1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”

I was reading about prayer this week, and this verse came to mind. I had never thought of it in terms of prayer before. I had just always focused on the feelings of anxiety and casting them to the Lord. I am grateful that He takes all of our burdens!

Prayer is a back-and-forth conversation with God. It’s not really about the “list” we present to Him, but about the relationship between us. As long as we are close in fellowship, the words should flow naturally.

Our job (goal?) in prayer is not to ‘get an answer’ but to keep the conversation going… to pray without ceasing. It helps if we have a humble, thankful heart!

In turn, God listens to us, encourages us, comforts us, and answers us in His time.

Sometimes, we wonder if God is listening to us. (He is.)

Then again, maybe He wonders if we are listening to Him?? (Just a thought…)

Some answers come immediately, while some seem to take forever. But when we keep our hearts open through prayer, we are able to listen and more easily discern God’s will. When a prayer is answered differently than we hoped, we can trust that Jesus has something better in store for us. The best is yet to come!

Prayer gives God direct access to our heart. We too have access to His heart! When we don’t come to Him in prayer, we also close ourselves off to His help and His presence.

God said King David was a man after His own heart. David cultivated his heart to follow after the Lord. As a result, God was able to lead David and direct his path because they had a solid relationship built over time together.

As we see in many of the Psalms, David consistently poured out his heart before the Lord…

The good, the bad, and the ugly.

When things were going well, and when they weren’t.

When David felt close to God, and when he didn’t.

When David was in the right, and when he was in the wrong.

There are so many ways to pray. Some people use the Lord’s Prayer as the basis of prayer. Some people use a rosary to guide them as they talk with God. Some people stop everything and pray each time they see an emergency vehicle.

I, too, have tried many prayer methods over the years. At times, I’ve kneeled or sat still. I enjoy praying with a friend and/or walking on a quiet nature path when I pray.

There is a simple acronym I like: ACTS Adoration—Confession—Thanksgiving—Supplication

I also enjoy praying Scripture, which is using God’s own Word and agreeing with Him.

Sometimes I write my prayers in a journal. Sometimes I sing my prayers. When Dave was sick, I even cried and yelled during prayer (not my most ‘spiritual’ moments, perhaps, but it was all I could do to deal with the anguish!).

Recently, an idea came to me that I’d like to share with you: Prayer jars.

As you can see in the picture above, I took two large glass jars and put my current prayers on small index cards. It helps to write them down and get them out of my head! 😉

I start with the jar on the left and then transfer the card to the other jar after I have prayed for that request. Then, I do it in reverse….back and forth.

The reason I started this was that I had many prayer requests that seem to go out of sight, out of mind. So I like the visual cue the jars provide…I can clearly see the needs before me.

I grab one or two cards each time I pass by and then return it to the other jar later. It is certainly a flexible system… I might be on my way to the kitchen or headed downstairs to fold laundry. Nonetheless, I can pray and lift up each request during my day!

In some ways, the prayer jars also represent the fact that I have given my requests to God, so He can handle them. Plus, I can use this as a fun tool to teach Lydia about prayer.

I bought large jars because I have a lot of prayer requests! I also bought an even bigger jar for the cards once the prayers are answered, so Lydia and I can periodically review those cards and praise God for all He has done.

I am expecting many answers to my prayers so wanted to plan ahead!

Obviously, the ‘prayer jar method’ may not work for everyone. I, too, may change it up again in the future! That’s the beauty and freedom of it!

And while there is no perfect way to pray, the important thing is that you keep communicating with Jesus! Be persistent in prayer, even when you don’t perceive an immediate answer. Cultivate that relationship.

If you have time to worry, you have time to pray. Besides, God loves us dearly and is always eager to hear from us!

And with Him, nothing is impossible. 

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Heavenly Father, You are so good! Thanks that we can come boldly before the throne of grace, knowing You hear us each time we pray. Thanks in advance for Your many answers to prayer. Give us ears to listen and a heart to love You more. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

Questions: What are your favorite ways to pray? Do you have a favorite place or time of day to talk with God?

Tasks: When it comes to prayer: Ask. Listen. Repeat.