The busier our life gets, the more time we should be making for God, yet the more hectic our life becomes the less time we seem to make for Him.  When we make our relationship with God the top priority in our life, no matter what we are walking through, we will know that we are living according to His will.  You may be thinking, “What good is that going to do me when my world is crashing in all around me?”  I’ll tell you, “It is the only thing that will get you through when everyone and everything in this world has forsaken you.”  It took me, in a time not so long ago, to learn this painful lesson.  It literally took me getting to a place where God was all I had to realize He was all I needed.

It’s not a matter of if a storm will come; it’s a matter of when and if we are going to weather it, we must depend on God to get us through.  When the water begins to rise, when the walls begin to give way and panic begins to set in, what we do in this most desperate time is something we should be doing all the time: praying.  Instead, this is often our last resort and the sad reality is many of us know a lot about God, but rarely experience His presence because we don’t communicate with Him through prayer.  I love what Corrie ten Boom wrote, “Prayer is powerful.  The devil smiles when we make plans. He laughs when we get too busy. But he trembles when we pray – especially when we pray together.”

If prayer is so powerful, why don’t we make it more important in our lives?  Do we think God has more important things to do, that He won’t or can’t answer our prayers, or are we more afraid that He actually will show up, but then ask something of us?  Is the notion of being transformed into the image of Christ that terrifying?  When we commune with God, His heart becomes ours and what moves the Father begins to move us.

So now what?  Given everything I have just said what should you do? Begin to pray and just be yourself; stop focusing so much on what you are asking and begin to focus on whom you are asking.  I learned very early that practice does not make perfect; practice makes permanent and growth takes time, but I promise you the more time you make for God, the less stressful your life will become.  The best way to learn how to pray is to begin praying.  Start your day by thanking God for the air in your lungs, even the breath in your mouth, well maybe after you brush your teeth, but you get my point…   The more you begin to experience God, the more of Him you will want because there is a void in all of us that only He can fill and if I am going to be full of anything, it is going to be Christ!