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Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International. |
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A Simple Prayer
"When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."1 The other day I received a text from a young man. Previously, he and I had met several times to talk, as he tried to overcome certain addictions in his life, but for different reasons, we hadn't been able to meet in a while. His text to me simply read, "Can you pray for me? All I need right now is a simple prayer." His text reminded me of two things. First, it reminded me of the type of prayer that God longs to hear from us. God does not care about the eloquent words we use or how beautifully our sentences flow together. He cares about the heart behind the prayer. It doesn't matter if our prayer is 5 seconds long or 5 minutes long, God wants us to be sincere, genuine, and humble in the way we pray. I often hear people say, "I don't know how to pray", to which I respond, "Just pretend you are leaving a voicemail for your best friend." God just wants to hear from us, in our own words and in our own way. Secondly, his text reminded me of how often we feel the need to "fix" people when they reach out for help. This should not be my friends. Many times, the best course of action on our part is just to say a simple prayer for them and leave the rest to God. God will meet them where they are when they call out, but sometimes our desire to be "like God" gets in the way of the work God is wanting to do in them. Prayer is powerful and is the best way to win any battle in our lives. If you want to hear God's leading in your life, talk to him! He is waiting to communicate with us, but our heart must also be ready to listen. Suggested prayer: Dear God, thank you for being my friend. The fact that you, the Creator of all things, want to hear from me leaves me in awe. I ask that you help my words be genuine and that I would come before you with humility, realizing that a simple prayer is really all you long to hear. Give me wisdom, also, to know how to best care for others in their time of need. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. In Jesus' name, amen. Matthew 6:7–8 (NLT). Today's Encounter was written by: Crystal B. |
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