Great things happen when...

When a believing person prays, great things happen. (James 5:16b)

There should be no doubt in the power of prayer - God delights in hearing from his kids, even though he may not hear from us as often as he'd desire! Great things happen in those times of conversation with him. Just in case you haven't noticed, he brings seed thoughts that we can think upon the rest of the day. There is no substitute for spending time just sharing our heart with him.

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you. (James 5:16a)

This is the other part of this verse - something we also should not overlook as we consider spending time with God in conversation. There is power in confession - it is the beginning of our healing - emotionally, physically, spiritually, and relationally. The more we open up to him, the greater the opportunities for him to begin to bring order to our confusing life.

When we are uncertain what to pray, just pray for God's wisdom. Did you forget that God gave us his Spirit within to help us with those prayers we don't know how to pray? He knows the need and he has a way of expressing it to our heavenly Father even when we don't. Mark Twain said, "A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation." God has a way of exposing our true character in times of prayer - this is the beginning of our healing.

I don't know about you, but I find myself telling God some of the same things on occasion - how much I need his help with a certain habit, what I am struggling with in my thought life, and where I need his intervention in the lives of those I love. He isn't bothered by my continual 'reference' to these things. In fact, he is delighted I trust him enough to continue to bring those things to him. The prayers of a believing heart accomplish great things - belief begins in trust.

You can trust God with your heart's expressions in times of prayer. He isn't going to trample on it. If we are truthful here, we may not trust ourselves well enough to be totally honest with what it is we know to be our real need. Lay out your need - the need of others around you - and even those 'unseen' needs you really cannot put your finger on. He is delighted to hear your voice expressing your trust in him to take each one under his wing. Just sayin!