Power of Prayer

Just look at those sweet little pictures. I love the one of the soldiers praying. You know that prayer is the only thing they can really hold onto most days. When it takes weeks for a letter to get home to friends and family, they can send up an instant letter to God through prayer. The picture of the little boy and dog is just hilarious. Leia prays with us every night too :) But she recites them herself...she's a holy goggie. And the little girl at the bottom is just adorable. They're something special and so beautiful about a child lifting a prayer up to our Father.

I've been thinking a lot about prayer recently because I had a huge answer to prayer this past week. Remember a few weeks ago, I asked you all to pray for my back because I had a slipped disk? Well, I can hardly feel the pain now! I literally have to stop and think about it to even figure out if there is any pain left. Sure, I took care of it with meds and my heating pad, but honestly, it was prayer that made it better. Our sweet Jesus listens to our prayer and will answer with a yes, no or wait. For me, it was wait and then yes. I waited for about 2 months (including a shot bruise on my rear the whole time), and then God finally relieved me of my pain. Thank you, Jesus!

I started thinking about prayer again this morning while watching The Today Show. They were talking about women who are infertile and are unable or have the hardest time having babies. Well, I have a dear friend from school who tried and tried with her hubby to have babies and they just couldn't. She had surgery to make her chances of pregnancy higher, and it still didn't work. Well, lo and behold, she and her hubster were able to recite this verse with great gusto, because they were pregnant with a sweet baby girl!!! 1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted me what I asked of Him." Praise the Lord, God All Mighty!!! On The Today Show, Dr. Nancy continued to talk about the science of everything and how to improve your baby-making chances better, but I just wanted to call in and yell, "PRAY ABOUT IT!!!!" How many mamas out there had to wait and wait and wait for a baby because doctors said they were unable to have a baby and then they miraculously got pregnant! That's not science, folks. That's God! So anyway, if you are trying to have a baby (PS...please make sure you have a spouse before you have a baby. It's easier that way.), please lift up many many prayers to God. Please meditate on God's will for your life and He will decide what happens.

Back to the power of prayer...I don't think we, and by we, I mean I, don't give God enough credit. We're all so ready to do things on our own and figure things out without His help, but in the end, Nothing is impossible with God as stated in Luke 1:37, so why in the world would we leave Him out?!? That's just dumb! I know that I need to surrender my thoughts to Him in all that I do, and seek His advice and guidance throughout my days.

I heard our old pastor at Life Church say that he has a friend who doesn't pray longer than 20 minutes but doesn't go longer than 20 minutes without praying. I'll say it again: "I don't pray longer than 20 minutes. But I don't go longer than 20 minutes without praying." If I'm going to be honest with myself, I pray before meals (if I remember), and Jamie and I pray before we go to bed. So that's 4 times, maximum, that I pray during the day. I need to challenge myself more and talk to God much more often. Like when I'm on a long walk, or a short walk for that matter! When I'm in the car, I can pray. When I'm cooking, I should be praying. I need to be praying all the time throughout my day.

I also need to remember when I tell people I'll pray for them. How often do we do that? I sweetly say, "I'll pray for you," and then I forget about that. We/I must be more faithful to prayer when we say we're going to do it.

Okay, enough of me. I'm going to leave you with a few verses from the bible regarding prayer. I love you all and pray you have a great Thirsty Thursday. Go get something yummy to drink today in honor of Thirsty Thursday!

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of Him." 1 John 5:14-15

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for your in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

"The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth." Psalms 145:18

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for the love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. This then is how you should pray, "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 forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil." Matthew 6:5-13

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." Colossians 4:2