Devotionals & prayers for Women: Called to Pray | Devotionals & Prayers for you Children: Praying the Scriptures for your Children
Today is a very important day. It’s World Day of Prayer. World day of Prayer is a global ecumenical movement led by Christian women who welcome you to join in prayer and action for peace and justice.
It’s not only important to pray for peace and justice today, but everyday. In fact, as believers in Christ, we can and should exercise prayer in all things, big and small. We can pray for direction for our future or on how to go about our day. We can pray for our businesses and our community. We can pray for the sick and the poor. We can pray for our families to have favour and grace in the eyes of God. We can pray for protection over our loved ones. We can pray for wisdom and discernment when making decisions big and small. The things we can pray for are endless.
I was raised in a christian home. My father was actually a pastor. So I grew up being taught how powerful prayer is and although I did pray (mostly when I needed something), I didn’t really always pray faith filled prayers. I was making my requests to God, but not with the confidence that he would answer them. I feel this is mostly because I lacked insight. God was still faithful to meet me where I was in my faith, though, and still pulled thru and answered many of my prayers. Although, not always in the way I expected (remember the song, sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers.) Well, it’s true. God sees the big picture and all things (even the seemingly bad) work together for good, for those that love Him (Romans 8:28).
That said, I really started to see the power of prayer when I learned how to pray better. When I say that, I don’t mean longer or more eloquent prayers. I mean praying how the bible teaches us. As I developed a deeper relationship with my Heavenly Father and understand His heart and how to pray in accordance to His will (found in scripture through His promises) with full on faith, that’s when I really witnessed the power of prayer.
Bottom line: prayer is the most powerful tool we have on earth and I’ve cultivated a stronger prayer life because I have seen its power.
So, when do I pray? Anytime and anywhere! I honestly pray whenever I find time throughout the day (in the shower, in the car, doing the dishes, rocking Ivy to sleep). It’s sort of become a natural thing to me to pray and thank God for His goodness, but the last 6 months have begun to try to carve out at least 45 minutes where I go on a nature walk and dedicate that time to pray specifically for my family and others that have asked for prayer.
Through faith and prayer I’ve seen God’s hand turn impossible situations around, heal and perform miracles. This has strengthened my relationship with Him and my faith in the most amazing way. Prayer is such an amazing tool, friends. I can’t actually believe I had this power at the edge of my fingertips this entire time and only really starting to tap into it over the last 4 years.
That’s why I wanted to take the opportunity to share this with you today. The bible says, God’s word will not return void (Isaiah 55:11). That means, he is good on his promises. When he says something, he means it. So when we pray scriptures, we are reminding him of his promises and this is praying according to His will. (This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us, 1 John 5:14).
Another powerful mind-frame to pray from is knowing our authority through Jesus Christ. When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, he died also for our sickness and disease. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. (1 Peter 2:24). He then rose and ascended to heaven and is seated on the right hand of the father. Thru his name, we have so much authority. That’s why scripture says, “let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need”(Hebrews 4:16).
Your prayers don’t have to be complicated. They can be as simple as, “help me, Jesus.” He created you, so he knows your heart and wants you to get to know his. If you’re a mother or father, imagine the joy it brings you to spend time with your children and doing nice things for them. Well the father in heaven is like that with us, but His love is perfect, because He is perfect. He’a a good father and He wants us, His children, to reach out to Him in prayer and communicate with him, tell Him our fears, our hopes and our dreams. He wants to help us. He has an amazing plan and unique for each one of us.
Another important posture I have learned in my own prayer life is to pray with a thankful heart. I don’t just always begins prayer asking God for a list of things. I begin with thanking Him for the abundance of blessings in my life. Then when I ask father God for something m, I ask once and then I try to thank him in advance for answering my prayer. I don’t keep asking him for the same thing over and over. If it’s a promise in His word, we can count on him to do it, so we don’t have to keep asking him over and over – but by faith we can begin to thank Him.
Lastly, the more prayers the better. That’s not to say you need thousands of people for your probate sale . but even one other person can make a big difference. Matthew 18:19-20 says, “I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.” So don’t keep it to yourself. If you are praying for something or going through something, reach out to people you know will pray. I always reach out to other prayer warriors in my church and family and it helps. When I am struggling I almost instantly feel peace after I reach out to other believers for prayer.
These are just a few things I’ve learned in my own faith walk. There is so much more to learn and I am so keen to dive deeper. I have felt a stronger call to pray more over the last few years. Every year I become more passionate about it than the year previous, because I keep seeing bigger and bigger things happening as a result. God is growing me.
As my desire to grow and learn more about prayer, I have felt compelled to pick some books on this topic. I recently came a across a few I love. They are wonderful tools for anyone who wants to develop a more meaningful prayer life. I have linked them above. One is geared toward praying for our children and the other has a vast amount of topics and how we can pray for these things according to God’s will.
If you are a believer, I hope this inspires you to pray more. Imagine if every believer was praying and exercising our authority in Christ, how much we could change the atmosphere of the world for the better. If you are not a believer and you want to know Christ and tap into this amazing tool, then I invite you by faith to simply pray, Dear Lord Jesus, I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I ask for forgiveness and I want to change the direction of my life and invite You to come into my heart and every aspect of my world. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior.
If you prayed that prayer, you just made the first and most important step in your faith journey (and life)! Jesus has come into your life and it will never be the same! Thank you for the honour of sharing this with you. Please feel free to send me a message. I would love to hear form you and help direct you to some amazing resources that have helped me on my faith walk. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend ahead!
