TODAY’S SIGNATURE VERSE ••• Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. (Jeremiah 33:3 ESV)
PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• Prayer is, as we all know, the act of talking to God. It’s our chance to praise Him, thank Him, and tell Him what we need. But if we’re honest with ourselves, I think most of us would admit we spend more time on the last part of that list than the first two… I’d raise both hands to admit that I’m guilty, but I’m typing.
My view on prayer keeps being challenged and I’m really trying to grow in my prayer life. I’ve long believed that prayer is a privilege, but just as we all tend to do, the appreciation for the gift tends to dull over time.
Think about it—what gifts did you get for Christmas two years ago? You may not remember all of them. You may have been excited at the time and appreciative of the gift… but that sweater has been worn a hundred times by now… or that candle has long-since been burned up… or that coffee mug is now stained and chipped…
It’s not that you aren’t thankful for these things, but after a while, they aren’t new. They are routine. You lose your appreciation for them because they become commonplace in your life.
The same thing can happen with our attitudes about prayer. Unless we make the deliberate choice to recognize the awesome privilege of speaking to God, our Creator, over time and out of habit, we can treat prayer a little too casually and without the proper awe and respect. If we’re not careful, prayer becomes a checklist or even worse—a “break in case of emergency” box on the wall that we ignore every day.
Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” Please, read that again. God—the one and only Almighty God—is saying, “Talk to me! Let me tell you some things!” Personalize that and own it! “Call to me, Denise, and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” Insert your name and experience that incredible feeling of humility that God is speaking to YOU!
Wow! What a tremendous opportunity! Think about it… if you’ve ever met a celebrity, you may have bounced up and down with excitement and told everyone you knew! I’ve met several and can say—yep, that’s what I did. But this isn’t a celebrity saying, “Hey, come over and have a chat,” it’s God!!! The Creator of the Universe wants to talk to me!!! And He wants to talk to you!!!
Moreover, this isn’t a meet-and-greet thing… He wants to talk to us ALL. THE. TIME. We cannot overstay our welcome and we cannot bother Him when we start praying again! Remember, Daniel prioritized prayer three times a day (Daniel 6:10) and Paul wrote that we should pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Jesus made prayer a priority in the morning (Mark 1:35).
We are invited to talk to our Heavenly Father and it’s an awesome privilege we should never take for granted.
Today, as you pray, thank God in His interest in talking to you! Ask the Holy Spirit to help you pray with humble awe of who God is. Use prayer as more than a list of requests, but ask the Holy Spirit to help you pray in worship and with a grateful heart.
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