Last week, as part of a reflection before praying for GBA (all are welcome to join Wed’s 7:14am EST), Jenny McWilliam shared this from a devotion she’s been participating in with her sister.

 

The heart and soul of prayer is this: the God who made you, loves you. He longs to walk and talk with you in an ever-deepening friendship.

All that really matters is that we come before God with our whole hearts, as honestly and consistently as we can. 

The word ‘Amen’ is often used when we finish praying – literally meaning, ‘Yes! I agree! So be it!’ It is an emphatic way of agreeing, which has power when we come before God. 

In the book of Revelation, John sees twenty-four elders ‘holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.’ These bowls once full will be poured out at the end of the Age in a great universal ‘Amen’. (Revelation 5) I find it so awesome to imagine that every true prayer I ever prayed – all the frustrations, the tears, the dashed hopes, and yearnings – are not wasted, but cherished, remembered by God, stored up in one of those golden bowls, awaiting their fulfilment. My prayers for Sammy’s healing may not have been fully answered, but neither have they been forgotten. They are heard, and they are held, awaiting an ultimate answer on the day when brain tumours and seizures will finally be defeated. Every single time we say ‘amen’, we pull the kingdom a little closer. (Written by Pete Greig)

 

This really hit a core spot for me. I’ve never thought of God collecting ALL my prayers. It has heightened my sense of taking prayer more serious, as well as being overwhelmingly grateful to a God who really does care about every aspect of my life.

There are many examples of Jesus praying, and as disciples, his apprentices, prayer is something we need to continue working on.

May we continue to hand over every aspect of our lives to God in prayer; the single word ones, the complex ones, the praise ones, the jumbled ones, the silent ones, the lamenting ones, the doubtful ones, the joyful ones, the tearful ones, etc. As my favourite hymns says, “What a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer!”

Amen.

Cheryl