Prioritizing Prayer

 

    There are times in life that prayer becomes more urgent, but then there are times that you barely think about God throughout your day.  It is those times you need to make extra effort to spend time with God.  If you don't then you are leaving yourself vulnerable for an inevitable spiritual attack.  With Satan, it is not if, it is when.

    Sometimes prioritizing prayer requires you to sacrifice sleep.  There are times when the Holy Spirit will keep you away in prayer all night.  That could be due to a situation or it could be that it is the only time you are willing to listen.  If it is the later, then we need to take it as a spiritual wakeup call.  We need to spend more time with God while awake.

    There are things we need to check in our prayer life.  What is your motivation for prayer?  If it is only to get something, then you need to pray over your priorities and heart condition.  We need to be praying over our ministry, relationships, and intimacy with God.  If we can get those down, then the other prayers will start lining up with God's desires for our lives.

    It is good to desire relationships, but we need to pray on whom we allow into our inner circle.  We need to make sure that God stays in the center of the circle for the relationships to thrive.  You need relationships where you can talk about God and what matters in your lives: ministry, dating, marriage, decisions, work, and more.  You need friendships where all those things are God centered and you know that they will be praying over and for you as you do for them.

    It comes down to do you prioritize your time for God.  At the end of the day it is His time.  He has given it to you for now.  He doesn't make mistakes in His timing.  It is aways when things should or need to be.  You miss out on so much when you don't prioritize God in your life.  

    Prioritizing prayers gives you protection.  It gives you strength to handle what life throws at you.  You may still wrestle with Satan sometimes, but his power of influence diminishes.  There are times in life the only way to get any help is to turn to Jesus.  He will make himself the last resort to get your attention if he has to.

    Find a Holy Place in your life (not church) where you can go anytime to be alone with God.  Any place can become your holy spot when you pray over it.  The more you pray in that spot the more it becomes a fortress of protection, but it is more than protection.  It is where God speaks to your heart.  It is where you and God are ready the moment you walk into the location.  It feels intimate, purposeful, and lifts your spirit.  It is a private place where you feel safe to confess any sin and weep when needed.

    You can always pray with other people, but it is important to prioritize prayer when you are alone.  That is where real intimacy begins and grows strong overtime.  It doesn't have to come natural at first.  It can be awkward.  That is okay.  Push through and in time you will discover so many things about God and yourself.  You will find your confidence, learn obedience, and value through surrendering to prayer.

    Prayer leads you to God's will.  It requires unconditional surrender, but only of pride and things that hold you back from God (hate, prejudice, and other binding separators).  God is with you every step of the journey and that is what makes it exciting.  It is like falling in love, but never stopping the journey.  If you are not willing to surrender, then He will not force you, but it is you that will be missing out.

    We need to be with God everyday through His Word and prayer.  Satan is challenging us everyday, but you may not be aware if you have slacked in prioritizing God.  It is better to be prepared and in a safe head and heart state, than to look back with regret and having to make things right through confession and repentance.  That can be painful, but in a different way than going through life hand in hand with Jesus.

Psalm 34:8-10, Jeremiah 33:1-5, Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 6:12-16 & 22:39-46.