MAKE PRAYER YOUR LIFE AND YOUR LIFE A PRAYER
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“Pray continually.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:17 –
Our life is to be a prayer lived in reverence of our wondrous God. He is not just to be our first thought in the morning and our last thought at night. He is the One upon whom our thoughts should rest. He is the One with whom we have the privilege of communicating throughout our day. As we abide with Him, we are making prayer our life and our life a prayer.
“Few delights can equal the mere presence of One whom we trust utterly.” – George MacDonald
If our life is a prayer, it will reflect the attitude of prayer… reverence and worship. We become ever aware of God’s holy presence with us through His Spirit. Our hearts look heavenward through the day. We honor Him with the way we live our lives. We abide closely with Him and cherish His nearness to us.
For our God is a personal God who cares deeply for us and is interested in every detail of our lives. He is not a distant God, too busy to care for us individually. He is always there to counsel, guide, teach, comfort and love us.
“Prayer – the world’s greatest wireless connection.”
In a life of prayer, we stay connected to God… communicating with Him throughout our day. Imagine if someone you loved lived in your presence, yet you ignored that person over the course of your day… never talking with them or interacting with them… never facing life’s trials or sharing life’s joys together.
Life can get in the way of our focus on God. If we only connect with Him in our quiet times of prayer, and go about our day forgetting Him, He will not have the impact on our lives that we seek. A worldly mindset can set in, causing us to be self-focused rather than God-focused. We get caught up in the temporal concerns, problems and distractions of the world. Our peace soon fades away.
It is of key importance to maintain a vital and active connection with our God. He is the anchor of our souls. Without Him, we risk running adrift in life. We need a oneness, a continual union with Him all through our busy days.
“Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”– Jeremiah 33:3
A life of prayer looks to God’s guidance and revelation. He is the One upon whom our lives are built. We look to Him during the day for His direction. All decisions, great and small, are run by Him for His divine leading. All is placed is His hands for His sovereign control… our dreams and desires, our goals and decisions, and our handling of life’s challenges and trials.
Throughout each day, we keep open and receptive to God’s divine revelations to us. He may be waiting to share with us new ideas and perceptions from a heavenly point of view. Perhaps He wants to show us a new purpose or direction for our lives. Or He may long to place in our hearts new dreams and aspirations.
Our God is our Guide for life. Our fears and worries dissipate in His mighty presence. We seek to abide with Him. We follow and rely upon His Spirit’s counsel. As we set aside our willfulness and yield ourselves to Him, He will instruct us in the way we should go.
“The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him.” – Nahum 1:7
In a life of prayer, we lean on God in times of trial. When troubles overwhelm us, our focus can turn inward. As we try to tackle our problems on our own, we can succumb to doubt, self-pity, worry and despair.
Trials are opportunities for God to demonstrate His presence and power in and through us. He will use trials for our good, strengthening our faith and maturing us. For His power works through our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). In Him we gain the faith to persevere.
Leaning on God turns our focus forward and upward. We acknowledge that He alone is God and that it is His power that will see us through. We give Him the reins of our lives and trust Him in times of trouble.
“There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God.” – Brother Lawrence, 17th-century Carmelite Friar
Our life is to be a prayer… a prayer to the One who loves us with an everlasting love. We remember His presence with us… abide with Him… seek His guidance… and lean on Him in trials. For our God is always there for us. When we live in the light of His faithful presence, He gives us His peace and His power to face each new day.
