Life can be distracting.
Any of these statements apply to you today? Then read on, dear friend. HOW do we function daily, putting first things first, without going off the deep end?
Some might say they flip the “Don’t Care” switch. (It works, but probably not the healthiest option.) Others might consume copious amounts of chocolate. (Again… great theory, might not be super healthy.) Still others retreat into a shell, shutting out the world.
But for me, I pray. A LOT. No, I don’t get to sit around all day in God’s presence listening, talking, meditating on His word (as much as I would like to.) I still need to fulfill my role as an army wife, minister, friend, daughter, sister, FRG leader, blogger, exerciser, and general life cheerleader. But spending time in prayer helps me to focus on Christ in all things that I do.
I spend one hour per day of what I like to call my “Jesus time” first thing in the morning. Then I continue to talk to Him (and attempt to listen) throughout the day. As I am working out, driving, showering, preparing to sleep… He is always around, inviting me to be in touch with Him. He is my everything. He gets me through the day. He is my eternal, my immortal, my ultimate chocolate-sleep-diet-dr-pepper-happy-place pick me up.
Just last week, someone asked me if praying actually “worked.”
After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I passionately replied “YES.”
Prayer serves a lot of different purposes in life, several of which were covered in the paragraphs above. For example: ever since I got my shiny new iPad, I have been logging my prayers on a nifty $1.99 app. (I had a gift card, so the app was essentially free.)
Best. Investment. Ever.
The app is called “Prayer List” and the design is simple but genius. It allows me to categorize my prayers (aka friends, healing, ministry, our life/family, the lost etc.) The app keeps me accountable to legitimately PRAY for specific people, places or things every single day. And the best part?
It archives my answered prayers.
I have been using this app for 16 days. So far, I have entered 87 prayers… and already, in 15 days, TWENTY of them have been answered.
Holy. Lord. (Literally.)
Honestly, I had no idea how many prayers had been answered until Sunday… I was kind of in a “Jesus Funk” while preparing for church. So at the end of my quiet time, I quickly clicked over to the “answered” tab on my prayer app, expecting 3 or 4 to be in that category. I about fell out of my chair when the entire screen was filled up and I had to scroll to see them all.
Talk about giving your faith a boost.
I started looking at the answered prayers and got a teeny tiny glimpse of God’s ability to work actively in my life. It is PROOF of what he has been doing in the last 16 days. In fact, I realized He actually used ONE event to literally answer three separate prayers that at first glance were seemingly unrelated.
So today, let’s take time to rejoice in His faithfulness. We can take heart that He listens, replies to our petitions/prayers, and is both ACTIVE and ALIVE in our lives.
Consider logging your prayers. Watch how he is working in YOUR life. His answers are abundant and always perfect. Approach life gently by first coming into The Father’s presence. Life can be simple and wonderful if we handle it with prayer.
In Gratitude,
SGK
“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.” –Ephesians 6:18
