June 6

“…So I prayed to the God of heaven.” Nehemiah 2:4

This example in scripture shows the importance and prevalence we should give to prayer. Nehemiah had prayed, fasted and waited on God already, yet here, before he dares to answer the king’s request, right in the middle of a conversation, he lifts his mind to God in prayer. There is not mention of a response from the Lord at this time, but that does not lessen the necessity, power and validity of Nehemiah’s prayer. It has been said that prayer should be as comfortable and natural as breathing to those who believe. It is evident from scripture that whilst special times of prayer, and special places may have been set aside for this holy exercise, that it is never out of place or an inconvenient time to connect to the Lord in prayer, regardless of where we are or our situation. Close relationship with God, will mean that we are accustomed to raise our hearts in prayer and will ‘mentally’ pray often throughout the day. It is not inappropriate to include brief and swift mental prayer, while we speak or listen, in fact it may improve the quality and nature of much of our communication! Certainly including prayer in our daily life, not only in the morning or at night, but as an integral part of our thought processes and responses, will keep us much more conscious of the Lord and aware of our accountability to Him. This should not sound ‘over the top’ or in any way excessive to us, if we genuinely believe the Lord is able to see and hear all we do and say anyway, and if, as we claim, we truly hold Him as the Lord and Master of our lives! What a privilege to communicate with Heaven on a direct, unhindered, any-time open line! How wonderful that God is interested in our individual lives so much, that He desires to hear about all and any of the details we care to raise and discuss with Him! Far from the distant, aloof and disinterested God, which many imagine and cast Him to be, the Lord Jesus wants to be to each of us, a ‘Friend that sticks closer than a brother’! He desires to be there for us in every moment and every aspect of our lives, if only we will include Him! How amazing that the Supreme ruler of the universe, the Almighty and Self-Sufficient One, never claims to be too busy or occupied, but chooses to listen to the faintest prayers we may lift to Him from our finite and limited hearts and minds! We serve a great and powerful God, who cares and wants to hear from us, all that remains is for us to build a close relationship with Him and pray as Nehemiah and many others did, to the ‘God of Heaven’!

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion