What do you pray for?
BIBLICAL POINT OF REFERENCE:
"Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours."
~Mark 11:24
As many of you may have known from my last few Tweets, I was on a retreat called Koinonia this past weekend, the name coming from the Greek word meaning "community". This was my third time being a part of Koinonia since being at Central Michigan University, and I love it so much! It's a wonderful way to experience God's presence to the fullest and to discover some of what He has in store for you. Something that there is a particular abundance of on Koinonia is prayer time: we pray before meals, activities, sacraments, and everything else, and it is not uncommon for random bursts of prayer to be spoken at really any given time. What makes the people of Koinonia and my church community at school so wonderful is that they understand the power of prayer, and they strive to make it a central point of focus in their lives.
As I laid in bed last night reflecting on my time at Koinonia this weekend, one question seemed to just pop into my head: What do you pray for? Was this a coincidence? Probably not. I'll be honest here: I have never been the best about my prayer life. I talk to God on a daily basis, but it's mostly just to ask for things I need at a certain time, like "Help me pass this test" or "Please help me get to sleep". These kinds of little prayers are not inherently bad at all, but they lack the depth of what a prayer life is supposed to contain. Our prayer life, especially as Catholics and Christians, should have many forms and styles of prayer, such as meditation, adoration, and petition. You've heard the phrase that communication is a two-way street, and that is exactly how our relationship with God is supposed to be; we must be able to listen to what God is trying to tell us just as much as we are able to tell Him what we need and want in our lives. How do we do this? I will recommend a first step: Visit a church. When I say this, I mean go to church and participate in Mass, go to church and just sit and feel God's comfort, go to church and join in adoration of our Lord, and go to church and just pray. Sometimes it is difficult to put ourselves in a prayerful mindset because we can't feel God's presence, and other times we can't focus enough on God Himself. Both of these problems and many more are easily remedied by visiting your church or a church in general (particularly a Catholic one). You'd be surprised what the proper setting can do for your mood. Next step: Think about what you pray for. I will say again that little prayers throughout the day are perfectly acceptable and good, as long as we're not making them our last resort instead of our first priority. You know God is the Almighty Father, and He is capable of truly unimaginable things, so why not go to Him to deepen your relationship? My challenge for you ladies this week is to really think about and consider what you pray for. Do you pray for wisdom? Peace? Healing? Strength? Forgiveness? Time? What about a closer relationship with our Savior? Take it from me - don't just pray on a whim and think that your relationship with God needs nothing more, because a relationship with God is just like a relationship with another person - except more fulfilling. Your Laughing Sister, Callahan
Check out the PRAYER quotes page for more inspiration!
