Hi friends! Today we’re continuing our Purpose-Full Mindset Series to help us stay in the right frame of mind to continue in pursuit of our God-given purpose. If you’re just joining in, welcome! Be sure to check out Key #1: PURGE that I shared last week so you’re all caught up. At the end of the series, I’ll be sharing a free printable Mindset Motivator to help you stay on track as you move forward in your purpose. So stay tuned!
Alrighty! Let’s dive right in.
KEY #2 FOR A PURPOSE-FULL MINDSET: PRAY
“The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply.” – Matthew 6:7-8, MSG
The thing is, we must pray both for purpose and with purpose in order for our prayers to be impactful. Clearing the clutter doesn’t just stop once we’ve gotten our hearts, minds, and homes in order. We’ve got to strip our prayers of all the fluff and really get to the heart of what prayer is really supposed to be. That’s what these verses in Matthew are about.
Here we’re reminded that God already knows what we need. He’s our all-knowing Father! That means we don’t have to try to butter him up or present a business case for why we’re asking for what we’re asking for. We cannot “convince” God of what we need. Moreover, prayer should not be treated as a negotiation. The purpose of prayer is communion: intimate connection with our Heavenly Father and Creator. When we go to Him out of a loving desire to nurture our relationship with Him, that’s when we’ll get to know His heart and He can show us things about His plans for our lives.
In Jeremiah 33:3 God says, “Ask me and I will tell you some remarkable secrets about what is going to happen here.” (NLT) He wants to have a relationship that’s close enough to tell secrets. The only way we can develop that kind of relationship with anyone is through communication. Consistent, meaningful communication. With God, that means regularly coming to Him in prayer and spending quality time there.
Now as admirable and wonderful as this sounds, I’ll be the first to admit it can be HARD! Whenever I make up my mind to pray, it seems like all the things pop up just to sabotage my focus and undermine my commitment. But I’m learning that whenever I just take the time no matter what, even if I’m running late or have something that requires my attention, somehow the time spent in prayer isn’t lost. It’s like the world waited for me. And my day always, always goes more smoothly when I start with prayer.
But… what are we praying for exactly?
That’s the beauty of a relationship with God – anything you want! When I taught Sunday School, I explained to my girls that I pretty much approach God as I would a good friend that’s sitting in the same room, right there next to me. There’s no formal tone or fancy words I feel I ought to say. I kind of just unload my heart and mind and get it all out there. Once that’s done, I pray for the things that I want to bring to God (people who need prayer, situations that need God’s intervention, etc.) and then I always make time to just listen. I think we get so caught up in the “what should we say” part that we forget communication requires dialogue. Prayer shouldn’t be a one-way street! If we want God to tell us His secrets, we kinda gotta let Him speak! Sounds obvious, but I know for me it’s too easy to just rattle off my list of “God bless this person, help me with that, show me what to do here…” and on and on. And then before I know it, I realize the time and bolt off to tackle the rest of my day. But when you pray as if you’re leaving God a voicemail, you don’t give Him the opportunity to actually answer you.
It’s in the listening that we get our answers. In those times of just letting God speak, either silently into our hearts or through His written Word, that we can gain clarity in our own purpose through communication with our Creator.
In his letter to the church of Ephesus, Paul writes, “Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:” (Ephesians 1:9, KJV). In this chapter he is describing to the members of this church how, as believers, God chose us for Himself and for His own purposes and adopted us as His children. It is out of that divine purpose that God desires us to be in relationship with Him so that He can reveal to us the intimate details of our higher created purpose–His will and plans for our lives.
Praying with purpose involves setting an intention to truly connect with God. All the superfluity gets us nowhere; it just makes prayer ritualistic, confusing and empty. When we decide we want to know Him and we want Him to know us, communicating with God in prayer becomes real, personal, and more meaningful. And it’s dynamic! It’s the most fulfilling relationship we can ever have, but it takes just as much commitment to nurture and maintain as any valued human relationship we have.
When we are able to open up the lines of authentic communication with God, we then become able to pray for purpose. We can ask God to reveal to us His secret plans for our lives and direct us in our pursuit of His divine purpose. He is faithful to give wisdom and understanding, help us put the pieces together, and order our steps if we let Him.
PRACTICAL TIPS:
- Keep a prayer journal where you can write down your requests as well as when and how God answers them.
- Schedule prayer time and commit to being there. Put it in your calendar and treat it like a work meeting. Be focused, be prepared, be a valuable participant and an active listener.
- Come to prayer as your whole authentic self. Remember, God created you just as you are and designed your purpose accordingly!
- Remember prayer is about relationship, not ritual!
Next week we’re on to Key #3: PRACTICE and you won’t want to miss it! Be sure to check back or subscribe below to get an email when the post goes live. Til next Monday, my dear friends. Have an awesome week!