Week 23 “Pray Constantly” Day 4
Pray:
Ask God to reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.
Read:
Col. 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
Reflect:
The Scriptures frequently present prayer as a kind of wrestling or labor. This makes sense because most of us have experienced the reality of prayer as being difficult at times. The difficulties can take many forms. Some find it difficult to pray at all; their prayer life is inconsistent at best. Others struggle to focus in prayer or to know how they should pray. Many find it hard to pray in faith, they constantly wonder if praying is really worthwhile at all. The fact is, virtually all good and helpful things in life are difficult to maintain. To have good physical health over a long period of time takes constant attention. The same is true for relational health. Even if you desire something as relatively simple as a healthy lawn, you understand it takes a sort of devoted attention in order to accomplish this “yard health.” Spiritual health is no different. It requires devoted attention. You must give ongoing attention to your relationship with God. This requires ongoing conversation with God. Don’t be surprised if and when this conversational relationship proves to be difficult. Difficult is normal, there is nothing unusual about struggling in your prayer life. Some people do not struggle to pray and they are blessed, but they are not the norm. The reality of having difficulty is not an excuse to not pray. Rather, it is an encouragement to continue to wrestle in prayer. Devoting yourself to prayer means to continue to pray even when (especially when) it is a struggle. Don’t be surprised that it can be hard to pray, just remember that hard is not bad or wrong…it’s just hard. Devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
Pray:
(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.)
Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today.