Today I Choose to Pray...

Today I choose to pray. To pray without ceasing, on all occasions, about all things.
Prayer is a powerful thing! Our God is so big and so capable and we have the honor of being able to pray to him, to talk to him, to let him know how we feel and to ask him for things.
God hears our prayers when we are sad, when things are hard and when we are joyful and things are good. God answers our prayers in his timing and in his way. Prayer needs to be a part of our daily lives and not just as our heads are hitting the pillow at night, it should be an important part of the different moments throughout our day. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 tells us to "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." We have to make prayer a continual part of our day.
I know that I have a long way to go to make prayer a continual part of my day, but I am getting better. I have been challenged to change my habits. I have to look for ways that I can thank God throughout my day and I have to recognize the times where I need to ask God for help. Prayer can be a simple ten seconds of saying, "God help me know what to say right now" or it can be a long conversation with God where we are pouring out our hearts because we are broken. Romans 8:26 says, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." We should find this so comforting, God knows what we need before we even ask and he knows what we need even when we do not.
Over the past several years God has continually reminded me to not pray him into a box. I tend to pray for the things that I can think God is capable of doing and he gently reminds me that he is so BIG and that nothing is impossible with him! I have to pray God sized prayers, not Ruth sized prayers.
I love the reminder from Hebrews 4:14-16, "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. 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." Jesus walked this earth, he was tempted like we are tempted, he understands us! I think that is amazing, he knows how we feel, and how comforting is that?!
Even when we experience times where it feels like God is silent, we must remember how he has answered our prayers in the past. "I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds." (Psalm 77:12) We have to trust that God has a plan, even if our prayers are not answered in the way we think they should be. We have to pray, asking for God's will to be done in our lives and in the lives of others. 1 John 5:14-15 says, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him." We are called to present our requests to him and to desire his will for our lives, even if that doesn't match our desires.
I want to be a women of prayer, one who prayers all throughout the day, one who prays God's will for my children, one who brings all things to God. I am praying for big things in my life right now and I need to make sure that I am asking for God's will to be done, not just my own.
So, today I choose to pray!