Cultivating a Heart of Prayer

What is your first thought in the morning? What about your last thought at night? Take a moment and ask yourself...
Is it reviewing the day's happenings, or planning for tomorrow, or going over next week? Is it daydreaming or making up stories? Or is it spending time with your Saviour?

Psalms 55:17 says:

"Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice."

One of our favorite books on prayer is: Lord, Teach Us To Pray, by Tom Harmon. I would encourage all of you to read it. It doesn't cost much, and is completely worth it.

This last year, God has really convicted me about how much time I spend communing with Him in prayer. While in the Philippines, serving abroad, or doing/going through hard things here, prayer and communication with God comes easily, however, here at home so often I become a perfect Martha, and get so caught up with the work at hand, that I don't spend nearly enough time with the One who gave His life for me.

Often, He has had to gently say: "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: but that thou wouldst choose Mary's good part--listening at My feet. (Luke 10:42-43/paraphrase)

In the past months and especially the past weeks, my El Shaddai has impressed upon my heart all the more how much I am missing by not glorying in His presence as my first and last thought of the day. One of my personal favorite books is: Secrets of Meditation, by Dr. Bill Gothard. It is another book, costing hardly anything, and truly is a gem of truths... In fact, it is probably one of my top 5.

Dr. Gothard talks about the importance of making our bed an altar unto the Lord in his book Enjoying God's Presence. Though I have done this often in the past, when I get caught up in life, I have found this golden practice fades as well, and it is only in recent weeks that I have took up this practice again, truly trying to meditate on Scripture and prayer when I lie down and rise up. It is truly changing my life. Not only does it  give me so much more peace and rest, but if I wake up in the night, I am finding Psalms 119:62 in actuality:

"At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto Thee because of Thy righteous judgments."

1 Thessalonians 5:17 says: "Pray without ceasing."
When you do this, it takes your relationship with Christ to a new level, however, it truly starts with meditating in God's word, which is not just reading and memorizing God's Word, but also meditating--engrafting and personalizing Scripture and applying it to your life.

I would encourage you to join me in our journey to the foot of the Cross -- to know the heart of God. Start today!! Habits die hard, but ask God--He is faithful forever. I find it interesting that in almost all the cases that 'temptation' is mentioned in Scripture, the answer is prayer. I am learning that 1 Corinthians 10:13 is really true:

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able;  but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to heart it."

Looking back, almost all the times that I have made mistakes or truly sinned--which for me is MANY, but now mostly what I say (or don't say), time usage, attitudes, etc.--, I usually heard the prompting of the Spirit, and that is where the choice lies--do I walk in the Spirit (which often is hard in the moment), or take the easy way out and walk in the flesh??

"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

~Matthew 26:41 ~

What an immense burden is lifted to know that we are not alone, when we give our lives to Christ!! And especially to know that He is with us--despite our failings--to bring us back onto the course of Truth and Righteousness. We of ourselves are dirty rags, but He chose to put His righteousness on us!!!

But now, O LORD, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and we all are the work of Thy Hand.

~ Isaiah 64:8 ~

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon Me, and ye shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart. 

And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

~ Jeremiah 29:11-14 ~

This is my prayer and my earnest desire for each one of us, including me (especially me):

For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understand.

~ Colossians 1:9 ~