question for you and me is this: is prayer an intentional part of our lives, where we seek to draw nearer to God and know Him better every day? That’s where I want to be. I don’t want to ever take prayer for granted.
Never forget, prayer is one of God’s incredible gifts to us. It’s His invitation for us to communicate with Him and plug into Him for the strength and direction we need in life. Prayer is His invitation for us to exercise the faith He has planted inside of us. When we walk with faith—knowing God is real and wants a relationship with us—that’s when we begin to experience God’s very best for our lives.
Paul understood God’s desire to be connected to us and do something incredible through us when he made the big, bold, audacious statement: “For I can everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13, NLT).
Not even the smartest, most talented and confident person in the world could make that claim. But Paul knew he could do anything and everything because he was connected to the one true power source.
Is it time for you to make prayer a bigger part of your life? Not just because there’s something you want but because there’s Someone you want to know … and that Someone has the power to transform you into the person you want to become.
If so, get intentional. Praise God for who He is. Thank Him for what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will do for you. Confess your sins and shortcomings and ask Him to forgive and strengthen you. Bring your needs to Him and ask for His help—He cares about the things, both big and small, that matter in your life. Set aside time for focused prayer each day, but let prayer be a conversation you have with God throughout the day.
The writer of Hebrews put the call to prayer so beautifully when he wrote: “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (4:16, NIV).
Let’s boldly and confidently accept God’s invitation to be in His presence through prayer.