“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7
There are times throughout the day when you cannot take time to stop and kneel and pour your heart out to God. You do not have an hour to spend on your knees in intercession, travailing, giving all you have to move Heaven and Earth.
You breathe a prayer…
You start out your morning talking to the Lord. Hopefully you have taken time to get up early enough to begin your day with God. Is it worth it to set your alarm half an hour early? You bet it is! Is an hour too much? A half hour of Bible reading and a half hour of prayer, it really does go fast!
Of course there are no “rules”. Everyone has different schedules and no day is ever the same. God knows that. He doesn’t keep track, friend. But you will never, ever regret getting up early, sacrificing part of your day, to give yourself the gift of uninterrupted, intimate communion with the Creator of the Universe!
But does it end there? You have prayed early, you have read your Bible, even had a good devotion, a little study. You’re good to go! Is that it? Is that enough for the rest of the day? Are you finished until “Now I lay me down to sleep?”
No, no, a thousand times no!
God doesn’t intend to leave you the rest of the day without communication! Look at it this way: If you are married, would you get up and say “Good morning!” to your spouse and then not speak to them the rest of the day until you said “Good night!”? If you didn’t you would probably have quite the dysfunctional marriage!
Well, you wouldn’t have much of a relationship with Almighty God either. He wants communion…He wants intimacy!
The Apostle Paul tells us to “…pray without ceasing…” 1 Thessalonians 5:17. All you have to do is breathe a prayer throughout the day. Some examples are:
“Jesus, have mercy.”
“Lord, give me strength.”
“Not my will but thine be done.”
“Here I am Lord, speak to me.”
“Jesus, speak peace into my heart today.”
And not just in times of need! But He deserves your praise as well!
“Bless the Lord, O my soul!”
“Thank you, Jesus!”
“God, I praise you for this day!”
“Lord, thank you for loving me today!”
“Lord, you are great and greatly to be praised!”
“Jesus, thank you for your protecting hand!”
And then sometimes you may have five minutes of uninterrupted time in your day where you can actually stop and talk to God. Take advantage of it! You don’t have to get down on your knees for it to count! You don’t have to quote the 23rd Psalm and go through any ritual for it to matter. He is right there in the room with you! Talk to Him just as you would a dear friend, that is just what He is!
You might be stuck in traffic. Turn off the radio, talk to the Maker. Get rid of the worries that are on your mind and hand them over to the One that can do something about them!
Is stress getting you down? He breathed into us the breath of life, He can breathe into us the peace that can calm us from the cares of this life as well! All of the tweets, phone calls, meetings, to-do lists may still be a part of your day but your prayer will be the stabilizing factor that keeps you calm and keeps you in contact with the Savior throughout the day.
We aren’t talking about New Age mysticism or meditation. That focus disengages the mind from thought. Please be careful not to get caught up in that teaching. It is not of God!
Have continual conversation with Him, ceaseless prayer, just as if He was walking with you through your day…because He is! You can talk to Him as if you would any other person and why not? Instead of just calling on Him when we need Him, wouldn’t it make more sense to include Him all along the way?
The most powerful communication is the quoting of scripture! Some of the easiest to learn are the Psalms. Once you learn how easy they are to memorize you want to learn more!
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12.
These are just examples of ways to keep in contact with your Savior throughout the day! He wants to be near to you, to help you, to strengthen you and to bring you unspeakable joy! He longs to be a part of your life.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6,7.
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Thank you so much for stopping by!! So much lighter, yes so much lighter. I just read your post, There is Grace. I posted a comment which really wasn’t a comment 🙂 there are no words. Beautiful, and close to home. Blessings to you friend. Blessings. ♥
Thank you Audrey! Enjoyed your teaching as well! Blessings to you and thank you for stopping by!
Love that..”natter” on to the Lord!! Adorable! Yes, I felt impressed to add that in…there is an awful lot of New Age ideas filtering in to the Church. And it is so subtle it is scary. Most people do not even realize it. Thank you so much for stopping by!! Blessings to you!
Oh yes Sarah! We are blessed to be able to pray without ceasing! Thank you for the Homemaking Party! So glad to have found you!
Isn’t it great that we can pray wherever we are and whenever we need to? Thanks for linking up with my Homemaking Party!
Yes it is so necessary, more than food! Thank you for coming by friend! Blessings to you!
Beautiful post. Prayer is so so vital. I love the Victor Hugo quote… Thanks for this much needed word in today’s world!
Oh, I can sooo relate to your post – I “natter” on to the Lord all day. Lately I’ve been focused on praising and worshiping Him more. (less asking, more praise).
I really appreciate your words of caution, “We aren’t talking about New Age …”
Prayer is powerful! Thanks for sharing!
So many good points, Candace Jo. Paul says to pray without ceasing, and I have found my days are so much lighter when I am able to keep a constant conversation going with God. Thanks for all these good ideas.
Beautiful Mia! I love the way you expressed ceaseless prayer! When we learn to turn everything over to Him we discover He was there all along! He wants us to give everything to Him! Thank you for that! Blessings…
That was so beautiful! He truly does make the mundane and stressful so much better. I love how you said you feel His grace pouring down…so lovely! Thank you for taking the time to share! Blessings friend!
Dear Nanette
There was a time when I realized that the first Christians were mostly illiterate and had no Bibles in any case the way we do; yet, they had a strong relationship with their Pappa. That was when I read a little book of Brother Lawrence, Practicing The Presence of God. I have learned to walk with our Pappa all through my day and I discuss everything I do, feel, all my worries, fears, faults, etc. with Him. And the most wonderful of all, is that He started talking back to me and now I experience ceaseless prayer!
Blessings XX
Mia
Just had that beautiful time with Him this morning and I love remembering that He is with me all throughout my day, Nannette. He makes that mundane or stressful moment so much better. I feel His grace pouring down on me and then I can move forward with more courage–His encouragement. 🙂 Thanks for reminding us of this need. I know that it makes a difference for me and it’s clear that you do too, my friend! My prayer is that there will be many who take your wise advice to heart and really spend their day in a continual state of prayer. 🙂
Ceil, early morning prayer used to be a struggle for me but now it is a part of me. And if I miss it I feel incomplete! It really does make a difference in your day. Thank you for taking the time to come by!
Amen! And He is always near when we call on his name! Thank you for stopping by! I have been on your site several times…I love it!
Good Morning Nannette! I read somewhere that prayer should make us prayerful in our day. I think that’s your point too. I decided to get up earlier to journal, and then pray, and I am so much more peaceful! Your post is so good, and we should be communicating with our God every day!
Always good to see you, my friend!
Ceil
Beautiful post. It is so true that there are moments in our lives when to breathe is to pray.