Talking is easy, right?

I’m a talker! In fact, I do my best thought processing through talking. That makes it hard to process things when there’s no one to talk to.

I’ve heard many times that prayer is nothing more than talking to God, and I know that is true. So, since I’m a talker, and prayer is talking to God, prayer should be easy, right? Wrong!!! Prayer time is hard for me. Oh, I talk to God at moments during my daily Quiet Time, especially through my journals, and I talk to Him often all through each day, but pray? The word “prayer” is so much more formal than the word “talk.” And this is just one place where I get hung up! I don’t want to be “formal” in my conversations with God. When I’m formal with Him, I seek for pretty words and grammatically correct and perfectly structured sentences, instead of natural sharing of my heart with Him and His heart with me.

Another thing that cripples my “prayer time” is the vast number of needs to pray for! Family members, friends, friends of friends, church people, my neighbors, the people I work with, my city, state, and country, to say nothing of the needs of the entire world and the ones that get posted on Facebook! I get bogged down in who to pray for and what to pray for. There are so many needs! If I prayed for each need in depth every day, I would be in my Quiet Time chair 24/7/365! Faced with this dilemma, I struggle with wanting to avoid the “prayer” part of my time with God, and that’s not good! It should come as no surprise to me that the enemy would love to use this feeling of being overwhelmed by the number of needs to keep my prayer life stymied! He knows the power of prayer!

This morning in my Quiet Time, I read the following excerpt from “Streams in the Desert” by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman:

“But prayer”

“But prayer was made unto God without ceasing.” (Acts 12:5).

…Do we know the power of our supernatural weapon? Do we dare to use it with the authority of a faith that commands as well as asks? God baptize us with holy audacity and Divine confidence! He is not wanting great men, but He is wanting men who will dare to prove the greatness of their God. But God! But prayer!
–A. B. Simpson

Beware in your prayer, above everything, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things, above all that we ask or think.

Each time you intercede, be quiet first and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, of how He delights to hear Christ, of your place in Christ; and expect great things.
–Andrew Murray

Our prayers are God’s opportunities.

Prayer really is a supernatural weapon. David’s “slingshot and stone” became a supernatural weapon that brought the giant tumbling to his death. One quick shot! Maybe I should view prayer that way. My sister uses the term “breath prayers” to describe what she sometimes does when she is asked to pray about a need. Those breath prayers become supernatural weapons. So, maybe my talking to God all through my day is simply one way to fight ~ one way to pray. At other times, I may feel encouraged by God’s Spirit to pray more in-depth when I become aware of a need ~ to battle for a period of time. That, too, is a way to pray. There is no wrong way to do it! The only wrong way is not to pray or to limit my praying. God, help me to simply be in communication with You at all times ~ to talk to You without any barrier to stop me. Ah…open conversation!