Sometimes when I think back on people I’ve met, or relationships I’ve had or lost, I wonder if things would have played out differently, if I had prayed. I don’t mean a quick popcorn prayer, but a heartfelt intentional prayer. These days, prayer is one of my first thoughts, but that hasn’t always been the case. I learned to pray and I learned why I pray over time.
It’s easy to take things for granted, even something like prayer. When I look back, I think what if I had allowed God to help me process my thoughts or the steps that I wanted to take? Those thoughts head the list of the prayers I wish I had said. I bring this up as a reminder for each of us. Maybe prayer is part of every aspect of your life. If so, give me some hints so I can do this better. If not, let’s face that shortage we’ve created ourselves and remember a few things that are important about prayer.
One thing is this. God wants to talk to you. He will show up one hundred percent of the time that you address Him in prayer. He will listen to every word you have to say. Nothing else in the world is more important than your thoughts at that very moment. He will consider every word, take into account all He knows about you, and then look up ahead to see where you’re going. Once He has done all that, He’ll look at your readiness and your heart’s desire for a particular answer. According to His love and mercy, He will answer when you call.
So why pray? You pray because God is there for you, not just in a crisis, but every second of your existence. He doesn’t miss a thing about you. You can’t shock Him, because He already knows everything you’d done. You can’t hide because He sees inside your heart. He wants to help you, talk to you, and build your relationship. He knows all you were designed to be, even if you haven’t quite figured it out for yourself.
As you consider the moments where you might have prayed, but didn’t, it’s not too late. It’s not too late to engage in the privilege of prayer. The door is open for you to invite God into your life and let Him know you want to spend time with Him. You have the entire Godhead at your disposal…Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Nothing you say is too hard or too big or too unforgiveable. All you have to do is show up and start praying your way through each day. It will do your spirit a lot of good and you will never again have prayers you wish you had said.
Praying for you today!