Weekly Devotion

April 21,  2024

Prayer Warriors

I have been considering my prayer life a lot lately. I often wonder what aspects of my prayer life could be improved. Do I pray with boldness and anticipation, do I remember to confess my sin and forgive others before I pray, do I expect God to answer and I am I taking the time to listen for His voice.

I took the opportunity through Lent this year to read a book by Phil Wickham called On Our Knees. It is a book he wrote about creating intimacy with God through prayer and his journey to have a deeper relationship with God. He starts at the beginning of the bible and moves through it finding many of the places it talks about prayer and intimacy with God.

Each day you read through a passage of scripture, thoughts and insights from Phil’s experience, a sample prayer, a prayer challenge, and reflective questions. I connected to something different each day. I decided to journal my thoughts and experiences each day in response to what I read. I think this experience taught me to reflect more in my prayer life and not just go through the motions like an obligation.

After reflecting on my Lent experience with this book I noticed that my prayer life was essentially dull and uninspiring. There are so many ways to communicate your thoughts and needs to God who, let’s face it, already knows what you need. I really enjoyed reading the stories of powerful prayer warriors and some of their experiences with prayer, listening to God, and the answers He provides. Here are a few of my favorite chapter titles from the book:
• Pray Expecting to See God’s Glory Exodus 33
• Pray with Honesty and Transparency 1 Samuel 1:1-20
• Prayer Aligns Our Desires with God’s 2 Chronicles 1
• Pray With Simplicity Matthew 6
• Pray with a Heart of Forgiveness Mark 11
• Pray with the Holy Spirit Acts 2:1-13
• Pray with Boldness Acts 4
• Prayer Will Exceed Our Expectations Ephesians 3

I have read through the Bible several times and I have never stopped to consider how people prayed. What great examples we have to follow, especially the simple example of how Jesus taught us to pray. I challenge each of you this week to reflect on your own experiences with prayer. If it helps read some of the examples above and reflect on the experiences you see in the passage. I would love to hear about your experiences if you are willing to share with me. May we all become significant prayer warriors.    

Written by Jodi Dyck