Come Close. Pray.

Come close to God, and he will come close to you. (James 4:8, God’s WORD)

How important is prayer as a part of your daily life and relationship with God? Do you look forward to praying to God daily or often; even make time to pray? There are those who feel prayer is a pointless activity, a waste of time, especially when we believe that God already knows everything. But when you are a person of prayer you know there are so many benefits of praying. Just being in God’s presence, close to him, knowing he is close to you, talking things over with him and coming away with a sense of relief and peace that God has the matter now and will do whatever is necessary to answer your prayer to work out according  to his plans and purposes for your life, so you can be at rest mentally, emotionally, and situationally; just to name a few.

When we pray, we are both communicating our needs, thoughts, fears, desires, etc to God, but we are also communing with him and in that case it’s impossible to leave God’s presence without taking something of him with us: his peace, joy, strength, wisdom, courage. Jesus was the Son of God, had all power and could do all things, yet he never missed an opportunity to go to His heavenly Father and spend time in prayer. Prayer was the reason Jesus had strength to continue his mission even when everyone was against him and the forces of evil seeking to undermine him.

Through prayer we are exercising our faith in God and we can be comforted and strengthened today knowing that our heavenly Father, God of the universe and sovereign over all things is always listening, always open and receptive to our prayers, no matter what kind of prayers we pray: prayers of thanksgiving, prayers of praise, prayers of supplication, even prayers where we are expressing our hurts, disappointments, and doubts. We touch God’s heart with our prayers, and he touches ours right back with his fatherly love and faithfulness. Let’s Pray,

There is so much to tell you, Father, so much to share about our life here. We are so thankful that nothing is a mystery to you, thankful that you never shut your ears to our prayers. There is no more powerful activity we could engage in that will bring the results prayer does in our life and in this world. Amen             

Reflective Questions for Soul-Tending:

Do you have something you need to talk to God about? He’s listening!

How will you incorporate today’s message into your plan of soul-care?