Y'ALL. I am overcome by the power that prayer has in my life during this season! Praying comes hard for me sometimes because I feel awkward at the throne, thinking things like, "Hey God it's me. Back again. I love you and I'm thankful for you. Amen."
The Intimacy & Power of Prayer
I pray small prayers because I don’t want to overwhelm God with what I'm going through. I pray small prayers because a part of me still doubts that he can answer prayers that are "too big".
Also when I think of prayer, I sometimes think I sound redundant to God. I fear that sometimes God has heard enough of my problems and is weary of hearing another one. I fear this because I have seen the way humans have carelessly thrown my issues and fears aside, to the bottom of the barrel, not thinking of my emotions or feeling in the matter.
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But God always wants to hear from all of us. No matter the circumstance we come to Him. We come to Him in joy, fear, in trials, and in doubt but He still longs to hear our voice and I believe it makes His heart happy to have conversation and presence with us. When we seek a relationship with God through prayer, we form a closeness and intimacy with Him that makes our faith stronger. When we pray and form a relationship with Jesus, we start to see how He is drawing us nearer and nearer to His heart, making us more like Him in the process.
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I've been thinking about my prayer life a lot recently. I have been slacking and only telling God things that are superficial or just on the surface. I haven't gotten deep with God, and I long for the closeness and intimacy that comes from a disciplined prayer life. I am tired of praying these same
small prayers to God and feeling emptier and emptier. I want to be FILLED with the presence of God! A few nights ago, I prayed BIG to God. I prayed what was on my heart. I TALKED to God. I mean hand gestures, broken words, and crying (and kinda sorta apologizing for crying.. you know how it is)
After having this CONVERSATION, I felt peace just getting out what I was holding deep inside (what I didn't even realize I was harboring deep within me). These things were things I can't tell any friend or family. Things that only my Heavenly Father would understand. Sometimes God comes to comfort me in the form of answers, but he comforted me tonight just be holding me. As I poured out what my heart was holding down, He listened. He held me. He gave me peace just in knowing that He cares. He gave me the peace that He was present. Jeremiah 29:12 says, Then you will call to me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. He is quick to comfort pleading, weak, and weary souls because He CARES for us!
He didn’t give me an answer. He didn’t even speak. He didn’t have to. His PRESENCE and COMFORT were enough to show me that He was there with me in this internal battle with myself. He has given me His spirit to be bold and courageous about what I was praying for and I feel more able to pray BIG to God. The small prayers reach God too, but praying big has shown me how much He can truly fill me when I completely empty myself at His throne. He refills even the emptiest of empty and I hope you can believe that today! I pray that you feel God's presence this week. I hope that you can pray to Him and empty yourself before the throne. This is strengthening, though it is hard at first. If you don’t know where to start with a big prayer, try this:
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Dear God,
Lord, I am so full of despair and I feel so empty inside. I am going through something right now and I need your presence. I need to empty what is negatively filling my heart to make room for you to fill me up. Lord, I am thankful for you and I pray that you help me to look inside myself and really dig deep so that I can be truly filled by you and your Holy presence. God, I pray all of this in your name Amen!
I pray for all of you reading thins this week. I pray that God meets you in the unlikeliest of places to comfort you as you "empty" yourself at the foot of the cross. I pray for Jesus to come and be with you and to hear your prayers. I know He will fill you up! Emptying may seem "risky" but it is the best feeling to be filled back up and encouraged by God.
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I found the following songs to be really encouraging in my prayer walk with really leaning on God and His presence this week!
~RESCUE - Lauren Daigle ~LOVE CAME DOWN - Brian Johnson & Bethel ~SECRET PLACE - Phil Wickham & Madison Cunningham ~FREEDOM ~ Jesus Culture