Confession 202: Pray!

Is anyone among you in trouble?  Let them pray!  Is anyone happy?  Let them sing songs of praise!  Is anyone among you sick?  Let them call the elders of the church to PRAY over them....Therefore, confess your sins to each other and PRAY for each other so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous person is POWERFUL and EFFECTIVE!!  James 5:13-16

This Sunday, my husband began a new sermon series focusing on prayer.  For too many of us, prayer takes a backseat to the other events/happenings in our lives.  We bark orders at God or give a compulsory thanks before dinner, but we don't really spend time in conversation with the one who created us and knows us better than we know ourselves.

Did you know that psychologists have found that the healthiest relationships are the ones in which people engage in communication with one another at least 4 hours a day?  Don't worry, texting counts!!  Think for a minute about the person you communicate most with throughout the day.  Now, think about how much time you spend communicating with God throughout the day.  Am I the only one whose numbers don't add up?

Communication is essential to a healthy relationship, and prayer in its most basic essence is communication.  We go to God and talk and listen.  It's a two-way conversation, even if we're not face-to-face.  Yet even more importantly, prayer is our time to surrender ourselves to God.  It is our time to go to God and tell him that we're ready for him in our lives--for his forgiveness, his love, his grace, his mercy, his peace, his strength, his guidance, his power, his freedom--that we are ready for him.

So, in the words of Nike and my husband, "Just do it!"  In our society, we over complicate things.  We make excuses to justify our lack of commitment to God and others.  The solution to this is simple.  As Chris said, "If you don't feel like you pray enough, then pray!  If you don't feel like you read your Bible enough, read your Bible!  If you feel guilty because you don't go to church enough, go to church!  If you feel bad because you don't talk to your mom enough, call your mom!"  Just pray.

Just

PRAY!

Blessings and Peace,

Sara

Linking up with Michelle at Graceful today!!