Have you been following along on our series about tending to your own Mom Heart? Not only do we need to learn to tend to our group members' hearts, but we need to first tend and fill our own heart so that we have something to give. Find the earlier posts here.The phone rang late in the night, again. Several of my children have lived and worked overseas from time to time, and so we are somewhat accustomed to hearing from them around the clock.“Mama, I just have something I want to talk to you about. I want your advice and to know what you really think about my situation. Hearing your voice and knowing you care about what is happening to me makes me feel more centered.”I love the fact that my children want to talk to me and be close even though they are now capable adults. So it is with God. We have the amazing ability to have Him with us all the time, in every situation, and He wants us to share every fear, hope, need, and thought of our heart with Him. Just as I love hearing from my children anytime they want to call, so God desires our companionship and conversation, as well as our deepest heart’s trust that He will always help us in time of need.
Prayer is conversing with God and giving Him the right as our Father to lead, to act on our behalf, to help us, and to show us how to live in the circumstances of our lives. Prayer is the venue through which we walk daily, trusting God, giving Him our burdens, leaving our issues and problems in His hands. Through prayer, God can accomplish what we, in our human strength, cannot.Consider the following verses about prayer:
COLOSSIANS 4:2 (NLT) Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7 (NLT) Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18 (NLT) Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.ROMANS 12:12 (NLT) Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.JEREMIAH 29:12 (NLT) In those days when you pray, I will listen.
MATTHEW 18:19-20 (NLT) “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.”MATTHEW 6:6 (NLT) “But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”MATTHEW 6:9-13 (NLT) Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.
Spend some time praying and meditating on these verses. God will remind you what believing prayer looks like for you, in your current circumstances, with your personality and gifts.