Prayer Tip: God's Will For Your Life
Daily Scripture
Colossians 1:9-10 (CEB) and Romans 12:1-2 (CEB)
Colossians 1:9-10
We haven’t stopped praying for you and asking for you to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, . . . so that you can live lives that are worthy of the Lord and pleasing to him in every way: by producing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.
Romans 12:1-2
So, brothers and sisters, because of God’s mercies, I encourage you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God. This is your appropriate priestly service. Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
“Pray continually” (I Thessalonians 5:16-17). The picture that always brings to my mind is a barefoot monk, walking along the path with his head bowed, following a vow to pray every waking hour and into the night. That kind of devotion is admirable, and some are called to that kind of contemplative life, but what are the rest of us supposed to do with this instruction?
Prayer isn’t just time spent with your head bowed, or on your knees. God loves it when we set aside special time to be alone with him and pray. Our lives are enriched by that time and we should make sure we set those appointments every day, but the gift of prayer is that it is a way to recognize God’s presence in every minute and activity of our lives. All day long, we have internal conversations with ourselves. Praying continually is inviting God into that conversation.
When we see something beautiful, we think, “What a beautiful flower.” Add thanks to God for that beautiful flower, and you’ve prayed. You make hundreds of internal observations every day. Open those observations to God, and that’s a lot of prayer and praise!
When something confuses or confounds us, we naturally start trying to sort it out. Include God in that sorting. Ask for guidance, inspiration, peace. Instead of getting lost in thought, or hung up in trying to solve our challenge, make it an opportunity to recognize God’s presence and love for us, and to listen.
Living with all the other humans on the planet can be challenging, even (maybe especially) with the ones we love. When our thoughts turn to another person, we can take a moment to pray for them. If they have blessed us, we can thank God for that blessing. If they are frustrating us and sitting on our last nerve, we can call the ever-present Holy Spirit to help us interact the way we know we should.
Prayer is all about inviting God into our lives, and when we do that, we can’t help but pray continually.
Holy Spirit, we thank you for your constant presence in our lives. Help us remember to invite you into our internal conversation and enjoy the opportunity for our constant fellowship with you. Amen.
Prayer
GPS Insights
Jennifer Creager
Jennifer Creagar is the Community Assistance Coordination Director in Resurrection's Congregational Care Ministry. She is married and loves spending time with her family, and she enjoys writing and photography.
