Hello friends! Prayerfully, you had a good month with your Simple Devotion! Getting up every day and opening the Bible to reading a chapter is actually challenging sometimes! So here is my I'm proud of you note:
I'm proud of you!
Now that it's been a whole month, make that forever! Don't just stop at one month, keep reading! Do your simple devotion every single day, no matter the cost! Make sure it's your firm foundation! It's difficult, but worth it!
I want to remind you to NOT beat yourself up for missing a day or two, in proverbs it says,
Proverbs 24:16
"For the righteous falls seven times and rises again,
but the wicked stumble in times of calamity."
If you fall, get back up. Keep getting back up and eventually, you'll look back and see you haven't fallen in days!
Well, with this walk comes more growth! Walking with God, not only do you learn about God but you talk to God as well.
When you start any kind of relationship with someone, not only do you spend time with them, you talk to them. You get to know them as a person and understand their mind.
How do we talk to God? Through prayer! Our next growth step is to develop a prayer life!
Becoming a person of prayer means setting aside time for prayer. I will be honest before we really dig into today's blog, I just started my prayer journey around January. Whatever I write in this, it's all wisdom from the Holy Spirit and backed up with prayer and other prayer warriors reading this before publishing.
I'm telling you this because I want to let you know that you are not the only person learning about prayer either! I am also learning, your local pastor is still learning, and even the big mega-church pastors are still learning! We will always be learning. One thing I have to tell you is don't be ashamed if you are not a person of prayer. Instead of hiding from prayer, do something about it!
The main reason why you are reading this is because something in you is saying, "I want to know how to pray!" So let's talk about it!
"That thing" in you I mentioned is the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit was sent to us to help us on this journey. Since you feel this tug to pray, or you want to walk with Jesus, how do we pray?
I thank God for many things but one thing is sending Jesus on this Earth to teach us how to pray! If there is anyone who was a professional in prayer, it is the Man Himself, Jesus. Thankfully, He gives us step-by-step instructions in the gospels!
Matthew 6:5-8, ESV
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."
I underlined two things that we need to know while going into prayer. Pray in secret more so than in front of people, and don't just say random things to make your prayers sound more sophisticated. I love how Jesus tells us that God already knows what we will pray before we even think about praying. It reminds me that I can be myself and not like a businesswoman/man. I don't need to be anything but me. I can be open and honest, not in a dress or suit.
Sometimes we pray in a suit or dress. We think we need to sound loud or fancy to be heard. When sometimes we should just be quiet and wear our comfortable clothes.
Let me show you what I mean.
Matthew 6:9-15, ESV
"Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
We see here that Jesus prays a simple prayer. This shows us that we don't need to be professional at prayer. We can so simply pray "Lord, help me" and that is so powerful.
Eventually, through this month of praying, you will grow your wording and time but thankfully, practice makes progress!
If all of this sounds confusing and kind of scary or overwhelming, let me give you some peace. Jesus thought ahead (as He normally does) and sends us a Helper,
John 14:15-31, His name is Holy Spirit! Yay! Now you can breathe! You don't have to do it on your own!
The Holy Spirit will help you learn how to pray. He will guide you and help you! Every time I pray I ask the Holy Spirit to help me because truthfully I would never know how to pray at that moment. I wouldn't even dare try!
KEY POINTS:
We are constantly learning about prayer.
Pray in secret more than in public.
Don't wear suits and dresses... Well, don't think you have to be formal to a casual conversation in prayer.
Don't be afraid to be real with God.
Ask Holy Spirit to help you.
There are just a couple more things I want to tell you about prayer. It's actually more so advice! There are so many different things to pray about in this world. If you find yourself saying "I have no clue what to pray for." Then just look outside, and you'll see something. For me, once in a while, I will post on my Instagram story "Prayer requests?" and I will pray for them that whole week! It keeps me busy with prayer! I also have on my notes app a list of prayers and "Believing for" prayers. I add to that list all the time so then I just go down the list and pray for it.
I am always asking the Lord about decisions in my life, I am constantly saying "I need to pray about that." Then I write it down so I don't forget. Then when I go to pray I say "Oh yeah!!" and pray. I want to encourage you to have a prayer notes file or notebook. Some people even do a prayer wall or closet! Sticky notes will be your best friend. My aunt in Alaska actually has a war room! She has pictures of her family and just prayers everywhere!
My next piece of advice is to simply set aside time. If you can't set aside time, but you have a 1 minute drive to work, pray that whole minute! One minute is better than no minutes. If you can't find yourself to pray for an hour straight at first, don't beat yourself up! Start yourself with 5 minutes, and pray more and more. Eventually, you'll see that you are praying for 3 hours without even realizing it.
So my friends, as we leave it here for another month. Sit on this, learn from it, and pray! Work on your prayer life and remember it is just like talking to a friend! Work your way up and don't look back!
CHALLENGE OF THE MONTH:
Pray to start at 5 minutes a day, then work your way up to a whole hour! Let your goal for the end of this month be an hour!
SUGGESTED BOOKS:
'Good Morning, Holy Spirit' by Benny Hinn
'Becoming A Prayer Warrior' By Elizabeth Alves
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