Prayer

My little girl once told me, ‘I can’t pray good like you.’  I hugged her and kissed her and told her that God listens to all prayers.  He doesn’t care if they are good, or pretty, long or loud.  He cares that the person praying loves Him and believes in Him.  But he especially listens to sincere prayers.

Sincerity in prayer, an open heart and mind, that’s what God wants.  If we believe that He sees everything; why would there be any pretense in our prayers?  He already knows exactly who we are and what we need – what we truly need; and He wants to give it to us.  He does!!!  Praying helps with doubt.  Many times I’ve not wanted to pray; I’ve thought long and hard about the issue and offered a doubting prayer – only to understand that the issue is really not the issue.  It’s the yielding that’s important.  Our willingness to surrender to His will.   God will take care of the matter as He does everything else under His control.  Therefore, prayer is not merely important or necessary, it’s vital.  Prayer is not an escape, it’s a route.  It’s revolutionary; it keeps you focused – focused on Him.  And if we keep our focus on Him; all things come under a new understanding and perspective.  Time and time again God has shown me the power of prayer in sometimes quiet responses, quick answers, and small and great miracles.  All answers to my prayers.  It is beautiful to pray and to know that God has heard me.  And when we understand that, it's beautiful to thank God in prayer. 

Decades ago, when my twin brother and sister were barely 7 or 8 months old, I learned about the power of prayer.  It was a time when my mother and us six kids had no money, no food, and no family to call on.  My mom told us to pray and we all did.  I can’t remember what she said; just that we all kneeled and prayed for God to send us food.  We got up and went about our business.  It hadn’t been 10 minutes since our prayer that someone knocked on our door.  A lady brought with her 2 cans of evaporated milk.  I remember hanging on to my mom’s skirt and looking at the cans.  My mom was very quiet; thanked the lady and closed the door quickly.  She turned around and said to me, ‘God always listens,’ while she walked to the kitchen to mix the milk with water for the babies’ bottles.  Not another 20 minutes went by until someone else knocked on our door.  This time the person came by because she remembered she owed my mom some money; from a long, long time ago, and wanted to repay it.  It was a mere couple of dollars, but enough to send my sister to the corner store to buy some groceries to make dinner.  My mom then made us kneel again to thank God for sending us food.  We all understood prayer that day.