ServantOne
Helping Others Get To Where They Want To Go
Tough Days Means Tough Prays
I’m sure I am like most others . . . these are tough days.
We have changes in our family . . . we now have an empty nest. 
We have changes in our finances . . . we now have empty checkbooks (4 weddings in the last 6 years and 4 in college in the last 9 years).
We have changes in our daily routine . . . business is tough, economic times are challenging, we’re tired and each day is a new adventure.
It’s during these days that I find myself praying more than usual.
So many things are out of my control . . . but they are not out of His. So many situations are chaotic and uncertain . . . but He is the peace in the midst of the storm. In my hopelessness, I find hope as I pray and communicate with my Father.
So, how do you pray in difficult times? How do you pray when the only answer you need is from God?
Pray with passion. What do you have to lose? Go for it! He is God! He is sovereign! He is the one who has provided my eternal salvation and security . . . He can take care of my daily and earthly problems. I need to be as passionate in my prayer as I am with my favorite food . . . or sports team . . . or hobby . . . or entertainment activity . . . or person. Prayer with fervor . . . pray with heart . . . pray with abandonment . . . pray as if there is NO TOMORROW!
Pray with purity. Your heart needs to right for your prayers to have passion. You know why . . . prayer is all about intamacy with God, the Father. David said, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me”. (Ps 66:18) I want my heart to be His heart . . . not the other way around. I then have the assurance that if I ask any according to His will, He hears me! (I John 5:14)
Pray with priority. Simple . . . prayer is the first move . . . not the last option.
Pray with power. Remember Paul’s prayer to the church of Ephesus, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.” (Eph 3:20) He is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that I could ask . . . wow . . . that’s some power.
FAR MORE than I could ask would be good.
FAR MORE ABUNDANTLY what I could ask would be great.
FAR MORE ABUNDANTLY BEYOND I could ask for would be incredible.
FAR MORE ABUNDANTLY BEYOND ALL . . . Oh God, stop! But it doesn’t stop there . . . Paul says, far more abundantly beyond all that we ASK or THINK. . . I can’t handle it . . . and its all according to the power that works in us. You want to pray a verse back to God? Choose this one!
Pray with partnership. The Father knew that there would be times we would not know what to say . . . or how to say it. He also knew that there would be times we needed to pray and we would drop the ball. What was His solution? He provided the two partners in prayer. Romans 8 tells us that when “we do not know what we ought to pray for, the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” (Rom 8:26-27) Paul also tells us that Jesus “is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” (Romans 8:34) God, the Father covered all the bases . . . when we can’t pray, a member of the Trinity is praying for us . . . when we don’t know how to pray, a member of the Godhead is also praying for us.
Pray with purpose. I’m not quite sure how to say this one . . . when we pray, we have to believe that He hears us, He is listening, and that He is ready, willing and able to respond. The writer of Hebrews says it this way, “Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. For he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of those who seek Him.” (Heb 11:6). I am intentianal when I pray.
So, are you troubled today? I am. I am at a road block . . . a brick wall . . . a dead end. I need a breakthrough . . . and I know Who can give it to me.
Pray on . . .
ServantOne 