Faith Minutes ~ Episode 253
Healthy prayer habits can be faith minutes; in other words, making the most of our time. We see the effects of spending time with God, but we typically put off prayer until we have more time. Let’s put some wasted time to good use with tips to get you started.
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Today I heard a sermon, and in it, the deacon said, “God has extravagant love for us.” I love that imagery—almost more love than we can handle. In this love, we should feel secure and safe; it is the place we go when we sin and ask for forgiveness and when we want to thank the Lord. It also reminds us to use the time we have to give God praise and worship.
In past podcasts, I’ve discussed many ways we can do this, for example, in reading a scripture verse or memorizing scripture. We can have faith minutes while listening to music or praying for a friend. It is, in essence, the time we spend that brings to mind God, but in a deeper or more focused way.
Using my time wisely gives me a sense of accomplishment and contentment. I feel I’ve succeeded in my day when I can look back and see the things that are completed. And the first thing is prayer. What makes you feel contentment or success in your prayer life? I know prayer is more than a checkoff point on a list, but shouldn’t it be just as important? For example, we make time at some point to figure out how we will spend the day. When will you shop, cook, do laundry, or clean? When will you eat dinner, or when will you spend time with family or friends? Shouldn’t you make the same use of our time for God?
You can often judge whether you need more time with God by how you feel. Do you feel empty or unfulfilled? We fill up our days with so many activities it is difficult to figure this out at times, but one way is to think about how you pray. Are you always asking?
Asking God in Prayer:
- God, I need this…
- God, can you please…
- God, can you help me…
- God, can you let this…(or don’t let this) happen?
- God, do you hear me?!
I felt a sense I was doing that in my prayer time, and I changed my prayers to this…
Asking God’s Will in Prayer
- God, I need this…if it is Your will.
- God, can you please…if it is Your will.
- God, can you help me…if it is Your will.
- God, can you let this…(or don’t let this) happen if it is Your will?
- God, let your will be done.
Our faith minutes can be what we make them; at the red light, we can praise the Lord. “Thank you, Jesus, you are good and worthy of all praise.” We can praise God at the grocery store, standing in line, or at the post office. What are those minutes when we wait that we can put under the Lordship of God?
This Sunday, our Pastor talked about waking up at night and praying the following, “Jesus, I trust in You. Jesus, I trust in You. Jesus, I Trust in You.” And I thought, wow, this is a prayer minute!
A few minutes with God can look different for each of us, but the essence of prayer is conversation and relationship. Conversation with God and a relationship with the Almighty that begins with respect at its foundation. Sometimes we read Scripture verses and have no idea what they mean, especially in the Old Testament. But here is a wonderful scripture that sums up this podcast, Psalms 20:1-5 (Read on air.) This is called the Psalm of David.
David had many failings in his life, and we have a first-hand seat when we read about it in the Old Testament, but one thing that recurs with David is asking for forgiveness with the thought of moving forward and away from sin. If prayer can help us do this in our lives, I consider it a win!
We are told if we believe, we will be saved, but we can pray in our unbelief at times of weakness! Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
We were created to serve the Almighty, and as the deacon said, “God has extravagant love for us.” Try to outgive God, praise, and worship Him without thinking of anything in return. That is how the Lord loves us without requiring or expecting anything in return, but how can we not give praise to the One who loves us without reserve?
This week our challenge is to find those faith minutes in our life where we take the time to pray and open our hearts to blessings or where our faith is renewed, and we fill overflowing with God’s love for us! I pray this for you this week; may you be blessed!
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