Maybe I should have called this Confession and Alarm instead, but it is the alarm that stands out most for me. Let me stress that because I’m getting ready to talk first about my confession.
CONFESSION
I am real. I am not a super-Christian superhero with a matching outfit. Now am I a prayer superhero by any stretch of the imagination. However, I keep trying and keep learning.
So, here’s my confession: I’ve made promises to God about prayer that I haven’t kept.
I hang my head as I type this.
I’ve blown it with prayer. I do not pray as I want, should, or need.
Then, to make it worse, this is a continual on-again-off-again situation for me. I know better. I know the closeness to God I receive from this and I know that prayer changes things (but most importantly, it changes me—so I live closer with Him and live intentionally a life of prayer and the Word). Yet, I seem to blow it more often that I get it right.
So, I come to this blog post and Blog Book as a woman trying to get my life of prayer back on track, more focused, more intentional, and in an effort to avoid falling for that trap again. That’s where the spiritual warfare (battle prayer) comes to play.
I will keep you updated about what works for me—and what doesn’t. I will tell you where I excel and where I stumble and fall sometimes.
ALARM
As I start to write this blog, and Blog Book, I’ve gone to the web and have tried to find some websites I’ve lost track of through the years. Well, I found why I’ve lost track of them… They are no longer there—or haven’t been updated in months to years. At first, I found this sad and heartbreaking. But, as I found more and more which have fallen off the face of the earth, it’s made me alarmed. Where did they go? Why did the go?
So, I decided to find the latest and greatest websites, blogs, and books on prayer. I found a few here and there—including my new favorite spiritual warfare author, Cindy Trimm. While there are numerous blogs and websites to send prayer requests to, there are few about prayer. The Catholics have the most about prayer—hands-down. But, Protestants do not. Why is this?
I am alarmed.
Then, I went and tried to find daily devotionals about prayer—where prayer is the main theme… I only found a couple. Again, the red flags and alarm resounds in me.
How many sermons have you heard lately on prayer? Sure, some talk about prayer. But, how many are devoted to prayer? Then, to add to my alarm… How many pastors do series on prayer?
In our fast-food, drive-through, technologically advanced, video game era world, we are so busy that we aren’t focusing on the essential nature of prayer. That’s the bottom-line. We’ve lost our priorities.
I think the enemy wants us to stay unfocused, undisciplined, lacking in self-control, busy, frustrated, always wanting more, self-centered, work-centered—and NOT PRAYER-CENTERED.
So, I raise the alarm.
ALARM!!!!
Let’s get serious about what is important and re-prioritize our lives. Prayer and time in the Word should be what we put first on our schedules/planners—not last.
So, let’s pray.
~ Stacy Duplease
Remembering Your Present, LLC, Prayer Guard USA, and pj4life (Prayer Journaling for Life)
Author of Biblical Fiction, Bible Studies, and Devotionals
