Digging Deeper – Living a Prayerful Life
4 Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, 5 for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many.
11 And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people.
Matthew 24:4-5, 11 (NLT)
LIVING A PRAYERFUL LIFE
Prayer is a powerful tool in our walk with Christ that brings great depth and authenticity to our relationship with God. A prayerful life often times seems to be the most difficult for Christians to grasp, especially those new to their journey with the Lord. We can find ourselves at a loss of what to say or even intimidated by the thought of it, especially when asked to pray out loud. Prayer can be so many things: praise, reflection, lamentation, petition, intercession, even just silencing our minds in His presence. In my opinion, one of the best ways to approach prayer is to view it as companionship with God. We are drawing our hearts closer to His in prayer- getting to know Him more as we share our hearts with Him. Prayer meets the needs of our souls.
When most of us think of prayer, we view it as a way to ask God for things; for instance, healing or direction. Don’t get me wrong- God WANTS us to bring our desires before Him! Even Jesus asked the Father for many things. BUT prayer includes so much more. When prayer becomes a lifestyle for us, it becomes a meeting of hearts- a rest found in His presence. Oswald Chambers says, “The point of prayer is not to get answers from God, but to have oneness with Him. If we pray only because we want answers, we will become irritated and angry with God.”
When we live a life filled with prayer, similarly to reading the Word, we understand who God is and what His voice sounds like more. We are less likely to be deceived by false teachings or false prophets when we have created intimacy with the Lord. Let us use prayer to become intimate with the Lord and fight against the deception that is to come.
Resources – Some of my favorite books on prayer and how to pray:
When the Soul Listens by Jan Johnson
Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God by Timothy Keller
A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie
The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson
Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer
Courtney Miller is the Special Needs ministry Director at NorthStar Church. She was born a Texas girl, but has lived in Georgia the majority of her life (Go Dawgs!). She married her husband, Chris, in 2012. They have two children with a third on the way.