March 5

Three Thoughts

You don't have to have the "right words" to pray, you just need to be honest with God. He wants your heart more than anything else. So when you're anxious, tell him. When you're grateful, tell him. When you're confused, tell him that too. Prayer is bringing everything to God and trusting him with it.

PHILIPPIANS 4:6

Jesus tells us to pray in secret instead of making a scene around it. I think that's because prayer is meant to be personal. So close the door. Turn off your phone. Talk to him like he's right there, because he is. The most powerful prayers are when nobody is watching.

MATTHEW 6:6

"Pray without ceasing" doesn't mean you never stop talking. It means you never stop connecting with God. It's an ongoing awareness that he is near you, in your car, at your desk, in your kitchen. It's a conversation that keeps going throughout the day.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:17

Two Quotes

Priest and theologian Martin Luther on prayer:

"To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing."

French monk Brother Lawrence on conversation with God:

"There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God."

Prayer

God, I want to talk to you more, and I want to actually enjoy it. Forgive me for making prayer more complicated than it is. Remind me that you only care about my honesty instead of perfection. Teach me how to keep the conversation going all day, in every moment. Amen.

Question

If prayer is just an honest conversation with God, what keeps you from talking to him more?

See you next Thursday,
Zach

P.S. This week I'm writing a chapter on prayer for my next book, so it's been at the top of my mind. I read the book "The Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence again and I think dried out an entire highlighter. If we could learn how to live out that book as Christians, the world would be a different place.