I often think about my Mom who passed away in 2006. I’ve shared this before to many, but my Mom was always a prayer warrior. She suffered from numerous health issues-too many to mention-yet always maintained a strong faith and positive outlook. We had many talks throughout my life about how much she relied on and leaned on prayer for strength. In her case, medically speaking, her faith was the only solid foundation on which she could stand. Everything else in life was like the waves in the ocean, but her faith on God never betrayed her and kept her strong.
What I always admired about her faith was that it was not “hip-pocket” faith. She didn’t pull out the Faith card when things were bad. She didn’t wait until the train rolled off the tracks to finally reach out to God. Her prayer life was every day, whether life was going good or life was going bad. She realized that her relationship with the God who controlled the universe gave her the strength for any situation.
Lately, I’ve been burdened by the significance of prayer in my own life. How I long for the faith of my mom. With life’s busyness and distractions, it is so easy to put God in second, third, or even fourth place. Matthew 22:37 says, in part, to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your mind.” My relationship with God is directly related to my obedience to His will and is a result of my relationship with God through prayer and reading His Word. I can’t expect to have a close relationship with any human, if I never speak to him/her. Likewise, I can’t expect to have a real and meaningful relationship with Christ, if I never commune with him through prayer.
My challenge to myself this year is to renew my heart through prayer. I want this year to be a fresh start in my prayer life resulting in a closeness that has drifted away. I pray that you’ll join me in improving your own prayer life and strengthening your relationship with God.
