Neglecting Prayer

Every week I sit down to bring something to this space that will impact someone.  I try to write in a way that people will be encouraged and thoughts will be provoked.  I seek to make others more keenly aware of the God’s love for them and the hope that is found in His arms.

But it doesn’t always work.

Sometimes I can’t always find words to bring to the page.

More times than not, I stare at my computer screen for hours.  There are moments that I hate the blinking of the cursor on the page of the blank word document.

I’ve thought about giving up plenty of times.

I start to question myself.  I start wondering why in the world I cannot come up with a single idea to write about that will change at least one person’s life.

I get angry at myself because words aren’t coming to me and I’m left again, trying to scrounge something up last minute for another post for yet another week.
It’s in these times of frustration that I forget about one important thing; prayer.  When I neglect it, I find that my frustration towards things that I love builds.  My writing starts to suffer.  My relationships with others suffer.  And my anxiety, frustration, and anger come to a boiling point because everything else around me is suffering.  All because I neglected prayer.

It might not make sense.  You might be asking, “How can one little thing like prayer affect so many areas of your life?”  The reality is: prayer affects every facet of our beings.  When we pray, we are spending time with God.  And, when we don’t pray, that relationship with God is being neglected.

As I begin to realize my neglect of prayer during these times, I turn to God’s Word.  I spend time in it.  I take time to hang out and get to know my Father on a new level.  I talk with Him.  I praise Him for all that He is doing and all that He has already done.  I admire His creation.  In the business of life, I find time to spend time with Him.  It seems simple but it is needed so much.  The reality is that there is not a time where God is not here with me, so I try to spend time with Him as possible.  I don’t have to go somewhere special to pray, I can pray as I sit at my desk and work.  I can pray as I drive in the car.  I can pray wherever I am.  And, so can you.

I urge you today to follow Paul’s advice in his letter to the city of Thessalonica.  

“Never stop praying.”

-1 Thessalonians 5:11

Pray and grow your relationship with the God that created you.  Don’t stop!  Let Him fill you and all of your relationships with the joy and the beauty that only He can bring.

-Josh

Thank you for taking the time to read! It really means a lot! Please feel free to leave a comment below, I’d love to hear your thoughts! Also, if you’d like to hear more of my thoughts on God, dating, life, leading youth, and beach living you can follow me on Twitter here.