Prayer Is So Personal

Published 5/20/19

Read Mark 11:24

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Reflect

• How would you describe your prayer life? Is it formal or personal?

• Does a time spent in prayer draw you closer to Jesus?

• What do these verses mean: "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours"?

Prayer is conversation with our Creator, and it is as personal as our relationship with Him. As we reach out to God and seek Him, He directs our steps. As we confess, He forgives. As we sit quietly in His presence, trusting and knowing that He is God (Psalm 46:10), He fills us with the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Throughout the years, I have engaged in so many different types of prayer--praise, petition, confession, thanksgiving--yet I have come to embrace any prayer that can draw me closer to God. Sometimes I cry out to Jesus with a heavy heart, while at other moments I intercede for a hurting friend. Sometimes I just can't stop praising and thanking God, and then there are times when I sense the Lord convicting me. That's when I need to listen, obey, and let a prayer of confession enter the conversation.

As the Holy Spirit leads, my prayers change. Each one represents where I am in my walk with the Lord. None of them are perfect or poetic, but it is my hope that each one comes from the heart--and that each one is as personal as my relationship with Jesus.

Pray

Lord, Jesus, I want to know You better. I want my prayers to be personal conversations with You. Speak to me and guide me. Amen.