Are you feeling ineffective, inadequate, unable to really do anything worthwhile, or see positive change happen around you? Especially with all that’s going on in the world today, I think it’s easy to feel ineffective and overwhelmed with inadequacy. If that’s you, I have a couple of thoughts for you.
First and foremost, YOU ARE ENOUGH just as you are! Jesus isn’t sitting on his jewel encrusted throne looking down from the heavens saying, “Hmm..if only Susie would step it up in that one area of her life, then I might think she’s worthy of my love.” Wrong. He loves you just because you’re YOU! That broken, flawed, messed up, distracted, and floundering, you. (I’m speaking to myself here, too.)
But if you already know that and you’re still feeling all those “things” I mentioned earlier, I have a question for you.
How’s your prayer life?
Over the past few weeks, God has been challenging me to pump up my prayer life. And by that I mean, adding a little more “umph” in those conversations I have with Him. So yep, it’s confession time. I have gotten lazy with my prayer life lately. Well, that’s not very juicy. You’re right, it’s not. But this concept of adding some jet fuel to my prayer life has been burning on my heart to share for a while now.
Lately, I’ve felt stuck in a “prayer rut” and have been feeling Him challenging me to do more. More fire, more umph! Yes, I have my quiet time in the mornings where I (mostly) pray silently in my mind, and that’s good and all, but God’s been calling me to dig deep and kick in my inner beast mode. You know mommas, that kind of fire you feel when you hear your kid is getting picked on at school. That spunk that says, “I am momma, hear me ROAR!” I’m not saying go WWE on God when you pray, but instead make sure you are using the weapons He has given us to do battle in the spiritual realms.
The one I’m talking about here is your spoken words. Don’t miss what I just said. I said SPOKEN words. This is where I feel God has been encouraging and teaching me lately. Our words when spoken out loud are powerful, friends! You know that terra firma you’re standing on right now? God made that by SPEAKING it first. Outloud. If you read Genesis 1, before the earth, heavens, etc, was created the Bible says that “God said,…”. This should be a clue to us that when we speak our prayers out loud there is a shift that happens.
With this in mind, I started making a point to pray more aloud in my car while running errands around town. Being alone in your car and making it a specific time to pray is such a beautiful thing. Not only do you have the privacy to pray about whatever you want, or for whomever you want, but to other drivers around you, you simply look like you’re rocking out to your favorite song or chatting on your bluetooth! (So don’t worry, you won’t look like a weirdo.)
But little do people know that you are not ordering takeout for dinner tonight, but that you are connecting to the creator of the universe! Boom! You are using this opportunity, even if it’s 15 minutes from school drop off to the gym, to speak both His truths and your requests in a powerful way. And the coolest thing is you are doing battle against the enemy, AND moving the heart of God at the same time! Now that rocks.
When I started doing this I instantly felt, and saw a shift happen around me. Distraction (something I battle) turned into focus, opportunities to be Jesus’ hands and feet in small ways opened up, and even certain prayers regarding my children were answered.
I fully believe that soft quiet prayers said internally are just as powerful, and God hears ALL of our prayers, but for me those out loud conversation prayers fire me up and make me feel like a full-on, kick-booty warrior in a 5 foot 3 inch body.
Why not tap into that power? I dare you to try it, and see what happens! If God blows your mind with something after you’ve given it a whirl, encourage the rest of us and share it in a comment!
