I love the ocean. I love everything about the ocean, watching the rolling waves and how they repetitively reach for the shore, inhaling the salty sea air, listening to the seagulls above. Part way through my morning walk while on vacation, I would always stop to sit on the sand and lean against a beached log to soak it all in. I love admiring the LORD’s handiwork in nature as I rest in all that He has created around me. No matter where I am in the world, I always like to walk to the edge of the ocean and put my hand into the water. This makes me feel as though I am connecting myself to the Pacific Ocean which is home. As I focus in on the repetitive lapping of the waves, I watch how they continually roll up and reach for the shore, over and over again. It is a reminder of how God is always reaching out to us. In order to connect with God, we too, have to reach back out to Him. One of the best ways we can reach out and connect with our Heavenly Father is through the act of prayer.
Prayer is an incredibly powerful force and this divine privilege is available to us. Prayer connects us directly to God, making it possible for us to have a deep and personal relationship with Him. Prayer is one of the most important aspects of our daily Christian walk. As we look at Jesus’ life, we can see that He was a great man of prayer and had a very strong relationship with the Father through prayer. The Bible shows us how Jesus prayed passionately to the Father as He could be seen offering up “prayers and petitions” with “fervent cries and tears” (Hebrews 5:7 NIV). Jesus being ‘God in the flesh’, nevertheless, saw the importance of prayer while He walked on this earth. Knowing this importance, Jesus calls us to pray as well and gives us examples of how to pray (Matthew 6:5-13).
During a conversation with a good friend some time ago, I remember her sharing how she had heard a woman speaking on the importance of daily prayer. The speaker had told her audience if a person were to pray for 30 minutes a day for six months, their life would be radically different compared to a six-month period without daily prayer. This really caught my attention. I have never forgotten those words of the speaker. It made me think that if I were not in daily prayer with the Father, I was somehow shortchanging myself. I concluded that without regular prayer, I would not be able to completely fulfill the plans which God has for me.
At first, I thought 30 minutes of prayer a day to be a fairly large segment of the day, especially if one’s days are busy. However, as with making the time to read God’s Word daily, making the time to pray daily started out as a process for me. As part of my daily routine, after reading God’s Word in the morning, I make time to pray as well to make sure that I am connecting with the LORD on an intimate, personal level. This was definitely a process for me. I began with 10 minutes of prayer a day. Then, just as I had increased my daily Bible reading over time, I soon increased my daily prayer time to what worked well for my lifestyle. If you haven’t done so already, I encourage you my friend to try and find a daily rhythm that works for you to ensure you have a quality prayer time with your Heavenly Father.
There are so many resources available to us about the power of prayer. One article I found to be very informative was “The Importance of Prayer: 10 Reasons Why We Pray” (Reece, A., 2024). I would like to share some of what I learned as follows.
Prayer can bring us closer to God. It builds and strengthens our relationship with the LORD. I once remember reading that God’s greatest desire is to have a deep and intimate relationship with each one of us, His beloved creation. If you haven’t already done so, you can try welcoming God into every part of your life through prayer. Sound exciting? It is! It’s an incredible journey and something so wonderful to wake up to every morning. As we take the time and reach out to our Heavenly Father with an open and sincere heart, we can share everything with Him, including all our thoughts, feelings, heartaches, hopes and dreams. The LORD assures us that if we prayerfully reach out to Him, He will be there listening to us as His Word says, “Then you will call on Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you” (Jeremiah 29:12 NIV). What an amazing and wonderful promise!
Prayer can increase our faith and give us hope. As we pray and ask for God’s intervention regarding our circumstances, we are letting go of what we are in control of and allowing God Almighty to step in and be in the center of things. Letting go and trusting God, helps to build our faith as it exercises and develops our ‘faith muscle’, so to speak. God knows the future, we don’t. He also knows what is best for us. Therefore, letting go of things gives God the complete control of whatever our situation may be. As a result, we can simply rest in His care and feel hopeful regarding our situation, as the LORD promises us “Those who hope in Me will not be disappointed” (Isaiah 49:23 NIV).
Prayer can give us a sense of true peace. When partnering with the LORD in prayer, we can keep in mind that we are never on our own. When we pray and surrender our circumstances to Him, we experience His divine, supernatural peace. This peace holds us steadfast and protects us from wavering, no matter what our situation may be. God promises that because of prayer, His peace which “transcends all understanding” will “guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7 NIV). Also, a little food for thought, it is a well-known fact that people who pray regularly tend to be less anxious and more content with their lives.
Prayer brings us closer to God and glorifies Him, saves lives and transforms lives, equips us and strengthens us, increases our faith and removes obstacles, guides our path and shows us the way, anchors us in rough seas and brings us peace, heals us and renews us, brings us freedom and blesses us with joy. Prayer is the solution to every one of life’s problems.
To help make prayer a part of my daily routine, I found that it made things easier if I committed to a regular prayer time each day. Soon, I found that the more I prayed, the easier praying everyday became, and with time, daily prayer became a habit. Also, the more time we spend with the LORD in prayer, the better we get to know our Heavenly Father.
I like to begin the day with prayer and then pray throughout the day as opportunities present themselves. I choose to pray in the morning so that I can ask God to be over all the details of my day. A day when I have asked God to be over every detail of the day, as compared to a day when I did not ask this, made for two very different days. By asking the LORD to be over all the details, I found that things run so much more smoothly, efficiently and joyfully.
Using a prayer journal for my prayer time is also very helpful. Jotting down prayers can help me to stay focused. Furthermore, if I have an intruding thought during my prayer time, e.g., remembering to make a doctor’s appointment, etc., I can quickly jot it down on a back page of my prayer journal and attend to it when I am finished with my morning quiet time. Keeping a prayer journal enables me to check off answered prayers as well which is so encouraging. This helps to increase my faith and acts as a reminder to thank the LORD for what He has done in my life and the lives of others.
We can all feel very busy at times. However, I never want life’s busyness to keep me too busy to spend time with the LORD. It is good to be mindful that spending time with God in prayer is a way of honoring our LORD with our time. It also helps to build our eternal relationship with Him. Let us be encouraged that when we pray, God hears every one of our prayers. He never ignores one of His children’s pleas as His Word says, “And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19 NIV).
My dear friend, I want to encourage you today to examine the days entrusted to you. Take a few minutes to ask yourself where you think you can consistently set aside time to be with God in prayer each day. This will ensure that you are connecting with the LORD on a deep and personal level. Your first step might be merely reaching out to God and telling Him that you need help with how to pray or making time to connect with Him daily.
Wherever you are in your faith walk my friend, be assured that God is always there for you. All you need to do is reach back out prayerfully in order to connect with Him.
