Make My Life a Prayer

"Make my life a prayer to You, I wanna do what You want me to. No empty words and no white lies, No token prayers, no compromise..." Keith Green once sang that.

But, what is prayer? Is it simply speaking with the Creator and Sustainer of all that exists or is there something more? Could our lives really become a prayer?

The Heart-to-Heart Connection

Often words seem so inadequate. There are times when we don't know how to describe what is on our hearts. God understands; He hears our hearts. I believe prayer is communion between our hearts and God's heart.

God speaks to us through:

• His Word

• Other people

• Life's circumstances

• His creation

• Quiet impressions

  
  

It is a lifeline. Even when we feel alone, He is there. We are never alone.

"When you pray, do not keep babbling like pagans...for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him". (Matthew 6:7-8)

If prayer was just a petition (the Hebrew word is "bakashah"), Jesus' statement would be completely pointless. Because God already knows our needs, why pray? Well, the active form of prayer in the Bible is the Hebrew word "lehitpallel". It means to judge or evaluate our thoughts and actions by God's standards, asking Him to purify our motives. Prayer is described in Hebrew as "Tefillah". It means "self-examination, judgement, and inner transformation rather than simply asking God for things. The Pharisee understood this when he beat his chest and said, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" (Luke 18:13)

"You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss." (James 4:3) God is asking us to check our motives. Are we just trying to use God as a Heavenly Santa Claus? Our prayers must have pure motives. Prayer connects us to God’s heart so we begin to feel His compassion for others. God's Word says much about prayer and it's ability to transform lives. It is meant to be an integral part of every believer's life. May we pray with God's heart of compassion for others so that people will be healed, delivered, protected, and most importantly, find the One who gave them life.

We are told to abide in the Vine, but what does that mean? In John 15:5 Jesus said,

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."

I believe that.

We are a dead branch if we are cut off from the source of life. There is nothing we can do of any eternal value apart from God's enabling. But, how do we abide? We abide in Him by spending time with Him—talking with our beloved Saviour. That is the heart of the relationship. That's how we hear His heart.

"We do not know what to pray for... but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans." (Romans 8:26) We naturally want to pray for what makes us comfortable, rather than what changes us. The Holy Spirit dives deep into our soul to perform the transformation we cannot do on our own.

"Forgive...so that your Father may forgive you" (Mark 11:25) You cannot ask for mercy while withholding it from others. When we see our own shortcomings honestly, we have mercy on others as we realize how desperately we need God's mercy.

We are told to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). What? It is physically impossible to pray 24/7. So how can prayer become a lifestyle? Well…if prayer is lehitpallel, evaluating our thoughts and actions by a godly standard, that becomes a lifestyle. Also, I don’t believe prayer is a rigid list to present to God, but an organic, continuous state of being. This may sound scandalous, but I threw away my prayer list and asked God to put on my heart what He wanted me to pray. I find prayer is less about a monologue directed to God and more about looking inward knowing we are under the gaze of a holy God. When our heart is continuously evaluated and calibrated by God, our desires begin to mirror His.

We Are On a Journey Together

I have not arrived. I am not speaking to you from some lofty spiritual mountain; I am learning just like you. We are on this journey together.

A Prayer For Us: Dear God, please fill our hearts with Your love and give us a bigger picture of Who You are. Help us pray for the needs of others as You reveal them. May we see through Your eyes of compassion and love. Draw us closer to You, Lord God. Please may talking with You, the Creator of all that is, be as natural for us as breathing. Thank You that in You we live, and move and have our being.💖

He loves us so much we can't even imagine the depths of His love.

Blessings, Beloved of God.