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"When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously."
(Daniel 6:10, ESV)
Recently I had lunch with a new friend of mine. His name is Matt Kendrick. Matt serves as a Church Planter in Fort Worth. He and I connected and had some delicious Babe's chicken! When we were having lunch, he began to tell me something that I thought was quite extraordinary and enlightening.
Matt began talking to me about his prayer life and how he was inspired by people who would get out of bed and hit their knees first thing in the morning. As he was saying this, I immediately thought of my Dad and how he has done that for a very long time now. Then, he told me what he prays as he is on his knees. He said that he prays every morning, "God, I receive your grace for today."
This shook me (in a good way).
He then proceeded to talk about how he used to get on his knees and begin praying for the day and giving requests to God, but now he begins the day with receiving the Grace and Mercy that God has already given him for the day! I thought this was so profound, and I have been trying to enact that in my own prayer life.
Prayer is an amazing basic that we must not get over or forget! Isn't it amazing that we can talk with God at any time? Isn't it amazing that God delights in the fact that His children talk to Him? Isn't it amazing that God communicates with us in prayer?
I love how prayer is always improving and evolving. I am twenty-eight years old, and I learned something last week that will revolutionize my prayer life! I have had seasons of prayer journaling, and they were amazing and sweet. I have had seasons of doing the A.C.T.S. model of prayer (Adoration. Confession. Thanksgiving. Supplication), and they were amazing too. I have had seasons of list prayers, and those were likewise amazing. I am in a season right now where every morning, I listen to David Platt's "Pray the Word Podcast", and this too is amazing! Prayer is an art that we must constantly be honing as we engage in it. Prayer may be a basic, but it is also an ever-growing and ever-increasing skill in which we must not grow complacent.
How is your prayer life? What new prayer technique or tool can you add to your repertoire? Are you communicating with God in prayer? Are you allowing Him to speak to you in your prayer life?
JOURNAL: Pick a time for the rest of the week to pray. We know from the verse above that Daniel, regardless of what was going on around him, made a commitment to pray every day. Let's do the same today and for the rest of the week! Pick a time to pray, and don't let anything get in the way of that time!
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