Pray Without Ceasing

Good Evening Loverlys!
                      Personally, prayer is a huge part of my daily walk. But it was only until recently I discovered the power and effect prayer can have. I've been told "make sure you say your bedtime prayers" throughout my entire life. My parents have ingrained this in me since my childhood. It was a rule to pray before meals. You had to right? If you didn't, you would choke or get food poisoning! (Or so my sister told me.) So of course, I would always say my "prayers"  before bed and grace before meals. That was it. Honestly, they never meant much to me, just something that was required of me.
                    Quite a few Wednesday nights ago, my youth pastor was on the topic of prayer. He encouraged us to start a prayer journal. Just to jot some prayer requests down, and the end of the day, pray for them. That night when I got home, I seriously examined my prayer life. How much time I have spent in prayer this week? As much time as I've spent online or watching TV? And when I did say my bedtime prayers, I almost always fell asleep. I thought about that for a second. What kind of message was I sending to God? Sorry, I'm too tired to pray to you God? The creator, sustainer, giver and taker of life?  I was too tired to pray to my sovereign God, the one whom without I would be dead in my sins with no hope? The one who gave me salvation? Seriously? I was extremely frightened at that thought. What if God gave me as much time and thought as I give Him? I was ashamed.
                    So that night I grabbed a binder filled with paper and wrote one simple word on the cover: Pray. I wrote down some prayer requests that came to mind and let it be, not thinking much about it. The very next day, my grandfather called and said he was having surgery and needed some prayer. As soon I heard this, I ran into my room and this prayer request down. Later on that day, I was flipping through channels while watching TV and landed on the news. I saw a news story on a shooting in a neighborhood, where a family was killed. I immediately got out my binder and wrote that prayer request down. I had several more experiences like that for the rest of the day! Isn't it so incredible how God works?
                    Every month now, since that Wednesday, I have a huge list of prayers that I add to and pray for each day. My prayer life has gotten so much stronger, and so has my relationship with God. A couple weeks ago, I looked back to my very first list prayers, dated to the first week of June. As I read through the list of prayers, I was overwhelmed by how many of my requests God had answered. I immediately got down on my knees and thanked God over and over again for His faithfulness and kindness that He shows towards me and His children. I still get chills thinking about it.
                   I encourage you, if you don't have one already, to start a prayer journal. It is such an amazing way to strengthen your prayer life, and grow closer to God. I promise you, it is so fulfilling.

Give me Jesus,
Emily Grace <3