The first time I remember crying out to God, I was small and scared and just surfaced from below a violent wave. I didn’t know a lot about Jesus, but I knew He is God and He would hear me and help me. And so I prayed.

As if I was the only voice in a world of violent waves, God heard me and answered and saved me that day. I never forgot my first lesson in prayer. If not for the Lord who hears and answers me, I would have been swallowed up.

“Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty!” (Psalm 93:4)

I had no idea that day by the Cape Hatteras lighthouse that life would be full of so many violent waves. Some waves imprint prayer-moments on my mind and heart, some too personal to blog about, but never too personal to pray about. Prayer works in every season of life.

• When I was a girl, I prayed out of fear.
• When I was a teenager, I prayed for direction, forgiveness and courage.
• When I became a woman, I prayed for patience, understanding and protection.

Prayer works in every season of life, and we desperately need it in every season. As I’ve grown, I’ve learned to give thanks and praise, to pray just for pleasure and to feed familiarity with my heavenly Father. My cries for help grew into conversations with the God of the waves. I began to see that almost being swallowed helps me know Him.

Each stage of life brings new discoveries in this practice of prayer. But since prayer has such potential for rescue and provision, we shouldn’t be surprised our Enemy does all he can to spoil it. The distractions he has used have matured as I’ve matured, until now he uses good things like housework and church work to keep me from conversation with the God I need as much now as when I first cried out.

Prayer obstacles

I hear others struggling with the same obstacles to a strong prayer life.

• We’re busy.
• We’re overwhelmed.
• We’re not comfortable with being vulnerable.
• We’re distracted.
• We’re online.
• We’re independent.

• We long for peace, but we spend little time listening and talking to the Peace giver.
• Waves. Waves keep coming, and we’re not sure how to cry out, but we wish we did.

August may not technically start a new season on your calendar, but it starts a new season for me: new school year, new college semester, new ministry year, new schedule, new opportunities. So we’re going to focus on PRAYER: Learning to bask in the peace of conversations with God and practicing the power of prayer before we come up sputtering from a wave that threatens to undo us.

Prayer helps

Join me for the next 7 days as my friend Heather and I share a devotional challenge. We’ll answer questions women (some moms) ask about prayer and invite you to walk alongside us. Maybe you’re just learning to pray, trying to get into a rhythm, or longing to go deeper. For the next 7 days, we’ll focus on habits of prayer. After that, I’ll share lots more how to printables and helps to rejuvenate your prayer life (and mine!).

Heather and I have prepared a FREE eBook called Let’s Talk About Prayer. It’s aimed at moms, but it has nuggets for all women. All current email subscribers will get the link, and I’ll send it to all new subscribers as a thank you. You’ll receive the PDF version that answers questions about making prayer part of your life.

Prayer works in every season of life, and I desperately need it in every season. Let’s Talk About Prayer!

To receive a FREE PDF copy of Let’s Talk about Prayer, subscribe to email updates from Come Have a Peace. If you are already subscribed, watch your email Monday morning! 😉

August subscribers will receive the free PDF eBook via email.