Stop, Drop, and Pray!

Have you ever had someone on your heart so strong or perhaps a special need of your own on your mind? You probably felt like you just had to talk to Jesus about it so you could get some peace. When the angels nudge your heart like that, don't hesitate. Stop, drop, and pray!

So how do you define the word 'prayer'? Prayer is a direct communication with God, often with you revealing your heart and thoughts to Him. But prayer is also a silent communication with God where you listen silently for His guidance and clarity of purpose. When you communicate with a person, especially if you share intimate thoughts or the desires of your heart, you have to have a pretty special relationship with that person. Similarly, having a relationship with God is essential for sharing your heart. The more time you spend with Him, the more He will know your voice. Often, He knows what we need before we even ask.

Do you realize how powerful a pray is? When your prayer leaves your lips, it goes straight to God's ears! There is not a busy signal nor a disconnected number. The Bible tells us that God hears our prayers, even the ones when you can't seem to form actual words to pray. Remember He knows what you need even before you ask Him because He knows your heart. In Psalm 56:8, it says that God counts your tears and puts them in a bottle. Your tears are that important to Him! To know that He listens immediately and intently should bring you such comfort. Pray... believing that He can, knowing that He will, and praising Him for His answer! Stay on your knees praying until you get an answer. Just like Daniel did in Daniel chapter 10. He prayed for three weeks, nonstop, until he received an answer to his prayer. He did not quit. I like to remember the acronym - PUSH - Pray Until Something Happens!

Could you imagine how many prayers go in God's ear at any moment in time? Yet He keeps them all straight, knows who is praying, and hears every utterance of the heart. When God lays something on your heart, stop right then and pray because someone is asking God to meet their need. You may be that person's prayer for intervention. There have been many times when I haven't been able to sleep or perhaps wake up suddenly from a deep sleep with the sudden urge to pray. Sometimes I don't even know who I am praying for, but I pray anyway because God knows who needs those prayers.

I can testify to many times when I cried out for help, not even knowing what to say, tears rolling down my face. But I knew someone was praying for me. For example, when my last son was born, my heart actually stopped beating for over 30 minutes during the emergency c-section and hysterectomy. I was bleeding out. I could hear the doctors and nurses rushing around me, but I could not move my body or open my eyes. BUT GOD, because of praying people from many prayer chains, allowed me to live so I could raise my boys to know Him. After I got home with the little one, I had strangers come up to me and say "I did not know you, but I was praying for you." Wow! The power of prayer when I needed it so badly and could not pray for myself. Praise God for people who stand in for others when they can't stand up for themselves.

There are several stories in the Bible where fervent prayers summoned God to act. In Genesis 21, Abraham prayed for a child with his wife, Sarah. And despite her old age, she conceived and birthed a son with Abraham. In Genesis 40, Joseph prayed several different times during his life, when his brothers sold him to slavery, when he was in prison, and all the times life was unfair to him. He continued to trust God's plan in his life, a plan that would save many lives, including those of his brothers. And then there was Job, a man who lost absolutely everything, including his friends who told him to curse God and die. But Job prayed until God acted, blessing him with far more than he ever had. And in the book of I Samuel, there are two great stories of fervent prayer. David, a lowly shepherd boy, trusted God when He told him he would be king one day! He prayed to find favor with God. And Hannah prayed for many, many years for a child. Her unwavering, persistent prayers and promise to return the child back to the Lord, yielded an amazing little boy named Samuel.

Fervent prayers. Bombarding Heaven with heartfelt prayers. Praying until something happens. Praying believing God can, that God will, and thanking God for what He is doing. And most of all, when God nudges your spirit to pray, even if you don't know why, STOP - DROP- and PRAY!