We may know simply that praying is the easiest way to lift our spirits, connect with God and understand our purpose. We may have been taught as a child to pray or we may have come upon prayer later in life. No matter when we learned to pray we know praying is a necessity for a more blessed and happy life.
There are different amounts of prayer said. Some people pray daily, multiple times throughout the day like I do. Some save prayer for crisis and then pray fervently. Others may only connect to God in prayer once or twice a week. I want to say, any prayer is good and great. Prayer is about quality not quantity. It is better to pray with your heart than with idle words.
God loves to hear from us. He doesn’t set parameters on us as to when He will listen and hear our prayers. He is always listening. He loves to hear prayers that are sincere and from the heart but also listens when they are cryptic and unclear. Don’t judge your prayers or how you pray, just pray.
Praying reduces stress, influences your wellbeing and can give you clarity. When you pray and you allow your mind to offer sincere thoughts and pray for guidance it releases endorphins that are mood elevating. This makes you feel better and feel better immediately.
Prayer also help deal with day-to-day stresses. If you are having a difficult time in your day and you proceed to a quiet place to pray your mood with be lifted. Have a special quiet place you can go to and breathe deeply and pray to our most loving God. I have several special places that include my bathtub full of warm water, my back patio surrounded by nature and a comfy couch in the upstairs of our house. These areas all induce calmness for me and are perfect settings for prayer.
If I am in my car when an unpleasant situation arises that could impact my day, I turn off the radio or audio book I am listening to and begin to pray. This is the only time I pray with my eyes open because of safety reasons. I speak my prayer in my car out loud. It used to be that people were confused if they saw you talking to yourself in your car but now with hands free cell phone use it looks normal. I also tend to pray for at least ten minutes while I drive or until I get to my destination if less than ten minutes. For me a ten minute prayer just feels right. You choose what feels right to you for your prayer. You can always create an on the spot place for prayer no matter where you may be.
Never procrastinate your prayers. Never be too busy to pray. You know our cell phones ring or we receive a text and we feel instantaneously drawn to answer it. Every mortal person can wait a few minutes for an answer. God should never have to wait to hear from you. When I feel the need to thank God and pray, I do so immediately. Pray is one thing you can do in your head in front of others that can still be private and between you and God. There have been many times I have heard someone tell a story of tragedy or illness when I will pause, go inside my head and say, “Heavenly Father, please bless these people suffering, send them your healing touch and love.” This takes thirty seconds and no one knows I have left the conversation to offer prayers to those suffering.
It is also so important to pray for others. I ask God everyday for prayers for my family, friends and those I will meet during the day. I also pray for anyone in the world or my community that may be having health issues, financial struggles, relationship problems and any conditions impeding their happiness. Praying for others strengthens your heart.
Regular praying also reduces our ego. We live in a society today that is very ego driven and that is constantly putting ourselves before others. When we pray, we are humbled and we recognize that we don’t have to be number one and that God is number one. You know the saying, “I am #2” ? This is very pertinent to becoming humbled and non-egotistical. Without God being number one, we all are lost.
It has also been proven that your heart benefits from prayer. It has been shown that heart patients that are recovering from heart surgery and incorporated prayer into their recovery program healed more quickly than patients not practicing prayer. Prayer also regulates your heart beat as another benefit.
Other benefits of prayer are that we actually make better decisions when we pray. It is shown too that prayer promotes confidence within us. Prayer can promote peace and calmness in our lives. When we are more confident we allow ourselves to be more at ease.
Another amazing benefit of prayer is we are inviting God into our lives to fill us spiritually and with His love. By becoming close to God we are able to see more clearly our blessings through His love. When you are comfortable talking to God freely through prayer you find no matter what the situation prayer will automatically flow from you naturally.
Again, it doesn’t matter how you pray but when you pray God opens his heart to allow you to feel and respond to His love leading to a more fulfilled life.
“When Job had everything he prayed. When he had nothing, he still prayed.” bliss
All my love and gratitude,
LoLo
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