Prayer is a spiritual conversation between you and God. The good news is that God notices you all the time. If you talk to him, he will hear you. He says to pray at all times so that you will never have to feel alone. When you speak to him, he hears you. When you approach him, he notices. Even in a large crowd, God knows you individually, personally, and intimately.
That is the beauty of God's omnipresence.
That is the beauty of God's omnipresence.
Day Two: Pray At All Times
God knows what we need before we ask so what could be so important about prayer. Prayer is what develops a relationship between you and God. It is a conversation. The act of talking to and listening to God. God is available to hear you all day. I believe that God instructs us to pray at all times because he wants to be there, in relationship with us all day long. He doesn't want us to feel alone in a crowd of strangers or feel left out in a gathering of friends and family. God wants us to pray- both talking to him, telling him what we need, think, or feel and listening to him for direction, encouragement, and wisdom-- in all situations, all day long.
God does want to be in the big stuff and the small stuff of your life. One particularly difficult day, I stopped by the quick stop to pick up a soda. I was on my home to help my husband who had called to say he was feeling very sick that day. I decided to stop and get the soda as a creature comfort to help me endure what it was going to be like when I got home. I filled up the 32oz. soda cup and put on a lid. I reached for a straw and the canister was empty. They were out of straws. I was emotionally distraught when the clerk said they had completely ran out of straws and "no," there were none in the back. Really? I was feeling awful and this was the straw that was about to break my spirits. I had nothing left and now not even a straw. Just so you know, drinking a soda without a straw, the cold pop on my teeth that just wasn't comforting the way I needed to be comforted to get through this day.
I prayed, "Lord, can you not see me here? I know you have a lot of things on your plate, like healing people and saving people, but please I am having a bad day. Is it too much to ask that somewhere in this store there is a straw for my drink?"
I left the store with my drink and opened up my car door. As I discouragingly put my drink in the cup holder I glanced over in the side pocket of the passenger door and there wrapped in clean white paper was a straw one of the kids had dropped in there from our last visit to a fast food drive-through. I sat in the car unwrapping that straw and cried. "Thank you, Lord. I know you are busy but thank you for not be too busy to notice. Thank you for being here for me even in the little things like a straw for my drink."
I will never forget that straw and how it changed forever my relationship with God as the one who is looking out for me even in the little things in my life. Whenever I feel alone in a crowd or ignored at a gathering of friends or family, I think about that straw and I pray to God. I talk to God. I admit I talk to and hear God through the Holy Spirit in my head all day long. It's a pretty awesome relationship!
God does want to be in the big stuff and the small stuff of your life. One particularly difficult day, I stopped by the quick stop to pick up a soda. I was on my home to help my husband who had called to say he was feeling very sick that day. I decided to stop and get the soda as a creature comfort to help me endure what it was going to be like when I got home. I filled up the 32oz. soda cup and put on a lid. I reached for a straw and the canister was empty. They were out of straws. I was emotionally distraught when the clerk said they had completely ran out of straws and "no," there were none in the back. Really? I was feeling awful and this was the straw that was about to break my spirits. I had nothing left and now not even a straw. Just so you know, drinking a soda without a straw, the cold pop on my teeth that just wasn't comforting the way I needed to be comforted to get through this day.
I prayed, "Lord, can you not see me here? I know you have a lot of things on your plate, like healing people and saving people, but please I am having a bad day. Is it too much to ask that somewhere in this store there is a straw for my drink?"
I left the store with my drink and opened up my car door. As I discouragingly put my drink in the cup holder I glanced over in the side pocket of the passenger door and there wrapped in clean white paper was a straw one of the kids had dropped in there from our last visit to a fast food drive-through. I sat in the car unwrapping that straw and cried. "Thank you, Lord. I know you are busy but thank you for not be too busy to notice. Thank you for being here for me even in the little things like a straw for my drink."
I will never forget that straw and how it changed forever my relationship with God as the one who is looking out for me even in the little things in my life. Whenever I feel alone in a crowd or ignored at a gathering of friends or family, I think about that straw and I pray to God. I talk to God. I admit I talk to and hear God through the Holy Spirit in my head all day long. It's a pretty awesome relationship!
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