What is the biggest challenge in your prayer life?
I know for me, it’s often my own impatience to get things done. I get distracted by my to-do list and in a hurry to get started on my projects. God wants me to slow down and make time to spend with Him.
I have three grown sons…and love each one dearly. But, I can tell you, the one that I’m the closest to right now, is the one who has been chatting frequently with me each week.
Personal communication is what builds a close relationship. If we want to build that with God, we need our daily Bible reading time (so that He can speak to us) and our daily prayer time (so that we can talk to Him).
I Thessalonians 5:17 (kjv) is such a small but extremely powerful Bible verse. It says, “Pray without ceasing.”
So, it’s important to be a Mary and take time to spend with the Lord. But, we do have to be a Martha during the day and be busy with the tasks that need to get done. Thankfully, we can pray while washing dishes and folding laundry.
Let me hear what your challenge is with your prayer life?
Oh yes I agree we need to set a specific time to spend with God. I am for early morning time before my day gets started. I need God every second of every day.
I love this new platform. So personable. It is always a pleasure to hear from you. Thank you.
I find that my grown daughters are a distraction. They seem to call always in the middle of my time with God. I know I can go back and finish, but often, there are things they have asked me to do. Then it takes me longer to get back to my alone time with God. I can always talk with God when I'm walking the dogs, or puttering in the garden. Those are my best conversations with God. When people think I am talking to myself and leave me alone cause I might be crazy. That works for me.
Laurie, great to hear from you again. I have had some similar experiences with my adult children, so I can relate. Yes, I agree that we can use so many opportunities throughout the day to talk to God. I do think it's wise to plan for a specific time every day, but interruptions still do happen, and we have to learn to maneuver around those challenges and gear our thoughts back to God when we can find some quiet time alone. I'm glad you're finding those opportunities.
I think for me it’s not giving up. I know God answers my prayers but there are times I grow weary in praying the same things and not getting an answer. It sounds so selfish. My prayers aren’t all about my needs, I do praise him and pray for others. And He has answered some big prayers over the last two years so I don’t know why I get so upset about unanswered prayer. Sometimes my prayer life just feels stagnant.
Marcy, I think we can ALL relate, because we're all human and our fleshly nature is often impatient. I've certainly have had my ups and downs with my prayer life. By sharing our prayer life challenge in this discussion thread, I wanted others to see that we're not alone with these struggles. And hopefully, we can encourage each other in the Lord to continue in the FAITH, even when we're feeling discouraged. David, in his darkest hours, struggled too. Read Psalm 13 and you can feel his pain and discouragement. And then he ends with "But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me." We can choose to trust anyway when our prayers are not answered immediately. We can also look back on God's bountifulness in our life and all the prayers He has answered! Read: https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Psalms-Chapter-13/
Not getting distracted while praying and I’ve been thinking about dividing my prayer list so that I will make time to pray for each request at different times during the day (instead of feeling like I’m rushing through each one at one time). I guess that makes sense!
Determining when to persevere and when to accept God's answer as "no." I think it's difficult to continually go to God with the same issues. The Bible supports us going boldly, but I struggle when I feel like I have "nothing new to say." In our church, we've also been learning a lot on prayer---that it's far more than reciting a list of wants and needs--and focusing on worshipping the Lord and being thankful.
Briana, you've shared some really good thoughts. When we pray and truly seek God's will, we also have to be willing to hear the answer "no." It's difficult to accept disappointment. I think sometimes we feel our prayers need to be eloquent in our dialogue... yet, when I talk to a close friend, I seldom worry about how eloquent my speech sounds. Lol And, I've been known to repeat the same stories over and over...and she still listens intently. I think this is what makes us know each other very well. We have a true friend in God! He just wants to hear from us. And we're told to keep knocking about those requests. And yes, there is so much more we can learn about prayer than sharing our needs. I love reading in Psalms and how David praised God repeatedly.
Oh yes I agree we need to set a specific time to spend with God. I am for early morning time before my day gets started. I need God every second of every day.
I love this new platform. So personable. It is always a pleasure to hear from you. Thank you.
Laurie Woodward
I find that my grown daughters are a distraction. They seem to call always in the middle of my time with God. I know I can go back and finish, but often, there are things they have asked me to do. Then it takes me longer to get back to my alone time with God. I can always talk with God when I'm walking the dogs, or puttering in the garden. Those are my best conversations with God. When people think I am talking to myself and leave me alone cause I might be crazy. That works for me.
Laurie, great to hear from you again. I have had some similar experiences with my adult children, so I can relate. Yes, I agree that we can use so many opportunities throughout the day to talk to God. I do think it's wise to plan for a specific time every day, but interruptions still do happen, and we have to learn to maneuver around those challenges and gear our thoughts back to God when we can find some quiet time alone. I'm glad you're finding those opportunities.
I think for me it’s not giving up. I know God answers my prayers but there are times I grow weary in praying the same things and not getting an answer. It sounds so selfish. My prayers aren’t all about my needs, I do praise him and pray for others. And He has answered some big prayers over the last two years so I don’t know why I get so upset about unanswered prayer. Sometimes my prayer life just feels stagnant.
Marcy, I think we can ALL relate, because we're all human and our fleshly nature is often impatient. I've certainly have had my ups and downs with my prayer life. By sharing our prayer life challenge in this discussion thread, I wanted others to see that we're not alone with these struggles. And hopefully, we can encourage each other in the Lord to continue in the FAITH, even when we're feeling discouraged. David, in his darkest hours, struggled too. Read Psalm 13 and you can feel his pain and discouragement. And then he ends with "But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me." We can choose to trust anyway when our prayers are not answered immediately. We can also look back on God's bountifulness in our life and all the prayers He has answered! Read: https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Psalms-Chapter-13/
Thank you for the encouragement Rhonda! I love the discussion idea. I also have enjoyed your spring cleaning for the soul series.
Thank YOU, Marcy. You've encouraged me. Love hearing from my readers and subscribers.
Not getting distracted while praying and I’ve been thinking about dividing my prayer list so that I will make time to pray for each request at different times during the day (instead of feeling like I’m rushing through each one at one time). I guess that makes sense!
Suzanne, Wow, I've had the same exact idea! I've been thinking about creating something to organize my list in this way.
Just taking the time to get started.
Yes, I get that... It does help to schedule a specific time. It can still be a challenge to schedule and get started.
Sometimes just starting
I'm with you on that. It helps to set aside a specific time to pray, but it can be a challenge of self-discipline to get started.
Determining when to persevere and when to accept God's answer as "no." I think it's difficult to continually go to God with the same issues. The Bible supports us going boldly, but I struggle when I feel like I have "nothing new to say." In our church, we've also been learning a lot on prayer---that it's far more than reciting a list of wants and needs--and focusing on worshipping the Lord and being thankful.
Briana, you've shared some really good thoughts. When we pray and truly seek God's will, we also have to be willing to hear the answer "no." It's difficult to accept disappointment. I think sometimes we feel our prayers need to be eloquent in our dialogue... yet, when I talk to a close friend, I seldom worry about how eloquent my speech sounds. Lol And, I've been known to repeat the same stories over and over...and she still listens intently. I think this is what makes us know each other very well. We have a true friend in God! He just wants to hear from us. And we're told to keep knocking about those requests. And yes, there is so much more we can learn about prayer than sharing our needs. I love reading in Psalms and how David praised God repeatedly.