I heart Prayer

That is a statement that continues to grow in truth. It seems the more I pray the more I love it. I'm not telling you this so you think I'm all super spiritual and amazing. I'm telling you hopefully to encourage you, whether you love, hate, or are currently indecisive about prayer. I am not by any means a super prayer warrior, in fact most of the time I avoid it until I ache inside. It's only when I spend time in prayer that I remember that I really do love it and is not as hard or inconvenient as I thought.
Here is a few reasons why I love prayer:

I get to talk to God and He talks back!- It is such an amazing blessing to be able to communicate with the One who made me, knows me fully, and knows what's happening. He enjoys it when I join with Him in prayer. That's right, I did put that He talks back. This 'talking' comes in different forms such as: an internal audible voice, a sense in my spirit, a verse in the Bible, a dream or vision, or from another person. He wants to talk to me more that I could ever want to talk to Him, which blows my mind!

I don't have to know what I'm doing- When I first became a Christian I was incredibly uncomfortable praying out loud. Even by myself I didn't feel confident in my prayers. As I've grown I've realized that God doesn't need my prayers to be eloquent or even make sense to others. Plus the Holy Spirit is helping me out. "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." Romans 8:26-27 (NIV).

I can learn about God's heart- As I continue to pray God continues to teach me more about what He desires, what His will is, and how He acts. By praying scripture I am aligning my heart with what He has already revealed about Himself and how He answers prayers. Also, I can come to understand more about how God feels about other people.

I can join with Jesus in intercession- As God reveals what is on His heart I can join with Him in praying to see it fulfilled on earth and in heaven. "But because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them." Hebrews 7:24-25. It amazes me to know that there is something so much bigger going on and that I can be a part of that.

I think that the best part about this list is that this isn't something only I do or will experience. Anyone can learn these things and yes, enjoy prayer.

I am looking forward to a lifetime of learning how to make better conversation with God, especially that part about listening.