Pray About EVERYTHING

Maybe you offered up a prayer this last week for the 12 Thai boys and their coach trapped in a cave in northern Thailand. The operation to extract them was expedited due to impending rainy weather moving in. With one former Thai Navy SEAL dying as he delivered supplies, it was sobering to see how technically difficult this operation really was.

We turn to prayer when things get bad. Like when 12 boys and a coach get trapped in a cave. Like when a school shooting occurs. Or we find out that a dear friend has cancer. This stuff is bad and we have no clue what to do, but to pray.

For me, prayer is a relationship. A relationship with God that can grow and grow. Prayer involves listening, talking, waiting, asking, thanking, praising and claiming God’s promises. I want to be a student of prayer. Why? Because prayer changes things. Prayer changes me.

Prayer is something I don’t fully understand, but something I can’t do without. Each morning, I spend time writing down in my prayer journal the things I want to pray about. I pray for people that I know that need prayer. I pray for my husband and family. I pray for missionaries. I pray for my work. I pray for our country and our governing officials. I pray for whatever God brings to my mind.

This last week, I had a HUGE answer to prayer! I had been praying for over a month about asking a certain person to speak for our upcoming Y conference. And God answered YES! I was so excited because I knew that only God could make this happen!

Did you know that you can pray about everything? The Bible tells us “Do not be anxious about anything, but in EVERYTHING by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7) That word EVERYTHING means just that. Everything.

What makes me crazy is when I don’t pray. I instead choose to fear or get anxious or wonder what’s going to happen. I try to take control and royally botch things up. Why do I do this? God created us and knows our tendencies to worry and try to control things. So, He gave us a lifeline with Himself, the creator of the Universe! Why not take advantage of this amazing gift?

As you begin this day, realize that you can pray about EVERYTHING that is going on. You can talk to God and get to know God. God longs for a relationships with you! He is crazy about you! Let Him in on your life…your hopes, your dreams, your anxieties, your failures, your regrets, your sin. Seek Him. He will answer.

“Courage is fear that has said its prayers.” Dorothy Bernard

“Prayer is unmarketable. Prayer gives you no immediate pay off. You get no immediate feedback or sense of success. True prayer, in that sense, probably is the most courageous and counter cultural thing an American will ever do.” Boz Tchividjian

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain for the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.