PRAY! See what God will do!

It was the day of my oldest boy's third birthday party. We were going to have a ton of kids over to play in the backyard. Naturally it was raining and the party started in 6 hours. I explained to little Jasper that we were going to have to play inside instead and he bravely accepted the news. I saw the disappointment in his eyes and knelt down next to him. I told him that we should pray that God would clear up the rain and dry up the backyard. Within 30 minutes it had stopped raining and we had a great party in the backyard that day.

I had taken my two boys to Big Bear for the day and was driving back down the mountain with them. It was very cloudy and we were slowly driving through some thick fog. My youngest son, Clark, was only 3 years old and was scared of the cloud we had been in for some minutes. I prayed out loud that the Lord would get us through the cloud and as soon as I said "Amen" we broke out of the cloud into the brightest day and didn't drive through any more fog that day.

Anecdotes like this don't prove to you that God exists, but over a life time of seeing Him respond to me and my loved ones, they are a large part of my relationship with Him. A life of prayer lays the foundation and opens doors in your relationship with God. God wants your relationship with Him to blossom from intellectual to experiential. He wants you to call on His name and He wants to prove himself strong to you. He wants to build your faith in who He is.

Use the time you have right now to tell Him you are devoted to Him and His cause today, not your own. Tell him what is making you sad and what is scaring you.

2 Chronicles 16:9 - Certainly the Lord watches the whole earth carefully and is ready to strengthen those who are devoted to him.

Call on the name of the Lord in confidence. Run to Him first today, put Him first today, and you'll rise above the emotions and fears that drag you down.

Proverbs 18:10 - The name of the Lord is like a strong tower, the righteous person runs to it and is set safely on high.

When should you pray and how often? Daily in the morning, Psa. 5:3; 88:13; 143:8; Isa. 33:2; twice daily, Psa. 88:1; three times daily, Psa. 55:17; Dan. 6:10; all night, Luke 6:12; without ceasing, 1 Thess. 5:17.