Welcome to our annual Prayer Series! This year, we’re expanding on each of the different prompts that you’ll find in our prayer journal. No journal required to benefit from the practical tips you’ll find here, but if you’d like to check out our 2019 Prayer Journal Collection, click here!
Today we’re talking about the importance of the Personal and My Goals sections in our prayer journals and how we can use them to really live out the big dreams God calls us to.
I am a dreamer but there is no way I could have dreamed up what God would do when I released my goals over to him.
But if I’m honest, lately this section has taken a hit. I’ve felt guilty coming to this page feeling like I need to pray for any and every request before I touch my own. I hate to come off selfish in my prayers, you know? I think this sounds noble, but it’s actually not a healthy outlook. When I allow God to change who I am from the inside out, everything around me has the potential for growth and change. Yes, we never want to neglect prayers for others but don’t feel guilty for lifting up what feels like a laundry list of requests to the Lord. He wants the big things and he wants the things that feel really small.
Here’s what happens when God goes to work in our lives:
1. We feel God’s love for us.
We might know in our heads God loves us but there’s something that happens when He moves into the most minuscule problems of our day.
2. It makes God personal.
This is like the big sister of #1, similar but not the same. When we actually experience a God that before we’ve only heard our friends or parents talk about, our faith becomes our own. That is HUGE people!!! To have a personal relationship with God brings us peace as we learn He’s completely worthy of our trust and joy as we start living more expectantly.
3. We do the best things.
God’s plan is better than mine. Because of that, any time I spend asking Him where I should go next is going to bless my life. The key is not just asking a question and walking away from the conversation. We have to listen for the response. Check out our post on Silence & Solitude for some practical tips on doing this.
4. We grow more than our list of achievements.
I learned in the last few years the importance of asking God what He wants to cultivate in me. I expect Him to just tell me but there’s something that happens when I ask. I have an open heart to His response and am ready for Him to change me. I love a good list of achievements but being refined and seeing my character change is way more satisfying than all the things I can “do”.
5. God changes our lives.
This is no small thing, and pretty obvious, but if you want change in your life to happen, it absolutely will when we involve God. Are you tired of trying to change the same old, same old things? Me too, friend. I still struggle with this in some areas but when I turn those frustrations into prayers, I no longer feel like I’m just spinning my wheels.
If you walk away with one truth today, I hope it will be this: that God cares for your everyday. That He cares for the big dreams and the really small things. Nothing you bring to Him will He say “Keep that to yourself and just bring me….” He wants it all!
ACTION STEP:
Make a list today of all the things weighing on you right now. It could be dates on the calendar, frustrated relationships, ailments, things you struggle with, anything. Write it down and for the next 7 days, pray daily for it and take note of even the smallest ways you see God work.
Want to become a student of prayer? Sign up here to be notified when our NEW online course launches this January!
NEXT: Adoration / Scripture / Quotes
MISSED THESE?:
Leave a Reply
Comments (0)