Prayer!

Hey guys! I miss you all very much and am really excited to get this going :) Sorry in advance for my disorganized thoughts...

The devotion starts off with the question "Is praying difficult?" Just like the lute-player "has to listen attentively and vigilantly to his heart," when we pray we have to be vigilant. It's not difficult, but it takes a keen heart and diligence to be constantly communicating with Jesus.

Breathing is essential to our physical lives and praying is essential to our spiritual lives. Without prayer, our relationship with Jesus would be meaningless. In Philipians 2:5, we are called to have the same attitude as Jesus. I'm sure we all know, the more time we spend with a friend the more we become like them. Well the more we spend time talking to Jesus, the more our attitudes will become like His!

We exist solely because of God. This seems like a simple and obvious statement, but I think it can be easy to forget. I love when it talks about Acts 17:28 "For in Him we live and move and have our being" because it just shows that we are absolutely nothing without the Lord! He gives us everything and because of this we owe Him everything. The 5th endnote has Romans 11:35-36 "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever!" Jesus died on the cross and gave us everything. "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end" Lamentations 3:22. God gives us never ending love, mercy, and grace. The glory is supposed to be to God forever and to do this our prayers should never cease!

My favorite thing about prayer is the comfort and trust in the Lord it gives me. As soon as I give my concerns, worries, anxiety, stress, praises...everything up to God, I know it is entirely in His hands. Philipians 4:6 says "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." As soon as we give everything to God through our prayers, we will come to know a peace that is beyond our understanding. That's nuts.

Lots of love,
Molly