Skip to main content

Day 16: Calling on God Through Prayer

The verse from 1 Thessalonians keeps coming back to me.  I wrote earlier about the very first verse in a particular passage about being joyful.  The very next verse is just as powerful:

“Pray continually.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

Sitting down tonight to reflect over gratitude, I asked the Lord for guidance with my words.  As I finished that thought, I was struck with how awesome the power of prayer is.  Now, I realize this is not a new thought nor a new concept.  But to me, that’s the true significance in it.  The very task of prayer is simple – a conversation with God.  But how often do we take it for granted or overlook all it can do for our hearts and minds.  I know I do.  It’s easy to remember to pray when we’re struggling – whether with health, finances, or relationships.  When life is hard, we call on God for comfort, for healing, for wisdom. 

But the point is, we are so blessed to get to call on God.  Period.  When we are joyous, when we are sad, when we’re lonely … We have been blessed with the prayer.  I’m am utterly grateful in knowing I am not ever alone.  I am grateful that I have a God that wants me to pray continually.  To pray with gratitude about everything.  He wants me to turn to Him for it all.  And by turning to Him, He promises to be there for us. 

Pray continually and with gratitude.  Prayer will bring you closer to Him, renew your spirit – refresh your soul.  Pray in the shower, pray while you drive, pray while your children are upset, pray when supper is cooking, pray as you lay your head down to rest …. Prayer doesn’t have to be complex.  It’s simply conversing with the Lord.  Simply.  #livewithagratefulheart #lent2017
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 4: Begin Your Day

I’m always slightly in awe of creative people.   I enjoying crafting and photography, but as I am always looking for inspiration and working to grow, I tend to turn to the internet for ideas.   While I have been searching for inspiration on gratefulness, I can’t help but be inspired by several artists’ creations surrounding the word ‘grateful.’   One in particular tends to stand out – It has the saying, “Start each day with a grateful heart.”   I tend to think of ending the day with a grateful heart – counting my blessings as a lay down from a long day (Thanks Bing Crosby).   But, what would by day start to feel like if I more consciously started my day with a grateful heart.   How would my outlook change if I counted my blessings in the morning? I can already feel the change in my heart.   I can feel the worry, the anxiety - starting to lift from my shoulders.   By turning to gratefulness when situations seem stressful; my attitude is one of...
Post a Comment
Read more

Day 8: Meaning of Thanks

What does it mean to be thankful?   To show gratitude?   We’re taught from an early age that ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ are like magic words, usually helping you gain something.   As an adult, I have learned to say it as a polite reply but I don’t tend to give it a lot of thought in terms of the sincerity I should be trying to express.   The flippant use of these magic words led me to do a little soul searching (and Google searching) for a deeper meaning in what being grateful should mean.   In my search, I read a very simple but powerful statement covering thankfulness:   “Put simply, thankfulness is recognizing good things that have happened to you, and acknowledging the people who made those good things happen … In the Bible,   thankfulness is recognizing who God is and what he has done.”   – Jeffrey Kranz http://overviewbible.com/thankfulness/ I love the statement about God.   I tend to p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Day 15: Choosing Gratitude

“ We have a choice, every day, to give him thanks. And with a heart of thanksgiving, we realize that no matter what we face, God doesn’t just work to change our situations and help us through our problems. He does more. He changes our hearts. His power, through hearts of gratitude and focused minds on Him, releases the grip our struggles have over us. We're strengthened by His peace, refueled by His joy.” - Debbie McDaniel http://www.facebook.com/DebbieWebbMcDaniel I read this statement a couple of weeks ago and was really touched by the words.   There are a lot of situations we encounter on a day to day basis where we really don’t feel we had a choice.   The truth is, we usually do have a choice.   It’s sometimes a very difficult choice or even hard to see another option; but it does tend to be there.   Choosing to #livewithagrateful heart is a choice.   It is choice that must be decided upon each day.   And there are some ...
Post a Comment
Read more