Prayer Should Be As Natural As Breathing
Day 142 of Photo Inspirations — Prayer Should Be As Natural As Breathing
Seems God has had me on a Prayer Enlightenment Journey……everywhere I turn lately. You know the experience: you buy a white car and suddenly everywhere you turn, there’s another white car. That’s the way it’s been for me with the subject of prayer. I’m getting the message – loud and clear. Apparently, God is wanting me to pay attention to my communications with Him.
I’ll be honest with you, I have never aspired to be a “prayer warrior”, though I know the merits of being one. My Mom was one. Her prayer time was 4 am every morning. Seriously! She prayed fervently for her children and grandchildren – and we were the recipients of her answered prayers. When she passed away, my siblings felt duty-bound to pass that assignment to me, as though it was a part of her Last Will and Testament. Like a boomerang, I sent that assignment back to them. I didn’t want, or desire, 4 am prayer duty.
At this season of my life, everywhere I turn, I’m hearing messages on prayers, reading books on prayer, I’m on a Prayer Chain, AND now, I’m posturing myself to be a Woman of Prayer like never before…..because, NOW, I sincerely want to be. I’m no longer running from what seems to be God’s call to me.
Don’t misunderstand me. I’ve always prayed and spent time in prayer, but not with as much focus as I have right now. I’m on purpose. And prayer has become the means God has used to get my attention and He’s using it to give me perspective, increased faith and hope – with a bonus prize of even more resolve that “He’s got everything under control, so why should I worry or fret about ANYTHING?”
I heard Kenneth Copeland say “I don’t pray for more than 15 minutes at a time, but I don’t go 15 minutes without praying!” The Apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing”! It obviously doesn’t mean we are praying with heads bowed and eyes closed all the time, or non-stop talking. But, Kenneth Copeland’s comments are true if we live in an attitude of God-consciousness that we carry with us all the time. Prayer becomes a way-of-life when we realize that every waking moment is to be lived in an awareness that God is with us and that He is actively involved and engaged in our thoughts and actions. Why shouldn’t we be acknowledging Him all the time?
I sincerely believe God wants me to pass along the little nuggets He gives to me, and this nugget is about prayer. Our prayer life should be like breathing. We don’t have to think to breathe. It’s just what we do. When we try to hold our breath, it doesn’t last for long, because breathing is what we do……naturally. And, in the same way, God IS the air we breathe. It’s His holy presence living in us, and when we hold our spiritual breath – thinking that only brief moments with God will suffice, that we’ll find ourselves red-faced, fainting and becoming LIFE-less. We NEED His presence with us 24/7 and He IS with us 24/7 — why not eradicate the notion that we don’t have time to pray? Praying IS as natural as breathing and carrying on conversation with God is as natural as chatting with a close friend.-