PRAYER

Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well during your summer and staying safe. As I was writing my devotion, I found myself praying and asking God to reveal what my message should be about so that He may speak through me to you all. Then I realized that prayer in itself might not come easily for everyone; it certainly hasn’t for me in the past.

For me, growing up, prayer seemed very formal. I was told to always start with “Dear gracious heavenly Father,” say what I’m thankful for and then begin my prayer requests. As I got older, I realized that as I prayed, I went through the motions and a routine rather than sincerely praying from my heart. I was very selfish in my prayers. I only prayed for God to help me and give me whatever I desired. I prayed only to check it off my “being a good Christian” checklist rather than enjoying my time with Christ. The routine made prayer seem like a chore that I was forced to do. Someone very wise once told me if anything feels like a chore with Christ, then you’re not doing it right. So then, how do we make prayer not feel like a chore? I try to remind myself that although I am talking to a wonderful, powerful and almighty being, I am also talking to my Father who loves me very dearly, and sacrificed His son so that He may have a relationship with me. I remind myself that Christ is my friend! I always feel more comfortable when I am talking to my friends.

Although it may feel like prayer requires structure and a format, there is no correct order in which to pray; speak from your heart! Don’t worry about sounding silly or doing it wrong (there is no wrong way). A worry I used to have was praying aloud because I thought I would get judged for saying the wrong thing or not sounding sophisticated enough. However, I realized there is no correct way or topic to pray about. Christ wants to hear it all: your day, your struggles, your triumphs, everything! I do not have a set structure of how I pray, but I try to touch these four categories as I pray so that I do not fall back into my selfish prayer habits where I only think of myself: thankfulness, myself, others, and the world.

I always begin my prayers with things that I am thankful for. Sometimes I think we become so caught up in asking for something during prayer that we forget to thank God for the many blessings we already have. Personally, when I am feeling down, unappreciated, or overwhelmed, listing my many blessings reminds me of how loved I am and how much Christ cares for me. I know some days it can be challenging to think of blessings (especially after a horrible day). On those days, I try to focus on even the littlest things that I am grateful for that I may overlook, such as having working fingers and toes or being able to smell yummy foods or having a fuzzy blanket.

After expressing my gratitude, I move onto myself. I know earlier I said I worry about being selfish in my prayers, but that does not mean that I cannot come to Christ when I need help; it means that we should not treat Christ as a vending machine expecting Him to grant our wishes at the touch of a button. He is not a genie; He does not grant wishes. He does, however, want to hear about your day and your worries and struggles. In 1 John 5:14 it says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” Christ is listening. He hears us! Sometimes it may seem as if He isn’t listening because our prayers are not being fulfilled. We must remind ourselves that Christ answers prayers according to His will, and they may not always be what we expect. Also, as you talk to Christ, remember there is no topic too great or too small. Some of my favorite conversations with Christ have been when I told Him about a new book I was reading or how I was sad that one of my favorite characters got killed off in a tv show.

Another area I always try to touch on as I pray is praying for others. When I was younger, as my mom drove me to school, we would try to pray for each person on our mental prayer list. Soon our list became very long, and we had to move the list to paper. It became harder to list each person before I made it to school, and we decided that we would break up the list throughout the day. We are unable to pray for every person we know, but it is good to focus on at least one person a day and pray blessings over them, so we also lifted up their prayers along with our own.

The last area I focus on is praying for the world. There is always something occurring in the world that we can pray for. Lately, I have been praying for blessings and safety over those involved in the Black Lives Matter Movement. I always struggle with feeling a little useless when it comes to national problems because they seem so huge, whereas I am merely one person. With prayer, I feel that I am able to help by giving the situation to Christ when I am unable to contribute physically.

As you pray, I want you to remember that although prayer is powerful, we cannot solely rely on Christ to make a difference in this world. We must also put in the work as we strive for our goals and change. You cannot ask Christ to give you an A on a test if you have not studied. You cannot pray for someone to forgive you if you have not made the efforts to apologize. I hope my devotion was able to help those of you who may struggle with prayer; focusing on these four areas have definitely made prayer more like a conversation rather than routine for me. Don’t be afraid to open your heart to Christ. He loves you and is always willing to listen.

-Naia