Prayer is the most powerful weapon we have as followers of Jesus. Prayer is acknowledging our utter dependence on the only One who has the answers. Prayer is declaring the goodness of God through the valley and on the mountain and in everything in between. Prayer is a gift of being able to express our complete heart to the Lord; with full unhindered emotion.
The magnificent part about prayer is quite simple: God is always listening. Intently. With no distractions in front of Him. He listens to you and to me. He welcomes conversation with us day or night.
The other side is: He also takes great delight in responding to us. He loves to talk to us and reveal more of His heart.
This blog couldn’t have come at a better time for me. And I sincerely pray that it reminds you, also, how powerful prayer is with whatever you are facing today, tomorrow or the next day. There are so many topics that could be focused on with prayer but I would like to bring to the table: prayer in marriage (and dating). This is a topic that has become near to my heart in this new season of my life and one that I am thankful to be walking out each day.
So...let me back up a bit to when Ben and I first met. (we met on a blind date, btw!)
I’ll never forget the first time Ben and I talked on the phone. He asked if he could call me sometime and wait for it....I literally gave him a high five and said, “Sure!” He promptly set up a Tuesday evening to chat and I sat in my bedroom for hours talking to this man who would astound me with his gentle intentionality. Right before we hung up the phone, he asked if I minded we pray together. I think my heart melted with catching a glimpse of God in the midst of this new friendship. We prayed. Giving Jesus the new friendship we had just started. And thanking Him for being so faithful. I knew, somehow, that this moment in time was setting us up for a life-long journey of learning how to come to the Lord TOGETHER. God knew what I needed, way back then, even before I prayed it.
Ben and I prayed together before we started dating, during our time of dating and while engaged. It was the tool for us to submit to the Lord in unity. We prayed in thankfulness and praise. We prayed when we didn’t know what to do about a situation. We prayed for one another. We prayed for others. We prayed when we needed to repent from hurting one another with our actions and words. And through prayer, together, a deep trust was built in the Lord and in one another.
Fast forward to current day: We are almost 8 months into marriage and I cannot imagine what our marriage would look like without this most powerful weapon. We joke around sometimes and say “If we have faced this much this soon, God is definitely preparing us for things that we cannot see!” Oh but it’s true. Everything is for a purpose. We ALL have walked through stuff, are walking through stuff and will walk through stuff. Prayer is the gateway to getting on the other side & becoming more like Jesus through the “stuff.”
Jesus is our example.
Matthew 26:39
He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
Jesus knew what He had to walk through & prayer was His rope that He climbed to build His faith in the most desperate of moments.
The key lies in the last sentence, “Yet I want Your will to be done, not mine.”
God just wants us. Our heart of surrender to trust Him that He knows what He is doing. God doesn’t need a second hand to help Him. He doesn’t need me to tell Him what to do in this situation or that. He doesn’t need Ben and I to tell Him what to do in this situation or that. We pray. And then we wait.
Isaiah 40:31
“But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”
Through prayer, satan is defeated against his tactics to steal, kill and destroy.
Through prayer, bondages are broken and walls torn down.
Through prayer, our hearts heal and lives are made whole.
Through prayer, we fight against the principalities of darkness.
Through prayer, desires and promises are fulfilled in God’s timing.
Through prayer, division is turned into unity.
Through prayer, we become more like Christ.