Praying is to our relationship with God what breathing is to living in our bodies. You do not breathe once in a while. If you did, you’d die.
Prayer
We breathe continually and we must do the same with prayer. God is our life and praying is to invite the Lord into the core of our lives.
For many people, prayer is like their AAA card. They don’t really plan on using it, just in the case of emergencies. Or for some, prayer is like a spare tire…
Recently, I was traveling across the country in a van I had purchased a couple of years before. On the way one of the tires blew out. There I was along the road, in need of a spare. I looked in the back hatch. No spare. I looked in the storage compartments in the floor. No spare. Finally, I read the owner’s manual and discovered the tire was stored under the van. Before that time, I never bothered to learn where the spare tire was stored.
Is that like you? Is prayer something that you save for emergencies, but never actually practice enough to know how to do it? God doesn’t want you to be passive about praying. He wants you to be active and continuous in your communion with him.
Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7) Jesus is showing us three actions we are to take to actively pursue the involvement of God in your life.
- “Ask” for God’s involvement. Don’t expect anything from God, if you don’t ask him. Bring him the things that are little and large. I shake my head when I hear people say they only bring the big things to God. As if God is too busy or cares too little to be involved in the small things. The truth is, to God, all things you bring him are small. We think they are big things, but God is infinitely more powerful than any problem we might face.
- “Seek” for God’s activity. After asking for God’s wisdom, or help, or guidance, start looking to find ways God is answering your prayers. Recently I asked God to bring a renewal to both my prayer life and level of ministry passion. Immediately, I started looking around me for the things God might be sending me to encourage me in these areas. I was blessed to find things in my life that did just that. Don’t just ask, look as well. God is already at work around you.
- “Knock” on doors of opportunity. Especially when you are asking God to lead you to the right opportunities, be sure to explore the possible opportunities before you. Are you asking God to use you in the lives of others? Look around to see if there are people around you that you can help. Then when you see someone you might benefit, venture to them and see if there is an open door. If you are praying for a new job, knock on some doors to see if anything opens that is meant for you.
Active praying is beautiful. It recognizes that God is an active God and loves to interact in your life. Ask the Lord about everything, look around to see what God is up to in your life, and test every possible opportunity to see if God has something there for you.
When you pray actively, life is an adventure.
Question: What are some active prayers you will be praying in the days to come? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
I begin reading through the Bible again and I ask that God opens my heart and mind to it’s content….for better understanding of His word.
That is a great way to engage God with greater focus and intention.
While at Bellevue (Church), our family practiced active praying by starting a prayer notebook, in which we wrote our prayer requests every morning before the day started. One day Josh (13) asked to have doughnuts in Sunday School. We all admonished him for praying for such a silly thing. But we put it down in the notebook anyway. The following Sunday, DOUGHNUTS WERE DELIVERED to his class, and every Sunday from then on. Taught us all a lesson that we still marvel at: “Remember when Josh prayed for doughnuts?” Praying actively happens because we make a choice (whether we feel it or not) to believe that God is listening and that He is both able AND willing. in our case, even just writing it down in our prayer notebook was an active mustard seed of faith. 🙂
A prayer notebook is a great idea. You can connect the dots between the request and the answer.
To be more aware of God’s activity around me daily and to engage in that activity in a more intentional manner. Slow down and make the most of those “God” moments that He sends my way. You can never know for certain how God can take those moments and use them to bring glory to His name and touch lives.
I feel like I’m being passive in prayer and faith because I just accept that things happen according to God’s will, instead of actively praying for something. I also now feel confused with the purpose of prayer. If God already knows our future and has laid out His plans for us, why do we pray for something specific? I pray to be more enlightened and for my faith to be stronger.