Prayer... God doesn't procrastinate.

I don't know about you, but it seems like it's so hard to get people to sit down and genuinely listen these days. My pastor told us in church this morning that the average attention span of adults is 7 seconds. Explains a lot.

    Maybe it's just because I am a woman, but I crave to be heard and understood. I've found myself discouraged when people won't reach into my soul and care about my deepest feelings and concerns. But then I realize that it isn't their responsibility to do this. Besides, how many times have I sat down to talk to someone and drifted in my own thoughts while I'm supposed to be listening intently and offering feedback? Whoops. We're all human, and let's face it, we're all selfish at times. We all forget to pray for people when we say that we will, and we get so caught up in our own situations that we find it hard to set it aside for awhile and focus on someone else.

   But God made us to want to be heard so He could fulfill that need. He holds the entire world in His hands but still drops everything to hear our cries out to Him. If that wasn't enough, He knows before we even come to Him, and He will answer our prayers. God doesn't make us leave Him a voice mail because He's too busy with other things. God doesn't procrastinate or get around to caring about our hurts when He has time. He is the ultimate comforter and gives us peace that He hears us and is for us. That blows my mind. And since we are supposed to be imitators of Christ, I think we should work on our listening skills. I know I need to. We may never know how powerful it is to offer our presence to listen.

     Sometimes I wish I could be a little girl again. It seems like the older I get, the more information I know... and the easier it is to doubt and analyze things. I used to believe God could do anything (and He certainly showed me that He can when He brought my parents back together). Back then I never doubted His love for me. I never felt too small or insignificant for Him to worry about. But now I have the nerve to sit here and worry about how I'm going to pay for college because I have such small faith, and at the same time, think to myself that prayer wouldn't do anything to help the situation. What happened? It's like I forget the countless times that God has answered my prayers. (I think I should make an effort to remind myself of this). God doesn't want us to doubt, it doesn't please Him. It will even hinder our prayer life. Jeremiah 33:3 says “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” We must go before the throne of God, maybe even on our knees, expecting that He will come through and answer our needs. He will do far more than we could ever imagine.

    Something that God has been teaching me to do is be myself in every aspect of my life, especially when I pray. I don't have to pretend or sugar-coat things with Him. I don't have to put on my "holy talk" when I'm praying. I can be goofy and completely honest. He made me how I am, and he loves it! Why would I try to hide it or change it? Knowing that God doesn’t love me for what I do or don’t do, I can be sure that I am loved and known completely despite my weaknesses. He looks down on me with delight and not disappointment. Some people are afraid to pray because they know they have messed up. But He doesn't want us to get our act together before we talk to Him.

    I'm not going to lie, I still struggle with my prayer life. It took me a long time to realize that God wants to hear about my day, and He wants to be my best friend and Father. We all know that one of Satan's biggest tools is distraction. Life is a distraction in itself, but more specifically, if I wait till I'm lying in bed to pray, I WILL fall asleep. There's no getting away from that. I have to ask Him every day to turn myself towards Him instead of towards the things of the world. Instead of getting mad, upset, or anxious when things happen during the day, how much better would it be if my immediate response was to pray? Even if it's just to tell Him how great He is and how thankful I am. That’s what I'm striving for through the Holy Spirit. I love that it is so simple to talk to Him, and that I can do it anytime I want. We take that for granted. Some people in other countries would be put to death if they openly prayed.  

      I think we have all been to the point sometime in our life that we think we are talking to the air when we pray. But God is working, even if it's not in the way we think it should be. Maybe it's because we have gotten so used to instant gratification; we expect everything to be so sudden. Maybe He is producing patience in us and increasing our faith. He's showing us that He's in control, and that we couldn't do it better no matter how hard we tried. I think He will show us that whatever it is we are praying for, it's worth waiting for. Take Hannah from the Bible for example (her story is in 1 Samuel 1 & 2). In verse 15 she is pouring out her soul to God, weeping because she could not bear any children. After awhile, she became pregnant and named her son Samuel, heard of God. He did not want to give her just an ordinary son. Samuel is the one who turned the Israelites away from idolatry, which led Israel into a long period of peace.

   Sometimes the things we wait for the longest are the things that God blesses us the greatest with. Hannah’s grief and sorrow turned into her greatest joy because she trusted God and poured out her heart. Out of her suffering and exaltation, she comes to see Christ more clearly, and as a result, she praises Him for who and what He is, not focusing on her past sorrow. Now her story is in the Word of God and encourages many people today. God orchestrates our background and our lives in a way which uniquely prepares and equips us for the ministry He has for us. Let us refuse to see our past difficulties as hindrances to the present or the future. As we look back on the painful memories of our past, let’s look upon them as the foundation stones for our present and future lives, and then may we rejoice in our tribulations and trials in light of the way God purposes to use them for our good and for His glory. It all becomes a part of our story…the stories that He is writing until the end, uniquely and perfectly for me and you. Let God be your best friend…one that you talk to every day and tell everything to. You may not be able to see or touch Him, but He’ll never leave or stop having time for you. Ever.