I distinctly remember praying for everything that I have now.

Secondary school, college, and the first decade or so of my professional career felt like I was living the life of someone else. I did what everyone else suggested or wanted me to do because it was easier than making a decision for myself. To be fair to them, fear had guided my life for so long that I just collapsed under the pressure of others.

But where I am today, I remember those prayers that I uttered years ago and I can clearly see that what is before me now is a direct result of God hearing and answering my prayers, according to His time and His will.

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Beloved, let’s talk prayer.

I am not the best, strongest, or the longest but one thing that I do enjoy is just being honest in my communication to God.

Growing up I always heard the leaders of the church lifting these LOOOONNNNGGGG prayers that had more “thees” and “thous” than my head could even comprehend. Yes, napping and zoning out during prayers was a regular part of my life. Granted, I didn’t know then that I had ADHD, but I knew that even if my eyes weren’t close, if someone were talking to me like how we talked to God, it would bore me to no end. God seemed so far away back then because if the only way that I could talk to Him was through those types of prayers, then He and I were not gonna be having a lot of conversations.

While I cannot remember who said it, someone once told me that prayer was simply a conversation with God and that knowledge changed my life. It was as if someone had turned on a light that had been off for far too long- a prayer was just a conversation with my Father… duh!

Learning that simple fact allowed me to see that prayer was something that I could do; I could talk to my Father and it would not be awkward. Granted, I hadn’t grown up with my father, but I was sure that symbolism wouldn’t be missed on me…

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Ok, Abba; let’s talk.

Once you get past the fact that the Father you are talking to is THE FATHER of all, it really does get easier. Yes, reverence is still necessary and the confession of sins is a big thing, too, but He truly is just a Father desiring to hear from His children. In my personal opinion, I think the reason some people start to stray away from religion is because it is presented with entirely too much rigidity and people do not see a way of achieving the perfection that others so arrogantly portray. I anxiously await the day when we can throw away religion and focus on relationship.

(To be clear, I have written and preached about this many times- relationship is when we push deeper into our faith and our relationship with God. In relationship, we set aside rules of this church or that church, and focus solely on God, His Son, and His Word. God desires a relationship and true fellowship with His children; that should always be our priority.)

Over the years, my prayers have not increased in length. Minister or not, sometimes I still stumble over my words and my cadence is often a bit shaky at times. Yet my desire is always the same- to chat with my Daddy a bit. Every weekday morning for the past few months I have uploaded a short, 60-second or less prayer on my social media accounts. One day last week I received a comment that brought tears to my eyes- a woman said that I was helping her learn how to pray. Wait, what?!?! Although I was humbled and prayed that God was pleased, I did have to chuckle a bit because I knew the truth- I recorded those prayers so that I could learn how to pray.

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When I sat in the throes of my unemployment, depression, and pit of despair, I struggled greatly with the idea of lifting prayers up to God. My mouth could not form those words and my eyes only closed under the weight of my tears. Instead of long, formal prayers, all that I could ever utter was “please help” and “Jesus”… with the latter coming out in full screams from the pit of my soul. In moments of clarity, yes, I would try to say more, but those moments were few and far between. I’m so grateful that even when I couldn’t talk to God, He still found a way to talk to me (and, He heard the people who pleaded to Him on my behalf).

Beloved, my prayer today is that you learn the beauty of God and the strength of His love. Yes, His love for us is so great that He sent His only Son to die on the cross for our sins… but His love is also as comforting as the gentle breeze that we feel on a sunny day. Yes, God sits high, but He also looks low, tending to and caring for those that He loves. Wherever you are today and whatever you do, stop for a moment and just have a little conversation with our Father.

I am continuing to learn so much about God’s grace and today I see that I have been graced to pray…. (speak this prayer today)

Abba, thank You. The blessings and the trials of my life- the hills and the valleys- can all be summed up in the two words that my heart speaks to Yours unabashedly- thank You. Father, sometimes I do not know what to say and sometimes I don’t know how to pray, yet it is in those moments that my heart remembers that You are my Father and You just want to hear from me. Help me to speak to You and help me to seek You, Father, help me to share the words of heart with You. I love You and I just want to grow closer to You. It’s in Jesus’ name that I pray, Amen.

Also, if you would like to check out my daily prayers, please click here.