Press In & Pray

As the new year begins, God has been pressing on my heart to lean into Him and to pray - to ask Him to come and move and to do only what He can do.

It seems that wherever I turn and where I look, I've been reminded to pray. I wanted to share a few resources and how I've been reminded to pray these past couple of days!

Earlier this week, I came across this article about Hannah's honest, desperate prayer before God for a son. Although I recommend reading the whole thing since it's not that long, here are the words that resonated with me the most!

"Her unique prayer became the channel that God both prompted and then used to turn the tide in Israel and bring much-needed blessing upon them...We must not silently accept our lack of fruitfulness and somehow justify it was God's will for us." Wow. Often times, I accept situations as they are, but what if it's God's invitation to join Him in his work?

I also listened to Pastor Matt Chandler's message titled "A Call to Prayer" where he urges his congregation to pray and he talks about three reasons why, as Christians, we fail to pray consistently.

This past Sunday, our church had a message on Luke 6:12-36 and here's my testimony based on the passage.

Luke 6:12-13 says "One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles."

When I read these verses, I'm amazed because Jesus, who was fully God (as well as fully man), saw the need to pray. And to pray not only for 5 minutes, 1 hour, or just several hours, but the whole night. As the new year began, God has been pressing on my heart to pray. One line from m. Tunde's message has really stuck with me - "what we can do in five years, God can do in five seconds." I'm realizing that moreso than ever before, I can't do what God has called me to do on my own. Studying for the MCAT and applying for medical school is challenging in every way. I can't do it all on my own strength but I believe that God will make a way when I pray and ask Him to move. I was thinking back to spiritual victories I've experienced in the past and I realized the underlying theme of all of them was prayer. When I humbled myself and cried out to God in desperation, He answered. Yet, how often do I choose to depend on myself - my knowledge, understanding, wisdom, etc. My goal this year has been to attend prayer meeting and to really pray (although I haven't been able to make it every day so far). I've seen God move and answer my prayer in the past and I am confident He can and will do it again because He is Good and faithful.

Overall, I've just been reminded of the power of prayer. Rather than resorting to it as our last resort, let it be the first thing we do. Only God can accomplish the God-sized dreams and plans he has for our lives. Let's choose to "begin the battle on our knees" (Priscilla Shirer).