The Gift of Prayer

For the past six months or so, I’ve been writing and rewriting my resume. I’ve been talking to people about finding a job. I talked to one of my son’s professors who knows how to write resumes. She said she could arrange a meeting with someone, to network. She encouraged me to network and try to get to know people, so eventually, someone who makes those hiring decisions, could possibly hire me.

It’s been a frustrating six months. At times, I’ve felt like a beggar, “Please love me, please accept me, please, sir, give me a job.” I’ve felt like I’m at other people’s mercy. “Please, please, please give me a job.”

I was thinking about prayer a lot lately. And in this process of finding a job AND praying about it, I thought, we Christians have a powerful tool at our disposal.

Think about it. Here I am on earth, hoping someone will approve of me. Hoping that someone will hire me on. I’ve wondered how I should act during the interview. I need to appear confident, but not too confident. I need to give eye contact, but not too much eye contact. I need to smile, but not smile too much.

But with prayer, I don’t have to try and be anything. I have access to the very throne of God. He’s given me an open invitation. And I can approach His throne anytime I want. I can come to Him, sad and beaten down. I can come to Him, needy and desperate for answers. I can come to Him angry. I come to Him exactly as I am, and that is what He wants from me. I don’t have to be anything.

The act of prayer is amazing. I can be sitting in a crowd of people. In my mind, I lift up a prayer. I’m essentially, going before the very throne of God, making my requests of Him. And He hears me. He hears every one of my prayers. He takes my prayers and puts them in golden bowls. Nothing I ask of Him is to insignificant or too great. And I do all of this, while sitting in a crowd of people who have no idea what I’m doing.

There’s a reason the Apostle Paul said to prayer without ceasing. For the believer, that is our life line while living on planet earth. Life isn’t going to be easy, but God has said to come to Him. Come to Him, His door is open. Ask Him. He tells us to ask Him. Tell Him. He’s not shocked by anything. He already knows what you are going to ask, before you even ask Him.

Prayer is a way to come into His presence. If you are a believer, don’t forsake the huge gift God Has given us, prayer. Pray about everything. Pray for anything. Use this gift of prayer. The more you do it, the more you draw closer to Him and that’s a great place to be.