4: Hospitality & Prayer Power

“And we have this confidence in him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” 1 John 5:14

Raise your hand if your day begins with a “to-do” list? It just might be time to “re-do” your “to-do” process. The Father promises to hear and respond to each and every prayer according to HIS will so maybe it’s time to start each day with a “HIS-do” list. It’s easy to look at our work space and figure out exactly what should be done but those are all going to be earthly tasks and God usually has something much bigger and more important up his sleeve than earthly things. The only way to know what He needs from us each day is to spend time in prayer asking him that very question. Dear Father, how would you like me to further Your kingdom today? Is an excellent way to start each day. As a person of first contact our tasks are so much more important than the earthly tasks that appear in the fine print of our job description so let’s take a look at how to put our day in true order.

Tips For A Great Prayer Life

Go For The Grace – The desire to pray is a grace God gives us. We have to ask for the grace of prayerfulness. It might sound something like this, “Lord I love you and I ask you to give me the grace of prayerfulness so I can grow closer to you and become more trusting and surrender to your will for my life. Amen”
Slow down and hit PAUSE! – We live our lives at the speed of a zillion miles an hour some days. In order to discern God’s will and desire for our days we have to enter into His presence and in order to do that we have to hit the pause button and be quiet. What? Sit still? Crazy thought I know but it’s necessary. We have to carve out those minutes each day to be shared by you and the Father who created you. No noise, no distraction no multi-tasking. The King of the Universe is asking us for a chunk of time spent in quiet stillness with him; isn’t that the most amazing invitation ever! We need to ask for the grace of stillness and attentiveness. We have to ask him to help us be still and notice the things around us; the sights, sounds and the smells. The more we practice the better we get and the more easily we will be able to discover the beautiful fingerprints of God all over everything!
Just Do It – Thinking about doing something or planning to do something are not the same as actually doing it! You have to get to it! Don’t wait for the perfect materials, the most fabulous looking prayer journal and matching snazzy pen and the perfect prayer chair or shrine. Just find a spot and get to prayin! Prayer is conversation with the one who loves you the most so go ahead and start with the stuff that’s real: “God, I’m feeling great today. . . . God, I’m exhausted. . . . Jesus, I’m sad and I don’t know why. . . . God, I’m so worried about so-and-so. . . . God, I’m really mad.” In prayer, it’s often good to start just where we are and go from there. You can also be still and remember Wow…Thanks…Oops and Gimme. Just pick a time of day that works best and start talking…but don’t forget to be still and listen to Him as he puts thoughts in your mind, feelings on your heart and relays images to your senses.
Pause…Pray…Repeat – There are so many ways to pray. Some people love to pray the rosary; others prefer to read the psalms. Some like to take a scripture passage every day and reflect on it. You can read, you can talk, you can write. You can use words or Sacred Art to guide your prayer but the biggest thing to remember is you can’t do it wrong. Just pray…then pray again tomorrow and the next day. The more time you spend in private prayer, the more time you’ll want to spend there. I am a very early morning prayer and if I go to bed late I always ask God to be sure he wakes me up early so I can visit with him. Not only does he wake me up but he does it tenderly and allows me to be fully awake for our prayer time. We serve an awesome God. On days when I’m rushed and busy I make extra sure to protect our prayer minutes and without fail, he always multiplies my time so all things get done and done well.

Thank you for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue on this journey to Entertain Angels.

In Christ,

Adam Janke & Sheri Wolhfert

Thou dost keep him in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on thee,
because he trusts in thee. – Isaiah 26:3