The More You Pray...

The more you pray, the more you will see the need for prayer. It's cyclic. You pray, you get answered prayers, you get more faith, you then pray more, you get more answered prayers, and you get even greater faith. But you've got to start this miraculous cycle by starting a prayer life.

I pray out loud. I pray silently. I journal many prayers.

I use a notebook, any tablet works for me. And in the quiet dark mornings my pen is moving rapidly across the page.

My pen pours out my heart on how I feel about things:

• the things troubling me,
• the things I need,
• the things I want,
• the fears I have,
• the people causing me anguish,
• the people causing my loved ones anguish,
• friends and family dealing with sickness, heartache
• EVERYTHING THAT CONCERNS ME & THE WORLD AROUND ME!

One reason why I love to journal my prayers is that they are recorded. Because many, many times, my prayers come to pass. And journaling them reveals how God changes my original prayers and circumstances the more I pray.

For example, many people pray for a raise, more finances, right? Common prayer. But through days and weeks of prayer, God may start to reveal that you have all the finances you need. You just need greater stewardship over them. So then a person who started praying for more will start to pray for self-control at the mall, insight on how to have a tighter budget, or they may have a greater desire to give to God's causes more so that the door of blessing will be opened and finances are increased as a result.

Prayer journals record this journey. But not having a pen and pad does not stop me from praying. Having a prayer partner for some big stuff is a great way to record requests made and have that extra person in agreement with you. The Bible says when we agree in prayer, prayers are answered. And that's what we want, right?

Then opportunities for solo prayer come all day long as the day unfolds. Challenges come, trials to endure, hardships land in your lap - it's time to pray. You get a bad phone call, you see a car accident, your kids seem impossible - it's time to pray. You wake up grumpy, you feel hurried, anxious, or sad - it's time to pray.

And when great things happen -

it's time to pray and praise God!

Sometimes people feel like prayer has to be this super formal thing that we do alone always. No way! Prayer is simply talking to God. Acknowledging Him.

Often, in the car with my kids when opportunity arises, I say, 'Let's tell God about that'...'Let's pray that God will _______', 'Hey Daniel, why don't you ask God if He can _______?'

Prayer is something we can do anywhere, anytime.

The point is to pray, and then pray more. Through prayer we get to know our Maker more intimately. The same way you get to know your new best friend, your potential spouse - you talk to them endlessly, right? So why not talk to your Creator endlessly about everything that concerns you and your life?

And seriously, don't be shy about your requests. I think sometimes that people think that asking God for little things are unnecessary. NO WAY! This is when you get to see/feel the infinite love from God. When you ask things that seem so insignificant and He still answers that prayer - you get to experience Him in such a deep, personal way.

So my encouragement is to PRAY...

....and then the more you pray...the more you WILL pray!

Let God be God above all. The Bible says that nothing is impossible for God - so ask Him for impossibilities today!