A prayer life is a life of relationship with our Father and Creator. It is a way to communicate with Him; through prayer, we can share our thoughts and desires, and He can share His heart and guidance with us. Like in any other relationship, communication is the key to success. The only way to get to know someone is by communicating to that person; besides, when you love someone, you want to spend time with that person and you probably want to share your heart, desires and dreams with her/ him. Therefore, if we truly love God, we will find pleasure in spending time in His presence, pouring our hearts out.
The apostle Paul, in Ephesians 6:18, reminds us about the importance of praying: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people”. In this verse, Paul is admonishing us to conduct a prayer life led by the Holy Spirit, daily maintaining our relationship with our heavenly Father; here, therefore, we see two important aspects of prayer: frequency (on all occasions) and intentionality (with all kinds of prayers and requests).
Frequency relates to the fact that prayer should not be something occasional; as a relationship, it should be exercised constantly. Since prayer is communication, an essential part of our Christian Life is communicating with God. Through Jesus, we have unlimited access to God; therefore, we should strive to exercise this amazing gift. A marriage, for example, can only be successful if there is constant communication between the parts. How can you love and live with someone and not be interested in talking to her/ him daily? This just does not make any sense! In a marriage, there are two people building a life together, going to the same direction and with the same purpose; with God, the analog is the same: you are building a life with Him, following His direction, with His purposes in your heart. Therefore, to be assertive, frequency is essential.
Talking about direction, we come to intentionality. We have a special connection with our Father – a spiritual connection. This should not be taken lightly; our prayers are our weapons against attacks from Satan. Intentionality is only possible when we know who God is and the reason why we pray. What can we obtain through prayer? If I do not know how effective my prayers are (the power of my prayers), I cannot be intentional, because I lack direction. In other words, I do not know where I am going.
In the verse mentioned above, apostle Paul tells us about the need of praying with all kinds of prayers. That means that prayer can have a variety of purposes – interceding, asking, praising, consecrating. Therefore, in order to have intentionality in your prayers, you need to understand how to use your prayer life effectively. A journey is only good when you know the direction you are heading to; if you do not know where you are going to, you may end up walking around in circles, making the same mistakes. The same way, our prayer life journey is only effective when we know who God is, who we are in Christ and what we can possess through prayer.
When I talk about intentionality, I am also talking about understanding the purpose for which we were created. In the beginning (back in Genesis), we see God creating man; upon this creation, He says: “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground” (Genesis 1:28). There was a purpose for the creation of mankind: man was created with God’s breath of life to govern the Earth, inspired by Him. It would start in the Garden of Eden and, as man would multiply, this government would spread over the entire Earth.
We know that man sinned; therefore, he subverted his nature. However, sin changed man’s nature, but it did not change God nor His purposes for man. God remains the same throughout all eternity. In order to restore the perfect fellowship between man and Him, it was necessary for Christ to come. That restoration was necessary in order to put back in motion God’s plan for mankind.
We still have a mission here on Earth. Our lives are not meant to be lived just for our own pleasure. Sure, God wants us to have good lives, but the ultimate pleasure, satisfaction and joy that man so desires can only be found when we consecrate yourselves to fulfill His plans for our lives. Theo Bible calls us “stewards of God’s grace” (1 Peter 4:10).
Through prayer, we can consecrate ourselves. We can boldly come before our Father and say: “Father, I am here, willing to do whatever you want me to do”. And you can do this without fear, because you know He is a good Father. If He has a mission for you, He also has all the provision and capacity you need to keep going. He will never let you wander in the darkness.
Don’t be afraid of where God might take you. Just trust Him. Trust His plans. The Bible says that “The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, without painful toil for it” (Proverbs 10:22). Another version says that His blessings add no sorrow. We can trust Him! We can trust His goodness! The price paid at the cross was too high for us to live according to our own plans.
Don’t be afraid of consecrating yourself to Him in prayer. Let Him show you His desires for your life, and you will be amazed by the places He may take you. Dedicate your life to Him, and you will find all the grace that you need to fulfill His plans. Just consecrate yourself to the Lord.