I love prayer. I love talking to God as if He were standing in front of me. I love that when I mess up and confess, He still forgives me and still loves me the same. I love starting my day in prayer, and not stopping to say "amen" until I go to bed at night. As much as I love talking to God about everything, all the time, I admit that sometimes I get so distracted in my own stuff - stuff I could and should be bringing to God - that i don't pray. Prayer shouldn't be something that we have to remind ourselves to do. It should be as natural as breathing.
One of my favorite things about working at Riviera is that we are able to pray with the kids, and we encourage them to pray as well. We have our cute little prayer songs for the younger kids as an introduction - thanking God for the food, friends, apple trees and the birds that sing. I love to help develop little prayer warriors in these kids. This summer I've had the kindergarten and first graders. They are at a kind of awkward age where they think the singing prayers are kind of silly and cheesy, but don't really know what to say when they pray without them. I've had multiple kids with the passion and desire to pray, but when it comes time to do it, they "don't remember what to say" or "don't know how." My response is always the same: "You don't have to be perfect. Just talk to God the way you would talk to a friend. Thank Him, and tell Him what is going on." A few times, these meal time prayers have turned into moments where the children share their hearts of gratitude before God. They don't realize they have little hearts of gratitude, but they thank Him for every little thing in their life: moms, dads, step-moms, step-dads, dogs, cats and anything they think of at the time. Their prayers remind me to not only to be more grateful, but also to have gratitude in every little thing. No matter how little it seems to us, God wants us to come to Him, and He answers.
God desires for us to pray without ceasing. He calls us to not be anxious about anything, to not worry about anything, but to bring everything to Him in prayer and petition with thanksgiving. He knows our hearts. He knows what is going on with us, but wants us to come to Him still. He is omniscient, but still asks us to bring our requests to Him as if He is hearing them for the first time. Prayer brings us close to God. Prayer is our way of communicating with the One who created us.
I think that one of my favorite prayers is the prayer without words. It's those times where you just come to God without knowing what to say. It's in those moments I feel extra close to Him. Greater than friends finishing each others sentences, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us and prays the things we can't find words for. I've had moments like these in the last few weeks. Moments of heartbreak and moments of joy where I don't know exactly what needs to be prayed, or how to pray it. And in each moment I have felt peace, because I know God hears me, He knows my heart and He knows exactly what I need, even though I don't.
Another thing that I've learned from the kids and youth that I work with is to pray the impossible. We have one girl in our small group who always prays for "thing one and thing two". To us, it is silly, odd, nonsensical, and maybe even impossible. But between her and God, it means something. Her child-like faith in God is big enough that she has the confidence to pray seemingly nonsensical prayers. I used to think that some prayers are just too much to bring to God. I mean, He had bigger things to worry about so my big thing was just too much to add to His plate. There are times still that I am tempted to slip right back into this thought. I'm not sure where this distorted thinking came from but it just needs to go away. Because here is the thing: God's power is unmatchable. It's bigger than we can imagine. It's unmeasurable. It's one of those things we will never understand, unless He tells us when we are face to face with Him in Glory. Nothing is too big for Him. NOTHING! Our God is still the God of the impossible. He still makes impossible things happen. And He always answers our prayers - the tiny ones, the big ones and the ones that seem impossible.
I am confident He always answers. It's not always the answer we want, but there is always an answer: "Yes," "Not right now," or "I have something greater planned." We don't always understand His answer, but it's always good. As a leadership team for our youth group, we read through Bob Goff's book Love Does. It is challenging to think of greater ways to love our students the way Jesus loves us. A couple weeks ago, the chapter talked about impossible prayers.
God delights in answering our impossible prayers...Prayers asking for the things we couldn't possibly think could happen for us or someone else. Ones we might even feel a little bad saying, as if it's just asking God for too much. But what I forget is that we're talking to a God who knows that what we need the most is to return to Him, to return to our lives...God searches for us, no matter what dark place we're in or what door we're behind. He hears our impossible, audacious prayers for ourselves and others. And He delights in forgiving us and then answering those prayers by letting us return home to HIm...When we take Jesus up on His promises, He doesn't just stand in our lives knocking. He rips our small view of Him and what He can make possible right off the hinges.
We shouldn't feel bad when coming to God with the "impossible" prayers. He wants our hearts. He hears and answers our prayers. In the season I'm in right now, I'm asking God for big things. I'm asking Him to bring me amazing opportunities and allow me to be used for His glory in ways I could have only dreamed about before. If His answer is "yes," I will praise Him with my life and bring Him honor and glory through the opportunities I am given. If the answer is "not right now," or "I have something greater planned," I will praise Him with my life and bring Him honor and glory through the opportunities I am given. Even when His answer is not exactly what we want, His plans are greater than our own, and He still deserves our honor and praise in every single thing.
I challenge you, as I challenge myself, have faith like a child. "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Pray about the tiny things - pray about the huge things. Don't let anything seem too little or too big for God. Have a heart of gratitude and praise. I challenge you to take a day and begin in prayer. The challenge isn't praying to start your day, but not saying "Amen" until you lay your head down at night, so that your thoughts are completely directed toward God. Pray always, without ceasing, don't worry, because God's got you.
What is your impossible, audacious prayer? I would love to join you in praying to our God who hears and always answers.
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