Prayer Warrior In The Making

Back when I was a new believer, I remember being so self-conscious about prayer.

When I was asked to pray for someone, I’d literally sweat because I was so nervous. I genuinely believed my prayers weren’t any good. I’d hear “prayer warriors” close to me literally cause giants to fall with their prayers, and here I was, little ol’ me, with a stereotypical prayer script: “God is good, God is great…” You know the rest. This was a real struggle for me. And when I was praying, I wondered if I was saying the right things. Was I just repeating myself repeatedly? What if I ran out of things to say? I mean, my brain was on overload processing all the possibilities to fail in the task of prayer. My prayer life needed work.

So, I sat down and had a conversation with God about it. He encouraged me to increase my prayer time with Him. So, I did. That prayer time shifted from an awkward task to an anticipated treasure! I couldn’t wait to wake up early in the morning and talk to Him. Then, I read the story of Elijah in 1 Kings and learned that it was Elijah’s constant posture of prayer that led to the manifestation of God’s promises. So, I began to talk to God throughout my day! Before I knew it, Jesus and I were super close, talking every day. I thought, why am I surprised? This is what we do anytime we want to explore and nurture any earthly relationship - we communicate. Without communication, the relationship doesn’t flourish, right? The same goes with our relationship with Jesus. When we don’t talk to God, we don’t grow our relationship with Him.

Family, this is a great opportunity to advance your prayer life! I always say, “What we give to others should always be out of an overflow, not a deficit.” Why do I say that? Because when our cup is overflowing, we have more than enough to give to those around us. When we are spiritually depleted and continue to give others, we are setting ourselves up for burnout and ineffectiveness.

But imagine how God could use you in the world if you established a strong prayer life with Him?

Not only would you grow spiritually but, you will be more apt to hear God’s voice. If my early prayer life days resonate with you, I want to encourage you right now in this moment that God will equip and give you the words to say in prayer by His Spirit! Romans 8:26 says:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

In other words, don’t freak out, because God’s got you! Keep sowing a seed of prayer and watch how it grows.

Father, I pray for each person listening to the sound of my voice and ask that you help us to be better stewards of our time to grow our prayer life with You. Help us, Lord, to not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present our requests to You. You hear us and You are always speaking.

So, Father, we ask you to open our spiritual ears to hear and receive a word from You. In the Mighty Name of Jesus, Amen.

Som Tami

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