“I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom.” - Matthew 18:3 (MSG)
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Remember how intently and persistently you prayed when you first began your journey as a Christian? I would say it’s comparable to the purity and honesty of a child - full hearted and innocent; unaware of God’s great love for him/her but knowing without a shadow of a doubt that He is listening.
I remember first being introduced to Jesus. My parents taught me about God’s love very young. When I was old enough to understand what it meant to be saved and become a child of God, every single night before bed I would drop to my knees and pray.
With my head buried into my covers, and my little hands clasped so tight, I would tell God how much I loved Him, how much I wanted to go to heaven to be with Him and that I didn’t want to go with the devil in hell. Lol! As a little girl, this was my routine every single night.
I can imagine how much pleasure He felt knowing that His little one loved and believed in Him at such a young age. At 5 years old, there were no hidden motives or selfish pursuits. There was only pure adoration toward God.
This pure and humble state of prayer is what God searches and longs for in us also as adults.
“God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him.” - 2 Chronicles 16:9 (MSG)
This is what I try my best to remember when communing with God. To be honest, naked and true before Him, leaving all hidden agendas and selfish motives aside and just being. Especially since God already knows what’s in my heart. It is important to me that I am sincere.
This is what I want to challenge each of you for the month of June. To be as sincere and as honest with God in your prayers as you were when you first accepted Him.
Prayer doesn’t need to be pretentious in any way. God desires candor. He can handle it. It’s what He wants from us.
For the month of June I am challenging you to pray for those who you first learned to pray for as a little child: your family.
I remember going down the line of family members when I first learned how to pray as a child, I would pray, “Please bless Mommy, and Daddy, and Auntie and Uncle, my sister and brother etc…” These were the most important people in my life at the time. These were the people that knew me, raised me and loved me.
As we get older, our prayers tend to become more selfish. We never stop praying for members of our family, but our prayers tend to consist mostly of petitions for ourselves.
So here is the challenge:
Theme for June: Pray for a member of your family.
(Be it a spouse, a child, a parent, cousin, grandparent or sibling)
How to Participate:
- Choose a member of your family that God places on your heart to dedicate 30 days of prayer to. Do not inform them that you are doing this.
- For 30 days, write one prayer a day as a journal entry. Keep them in a handwritten journal or type them and keep them in a folder on your computer.
- At the end of the 30 days, if you choose or when you choose, present the family member that you were praying for with the prayer journal as a gift. Let them know that God placed them on your heart to lift them up in prayer and that you decided to pray for them with no hidden agenda or intent to receive anything in return. Make sure you are doing this as a pure and genuine act of love.
(Note: Each challenge theme changes, if however you already have someone in mind that you would like to pray for that doesn't fit the theme, please go ahead and pray for that person. If God places it on your heart to pray for your family as a unit, please feel free to do that.)
Challenge #8 of The Prayer Project 30 Day Written Prayer Challenge will begin
June 1, 2015. Emails will be sent weekly starting at this date.
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