We Pray When…

If you want to know about the current state of your faith, start with your prayer life.

If I only pray at meal times and before my kids go to sleep at night what does that say about my faith or my relationship with God? It may just mean that all I care to trust him with is food and a good night’s sleep.

As silly as that sounds, our prayers reflect our dependence. That’s why some of the most powerful prayer times in my life have come when I was literally powerless to change my situation. It’s in these moments of desperation and dependence that I cried out to God with more than a pat request for a blessed meal or a good night’s sleep.

The Psalmist talks about these kind of prayers when he says this in Psalm 18:6

In my distress I called to the Lord;
    I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
    my cry came before him, into his ears.

So what types of things do we bring to God in prayer?

In scripture we see prayers for:

• Forgiveness like David
• Wisdom like Solomon
• Healing like Hezekiah
• A child like Hannah
• Deliverance like Jonah
• Mercy like the 10 lepers
• Salvation like the thief on the cross

These types of prayers aren’t religious rituals but heartfelt, passionate requests brought to the King of all creation. These types of prayers are brought in faith by people of faith.

So what is the state of your faith?

Ask yourself these questions:

When do you pray to God?
A growing relationship involves regular, ongoing, communication.

What do you ask God for?
Our dependence on God reflects the place he has in our life. If he’s our King then we’ll certainly ask him for more than a good night’s sleep.

What do you trust God with?
We often classify and segment things in our lives into spiritual and not spiritual but a life sold out to Jesus is one that trusts him with everything that we have and are.

On this National Day of Prayer may our prayers truly reflect our faith and dependence in a mighty and loving God!