Listen to your iPhone or iPad here.
If you haven’t seen the movie, War Room, it’s a must see. The theme of the movie is the power of prayer and how to develop prayer strategies to fight against the darkness of this world. It certainly resonated with me as I see the day-to-day struggles we encounter and how prayer can help us overcome evil, negativity, and the breakdown of our families, our friendships and all that surrounds us.
One of my favorite responses about prayer is from Priscilla Shirer. She says:
“Prayer is what opens up the flood gates for God to come down and be involved in our every day circumstances.”
The movie brought to mind a blog post I wrote months ago on making prayer a priority. Here is a revised version of that post. I hope it blesses you and inspires you as you pray to your Heavenly Father.
Ephesians 6:18
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”
How many times have you said to yourself, ‘I need to pray about that?’ And yet you still haven’t taken the time to bring your prayers and petitions to God. How many times have you said to someone who was struggling with an issue, facing a health concern, or suffering a loss, “I’ll pray for you?” You said the words with sincerity and meant every word. And yet the busyness of the day took over and your good intentions were pushed aside.
Prayer is a necessity we need in our lives. We are to seek God first in all that we do and that means to seek Him prior to the battle, the challenge, or the crisis. We are to seek Him always and ask for His protection, His forgiveness, and His care. We can praise Him in the morning and in the evening. He loves to hear us tell Him our troubles when things don’t go as planned and He loves for us to tell Him when ‘life is good.’
So, how do we make prayer life a priority and strengthen our relationship with Christ? How do we keep our word to pray and praise Him as we should? How do we make prayer an intentional part of our day?
You see God calls us to pray continually in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. He tells us if we are to be obedient to His will, then prayer must be part of our life in Him. His word tells us to present our requests to Him.
Prayer is the key that unlocks faith in our lives and the time we spend in prayer demonstrates our reliance on Him. He longs to hear from us. The challenge is making prayer a priority and a daily habit.
There is no perfect or right way—just do it. Pray any time, morning, noon or night. It’s more about getting started.
- Give God the first 5 minutes of the day. Pour your heart out to Him—He is listening.
- Remember it’s not about where you pray, only that you pray.
- Get on your knees. It’s difficult to be distracted or lose focus if you’re on your knees before Him.
- Keep a journal handy. Make a list of praises, concerns, blessings and requests. Add to it as needed and call on His name.
- Prayer is our lifeline to God. Talk to Him. In order to build a relationship we must communicate with Him.
How reassuring to know that our prayer life sustains us in a world that needs His powerful influence.
And just as I end each blog post with, “I’ll be praying for you,” you can rest assured that’s exactly what takes place. I pray for God’s protection and blessing over you and I treasure our time together, giving Him the glory and honor for our journey.
Mitzi
Hi my name is Kassandra I want my prayer life to be stronger I believe in the power of praying the devil try to distract me from praying with life issues and I know praying will help me ; like right now March 16, 2023 and recently I know Father God has been waking me up to pray at 3:00 am so I stay up to pray so I want over sleep in my life at this moment I am dealing with diabetes/ Blood pressure in December/ 2022 I had left eye surgery from retinal detectable I have been praying for God to heal me I am out on medical leave from my job I received short term disability it hardly pay my bills but I am grateful I am a single mother with two children and no family support I am trusting God the doctor is saying I have to consider a career change cause I’m drive for a living so I am asking God what he want me to do ? When I don’t understand I have to trust God ❤️
Hi Kassandra! I’m glad you found your way here to Peacefully Imperfect. Thank you for your words–while you are going through some things you tell us you have faith in Jesus–that is so important and I am happy to pray for you and over you. I pray Jesus gives you direction and makes crystal clear what He wants for you. I am praying for strength, peace, and courage as you walk this journey. If you attend church don’t hesitate to reach out to the staff–many times they have resources that will help you as you make your way through this difficult situation. God bless you and favor upon you. Remember, God’s timing is perfect and while it seems He takes His time, please know that He is with you every moment. Hugs!!
Mitzi