Further thoughts on Faithful in Prayer

(not a cloud in the sky this morning, it was so peaceful at the park)

This morning I was a bit sluggish. I heard the alarm, but I was slow to get out of bed. It was somewhere around 5:40 am that I actually got up. Nevertheless I was ready to start my prayer and devotions at 6:03 am so I was happy with the time I had. I am even at the park with Jeksa as we speak. The sky is so clear and I am waiting for the sun to rise over the mountains. The Lord is truly an artist isn't he? I think about that when I see a beautiful sight, or an amazing sunset. Each day is different from the ones before. The Lord has so much creativity and I am so thankful for this way in which he expresses His love to us. The Lord speaks to us every day through so many things, but how much time do we take out of our schedule to talk to Him?

I went to a Tim Timmons concert this past weekend and he sang this song that said "I'll praise you, not that I have to, not that I ought to, but that I may." This song is playing over and over in my head today so this is where I will focus. We have a choice, we can include God in our lives or we can pencil Him into our schedule. We probably all do a little bit of both. Sometimes we are always in communication with Him and telling Him the desires of our heart, the problems we are having, etc. and sometimes we get to the end of the day and realize we haven't even said one word to Him. What does this faithful and steadfast prayer life even look like? I really ask myself what it would look like if I were in constant communication with God. How do I actually include Him in everything I do?

King David is an example that I regularly look to, he is a man after God's own heart isn't he? He also is a man that made a lot of mistakes in his life, yet God still loved him so much! That's another reason why I like David so much. The Psalms are full of his prayers, so I like going there to figure out how to include God in everything I do, not just when I need Him or remember to fit Him in. David's prayers are an example for me to understand what I can talk to God about and to remember that God is good all the time not only in my good times. He is always  at work in us through the good and the bad.

I searched through the Psalms and picked out some of the prayers that demonstrate the variety of situations in which David would pray. I encourage you to read through them.

• Psalm 8 - praising God for his awesomeness
• Psalm 13 - feels forgotten, but remains faithful and keeps his hope in the Lord
• Psalm 18 - thanking God for delivering him from his enemies
• Psalm 19 - praising God, then asking Him to help him be righteous
• Psalm 23 - Asking for rest and peace
• Psalm 25 - Asking for wisdom, forgiveness, and deliverance
• Psalm 38 - David is going through a dark time in his life and he is telling God how it is affecting him and he is asking God to not forget about him and to help him
• Psalm 51 - Praising God for the teaching that happened when Nathan came to him about the adultery he had with Bathsheba
• Psalm 62 - Thanking God that He is who He is

What scripture do you reference to help you understand how to pray and when to pray? Do you find that you have difficulty in keeping God in the loop all the time or are you a prayer warrior? I would love to hear from you and we can all learn from each other!