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As you sit in the comfort of your living room or office reading, let me urge you to do something special—turn down the music, turn off the TV, turn aside from the web, and spend some prayer time with Jesus.
Yes, prayer. We get uncomfortable with the word and even more so with the action. Why? Perhaps it costs us something—especially our comfort. Perhaps we don’t feel we do it very well. Perhaps we get insecure that we aren’t praying His prayers, or in His will.
Whatever the reason, we oft times delay, when God is simply waiting to hear our hearts. It’s not a perfect prayer for which Jesus waits—it’s the sincere heart and love of the prayer. It’s not the demanding prayer for which Jesus awaits—it’s the prayer of yieldedness and surrender to the will of God who loves you.
Sometimes we aren’t certain about what we should pray. The most succinct answer is simple: everything. Everything that concerns you. And all around us are matters that concern us. The devastating loss of family and heartache to the families of coal miners whose faith is shaken after a miracle turns to tragedy. The families and soldiers who fight and die in Iraq, in Afghanistan, or other theaters of combat and conflict the world round. Other members of your own family who are struggling with temptations, issues of control or loss, grief and sorrow, divorce, death, illness, fear. Or very simply, perhaps your own prayer for the guidance of the Holy Spirit day by day as you struggle to find and fulfill His destiny for your life.
Jesus has a plan for each of us. But even if you struggle with determining that plan, you can still pray. God invites us to converse with Him, to talk over all things large or small, to believe that He will be intimate with us as we invite Him into the very minute details of our lives. You see, the Bible says He “cares for you.” And elsewhere in His Word He encourages us to “Pray without ceasing. In all things give thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
This new year, let us move closer to making our prayer conversation with God a more normal and natural part of our life. Let us believe that He WANTS to hear from us. And instead of feeling like you must be a perfect prayer in a mausoleum, let prayer time from your heart be as comfortable as being in your own living room. Let’s try some Living Room Prayer.
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