This year, I feel the Lord leading me on a journey, a pathway of sorts, a focus on prayer.

Of course, as a believer in God and a follower of Jesus, it should seem natural that prayer would be the focus.  After all, how can I have an ongoing relationship with the Father, if I am not spending time with Him.  Unfortunately, that’s not always the case, is it?

But, what is prayer? Really?  What is it all about?  How do I pray?  Is there only one way to pray?  Or are there different ways to pray?  What is prayer not supposed to be? What is prayer for?  What should I expect when I pray? What should I not expect when I pray?

On this journey, I am doing a several of things.  The first, of course, is actually praying.  A habit I have already developed, I will continue to intentionally set aside time each day to talk with my Father.  I can’t learn if I don’t do.  Thankfully, I have had some incredible and mature Christians in my life over the years who have taught me what they know about prayer and I have always sought to put their lessons into practice.  I also have some neat opportunities to join others in prayer.  It is quite incredible to join others in a conversation with the Creator of the universe.

Second, I am focusing my reading to books on Prayer this year. My goal would be one a month. I already have at least a half a dozen picked out.  As I read them, I plan to post the quotes that jump out at me under my book section.  I have already started; for the first book, I’m reading Power Through Prayer by EM Bounds.  After I finish the book, I’ll add my thoughts and my own specific take aways.

And lastly, but definitely not least,  I will continue to read His Word.  I want to read and reread the gospels, watching closely to what Jesus did, when He prayed, how He prayed, and what he taught others to do.  The Psalms are also great prayers to dig into.  The writers cried out from the depths of their hearts and allowed God to enter in.  Of course, I can’t forget to look at the examples of prayers throughout the Old Testament and New Testament.  Paul, in his letters, told those he cared about specifically what he was praying for them.

What is actually kind of cool, especially since I didn’t know about it until after I made my prayer focus commitment for the year, is that the pastor at the church we attend has started, this Sunday, a fifteen week series on prayer.  Amazing.  Coincidence?  I think not.

You can join me, if you’d like, on this journey, this pathway, this year of focusing on prayer.