The Gift of Prayer
Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
God has given us the gift of Prayer
A conversation begins as we look for a connection point. What do we have in common? What is the most topical or pressing thing in our shared environment? Like the weather or our favorite sports team. Time, environment and attention most often control our conversations. We see someone we really want to connect with but we're in the grocery store or we have three more stops to make on the way home and we don't feel like we have the time or space to connect. And sometimes we are just oblivious to opportunities. We miss the chance to go beyond 'hey, how are you?' with 'yeah, I'm fine.'
We often treat our prayer life with the same parameters. I'm short on time so I'll talk with God later. I need just the right ambience or the perfect tone set before I can engage in prayer. But if we really unwrapped God's gift of prayer to us we would know that He isn't hung up on time or space. We can engage in conversation with God anytime and anywhere. In fact, I believe we can talk with God no matter what else is going on around us. He wants us to talk with Him about everything!
Imagine going on a trip with our spouse or a friend. We don't reintroduce ourselves every time we begin a new conversation. And we don't need to fill up every mile of the trip with conversation. Sometimes there are miles of the trip that have no conversation. Just a quiet 'I am comfortable in your presence' kind of silence that becomes a rich and treasured part of the journey...experiencing it together...and sometimes no words are even needed.
That's the equation for a prayer journey with God. Philippians 4:6 (ESV) explains. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."
God has given us the extraordinary gift of Prayer.
Read more devotions written by Denise Harper at Treasured Inside
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