Topic 1: Prayer

I often find that I have a lot of trouble praying unless I am faced with an emergency or some other high stress situation. I usually try to justify my reluctance to pray with thoughts such as, "God knows my heart," or "Nothing I have to say is all that important." When I was a new mom, I would convince myself that falling asleep while praying was more disrespectful to God than not praying at all.

I know in my heart that these thoughts are merely excuses, that they keep me from confronting my real problems: my prioritization, my lack of compassion for others, my pride, my insecurities, and, worst of all, my failure to make Jesus Lord in all aspects of my life.

Jesus must be Lord of my life in order for me to reap all the benefits of being His Disciple, and in order to me to be used to my utmost potential for His purpose.

During the month of January, I will be reading the book Too Busy NOT To Pray by Bill Hybels. I will also be studying scriptures on prayer and implementing changes into my personal prayer life as I go along.

John 15:1-8 outlines how God must cut away the branches of the vine that do not bear fruit. In order to bear fruit, we must remain in Christ. The first step to remaining in Christ is to cultivate a deeper and more intimate relationship with Him through prayer.

Much Love,
~Mandy

*Disclaimer: I have not been compensated in any way for writing about the book 
Too Busy NOT To Pray. My blog posts are not meant to be an endorsement of the book in any way. The book is merely a tool I am using along my journey.