3 Questions

As I begin to write this blog, I have to smile. This "3 Questions" is a method I have used throughout the years to get my children to open up and share things with me. I will ask them to share 3 good things about their day, experience, school or whatever and 3 bad things. The reason I do this is because usually when you ask them about something, you get the standard answer - "it was fine". As a parent, you are hungry for so much more. We want to know our children's hearts!

This year my New Year's Resolution/Commitment to the Lord is to pray more. I love to read and write about God's truths and will typically choose this over praying. However, I know God wants to hear my voice and my heart as much as I want to hear my children's. As I was praying one morning, it hit me. He desires for me to go in to detail about things that are important to me, thank Him for all He does & basically spend time with Him. So as I begin to pray, I try to follow my method. I thank Him for 3 wonderful things He has provided for me and ask Him to help with 3 things I am struggling with. It is a start to open up to the depths of my heart and be the child He desires. "For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:26

God is waiting with an open heart for us to come to Him. Prayer is a beautiful way to express our love for our Heavenly Father. He created us with the desire to have a relationship with Him. If we don't have this relationship, there is a void in our lives. Some people search forever to fill that void with other things in this world, only to be left feeling empty. There is a peace in knowing & spending time with the Lord that is greater than anything this life can offer. "Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7 God speaks into our hearts as we read His word - and I love this! He gives us guidance, hope, love, strength, a solid foundation, wisdom, truth, etc. However, when we pray, it takes the relationship to another level. I'm not talking about reciting prayers - even though that honors Him as well. I'm speaking of praying with the desire to open up our hearts completely and spilling out everything we harbor there. In the devotional below, we see the depths we should desire when coming into the presence of our Lord.

"We should never leave our prayer closets in the morning without having concentrated our thoughts deeply and intensely on the fact of the actual presence of God there with us, encompassing us, and filling the room as literally as it fills heaven itself. It may not lead to any distinct results at first, but, as we make repeated efforts to realize the presence of God, it will become increasingly real to us. And, as the habit grows upon us, when alone in a room, or when treading the sward of some natural woodland temple, or when pacing the stony street-in the silence of night, or amid the teeming crowds of daylight-we shall often find ourselves whispering the words, "Thou art near; thou art here, O Lord." ~F.B. Meyer

Prayer time and conversations with the Lord, shouldn't be casual. Stop and realize you are coming before your creator. He is Almighty God! He is the sustainer of life and everything in it. When you pray, seek to acknowledge Him! He is there anxiously awaiting to hear from you. He is seeking for you as His child to open your heart and cry out to Him.

In thanks - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing. in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
In heartaches- Psalm 107:28-30 "Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven."
In intercession - 1 Timothy 2:1 "First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people."
In praise - 1 Chronicles 16:9 " Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts."

Amen