so, something i really desire in my life is more prayer, which most days means i need to ask God even to have that desire to pray because usually prayer intimidates me and confuses me and sometimes, honestly, i just really don't want to. (which, i do realize is okay if i do not want to, because we're not always gonna feel like doing necessary and good things), but the problem comes in when i allow these things to hinder me from doing it. and lately i have noticed squirminess within me when i have any amount of time dedicated to prayer, which i have found to be the first inclination of being out of practice with prayer. (this is not to say that when you are more in practice with coming before God in prayer you will not feel squirmy about it,) but i think there is a lot of continual, day-to-day, even-when-it's-terribly-dry-and-i-don't-want-to-pray-for-that-person practice involved with learning what things God is impressing on your mind and in understanding the ways He speaks.
what i know about prayer is that it is vital and essential to the life of a follower of Christ. as God's ambassadors (a person who acts as a representative) on earth (2 Cor 5:20), and as His dearly loved children, prayer is of extremely high importance.
so, i had the thought that for the month of january, i will provide a prompt for prayer focus each day. this is not to say that you can't pray for anything else that day, or even that you have to participate, but while i'm home for break for most of this month and with it being a brand new year (happy 2014, hey!), i thought this would be prime time to take a good hard look at my life and do some adjusting and rearranging of things that shouldn't be there, and really dedicate myself to prayer. so you should join me if ya wanna! i just really like the idea of this blog being a place where people are reminded to pray.
so here's day one: let's pray for our dads
for his discovery of God in whatever way that might be for him (maybe he doesn't know God yet or maybe he's known Him for his whole life and needs to discover that God is his friend or his king, whatever the case, the beauty is there's always more growth and more discovery, and more characteristics of God to be learned).
for leadership. it is biblically clear that God has put men in the role of leadership in homes, and i just think it's so important to ask God for clarity and guidance in direction of leadership, or maybe for your dad it means asking God for things like the overcoming of passivity and fear, in order to lead in his life.
for refreshment. encouragement and things brought in his path that would inspire joy in him.
for whatever specific thing you feel God might be pressing you towards (that's where listening and waiting for God's prompting comes in)
hey, thanks, God, for dads.
***disclaimer: this is a collection of my thoughts as i grapple with the mysterious thing that prayer is to me. these are just some of the things that i have gathered as i continue to learn, and there is a very large chance that i could be wrong or off with my thoughts, so please consider this as you read and i encourage you to challenge and probe and inquire of God and His word about prayer and any of these ideas that i bring up!***