“I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God. It changes me.”

C.S. Lewis

My day was indeed in need of prayer

Today is the day my son left for deployment. As you can imagine, I gave him a hug and I cried a lot. I am crying as I write this. I told him that I would be praying for him each and every day, multiple times a day. This brought to mind the topic of prayer. How often do you pray? I must admit, there are times I should have prayed rather than sitting in my anxiety. It most likely would have helped me cope with all that has been going on. I pray every day. I pray when I am cleaning the house, I pray when I wake up. I do pray a lot. But I had stopped getting on my knees every night before I went to bed. I had no dedicated prayer time. 

It is past time to carve out time to pray

With all that is going on in the world I decided it was time to have a specific prayer time each day. I’ve written this several times, it seems as if the world is on fire. The truth seems like it is muddled far in the distance with opinion. What must we do? We must pray. Prayer was first mentioned in Genesis 4:26. Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve had a son named Enos, after his birth people started to pray to God. After the fall, after Cain killed Abel, prayer became necessary. 

Prayer is all throughout Scripture

Throughout scripture God wanted people to pray to him. In the book of Revelation our prayers are in golden bowls in the throne room of God. They are a sweet aroma to God like incense. What is the significance of the gold bowls? Our prayers are of great value to God. I wouldn’t put just anything in a golden bowl, I’d put things that are precious to me as well. James tells us just how powerful those prayers are. The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) can accomplish much [when put into action and made effective by God—it is dynamic and can have tremendous power]. 

We often don’t pray when things are good

We humans tend to turn to God when times are hard. Why? Probably human nature. Things are good, why would we need to pray? The Bible tells us to do so. Think about life, do we only talk to our spouse or friends during bad times? I would wager this is not the case. We share good news, we share life stories, we talk about our kids. We should pray to God even when times are good. Thank Him for our blessings, lift up others and pray for the world. Philippians 4 tells us: Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition ([b]definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. And God’s peace [shall be yours, that [c]tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall [d]garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

There was a time when I prayed on my knees daily

After reading this verse I remembered a time when I prayed on my knees each and every day. I did have tremendous peace. At the time I didn’t exactly understand why, I had a child deployed in the Middle East. Yet I had peace and it did pass my understanding. You don’t have to kneel, you can stand. Just carve out some time to say a few prayers each day. We need it. As you continue to pray others will see your peace and ask you how they too can find  peace. 

If you have a prayer request to share, please feel free to comment. I will pray for you each and every day. Our country needs prayer. The world needs prayer. I leave you all with this quote. “God shapes the world by prayer. The more praying there is in the world the better the world will be, the mightier the forces against evil.” — E.M. Bounds