Last weekend, I had about a six-hour drive to North Carolina, so I had been driving for about 4 hours listening to music and podcasts when I realized that I had not been feeling any of my own feelings, or thinking any of my own thoughts for like two hours. So, I turned off all the noise, and, for the first time in my life, I prayed out loud. Now obviously, I had prayed in front of others. Those were prayers that I had hoped would sound pretty and smart, but this time, it wasn’t like that. This time it was just me, Jesus, and two hours of alone time in the car. This time, the prayer wasn’t pretty, and it definitely did not sound smart. Instead, it was awkward, it was raw, it was honest, there were tears, and I had never felt more loved. This time I wasn’t praying for others to hear but to have a conversation with my Father. The great thing about Jesus is that we don’t have to tie our prayers up with a fancy bow. Instead, we can just be completely honest. In fact, that is what He wants us to be. Jeremiah 29:12 states, “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.” He will listen at any time. It does not say, “I will listen if…”. It just says, “I will listen.”
Recently I was listening to Levi Lusko, and he stated that prayer is always available, but we do not always take advantage of it. Often, I hear others say, “Well, I guess all we can do is pray about it now?” We use prayer as a last resort instead of our first defense. In Psalms 18:6 it states, “In my distress, I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple, he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.” We should go to Him first. He hears us, and He has already won the victory. So why are we trying to find that same victory in something else? We can cry to God. We can share our stress with Him. It is okay not to be okay all the time. Our God is a God of emotion. One of the most powerful verses in the Bible is “Jesus Wept” because it shows how deeply our God feels and cares for His children.
Often times, we might think that we do not have the time to pray out loud, but what about when you are in the car alone? Or when you are in the shower? In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, it states we should “pray without ceasing.” So not only should we be praying when we make time to be alone with God, but in every moment of our life. We also may feel that praying aloud might be weird and awkward, and it is. But man, just to be able to say what you don’t feel safe saying to those around you without fear of judgment is such a relieving time. Alone time, talking out loud, and then sitting in silence to just feel His love and His presence instead of filling that time with other’s thoughts and feelings and actually feeling our own emotions is essential to a relationship with Christ. Who would want to only text their boyfriend or husband for forever and not actually make a phone call or have a live conversation?
When I began my drive home from this trip, I realized that I was so grateful for the people in my life and I started praying aloud again thanking God for them. It was important then for me to realize that not only is God there when I am hurting, but He is still a God that cares when I am happy! James 5:13 states, “Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.”
So, let’s pray. Let’s pray loudly without fear of looking or feeling weird. Let’s pray loudly to our God, who has already won the battle. Who loves you without an “if.” Let’s make time to pray loudly in a quiet place. And let’s pray loudly in times of thanksgiving as well as in times of brokenness.
Kristie Brothers
Lean into Jesus Ministries
#kristiebrothersblogs
