Keeping Your Prayer Train On Track
posted by Erin Davis on 02/06/12 | Twitter: @ErinGraffiti
Category: Faith; ; 15 comments
From the LYWB.com team: We want to encourage you to live out God's
truth in bold new ways this year, and so we've developed a series of
posts we're calling Truth Boot Camp. They are based on a special section
of powerful truths found on pages 203–204 in the book Lies Young Women Believe. We will be addressing each truth as a resolution or action step that you can take in the weeks to come.
And then ... it happened.
We got to the end of our conversation. It was the part of the call when I was supposed to say something formal and business-y. Instead I said, "In Your name I pray, Amen."
Real professional.
Why on earth would I end a phone call that way? Because those were the words I was used to saying right after I rattled off a list to someone-specifically to God. I've made some headway in the prayer department since that embarrassing phone call, but the reality is that all too often, I approach God with a to-do list and an agenda to convince Him to change my circumstances in the way I see fit. All of that asking doesn't lead to a balanced prayer life. It doesn't make for a balanced relationship with my Savior, and it does little or nothing to open my heart up to hear what God wants to say to me.
Resolution: I will add praise, thanksgiving, listening, and confession to my prayer life this year.
As part of our Truth Boot Camp, I want to encourage you to take a hard look at your own prayer life. Is it balanced? Or do you approach God with an agenda? Is your communication one-sided, with you being the one doing all the talking? Or do you take time to listen as well? Do you mostly vent to God about all that is wrong in your life, or do you take time to thank Him for all that is going right?
If you're like me, your prayer life can be a lot like a train. You chug along really well for a while, remembering to praise God, to confess your sin, and to wait quietly while you listen for Him to speak to your heart. But then, before you know it, you're off the track, talking to Jesus like He's a genie or a vending machine where you can plug in your requests and have Him spit out the answers you want. Just like a train chugging along beside the track, you can still get where you're going—meaning you can still love Jesus and serve Him, but it's going to be a bumpy ride.
You see, God wants you to come to Him with your needs, wants, and worries.
Philippians 4:6 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."
But the Bible also highlights several other important elements to our communication with God.
Thanksgiving
"Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!" (1 Chron. 16:34).
Quiet Listening
"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth" (Ps. 46:10).
Confession
"I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin" (Ps. 38:18).
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
These elements of prayer are for our own good. We need to give thanks in order to recognize that the gifts in our lives come from God, rather than being something we've produced in our own strength. We need to wait quietly because God's ways are not our ways, and it is important to make room for His voice to change, encourage, and challenge us. We need to confess our sins as a reminder of how desperately we need a Savior.
There's nothing wrong with asking God to intervene in your life, but if that is all you are doing your walk with Christ can easily become all about you when it needs to be all about Him.
How are you doing in each of these areas? Do you have rhythms of thanksgiving, listening, quiet waiting, and confession in your relationship with God? Or do you tend to approach your time with Him more like a business call, where you check items off your to-do list and then wrap up the conversation with routine?
I want to do what it takes to get my prayer train back on track this year by integrating each of these elements into my time with the Lord. How about you?
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Comments
HEY, GIRLS! We love hearing from you, but feel limited in the ways we can help. For one thing, we’re not trained counselors. If you’re seeking counsel, we encourage you to talk to your pastor or a godly woman in your life as they’ll know more details and can provide you with ongoing accountability and help. Also, the following comments do not necessarily reflect the views of Revive Our Hearts. We reserve the right to remove comments which might be unhelpful, unsuitable, or inappropriate.
on Monday, February 6, 2012 at 7:25 am
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