Please help me, Lord, I prayed. Please make this easy.

My dentist visits are times of fervent prayer. During even the simplest of procedures, I almost always end up crying from anxiety, at least a little, and it seemed the recent visit to fill two cavities would be no different. As the dentist came at me with the needle, I prayed harder in my mind. Please help me get through this. My prayer was desperate, pleading.

Then something life-changing happened. The dentist poked the needle into my gum, and I stopped praying. I quit begging God to help me. Instead, I began to thank God for being so good. I changed my prayers into praises, and the panic lifted--it dissolved and floated toward the heavens with my words of adoration. It was the most painless injection of Novocain ever. So, I kept praising, right through the drilling, and the result was nothing short of miraculous.     

You are Magnificent, Marvelous, Wonderful, Worthy. Magnificent, Marvelous, Wonderful, Worthy. Over and over, I offered those words silently. At some point, I remember thanking God for a good dentist who can fix my teeth.

In a gentle voice, the dentist said, "You're doing good," as he worked. He always says that, because he's kind and genuinely empathetic about my anxiety. But for the first time, I actually felt like I was doing okay. Not just getting by. Not just managing. I was good. 

Psalm 34:1 rang in my mind. I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. And though the praises weren't actually coming from my mouth--a little hard to do when your teeth are being drilled--they were there in my heart, thanks to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, Who knew what I needed to do. God heard my original request to make the visit easy, and He used my praises to accomplish it.  
  
I've visited the dentist a lot over the past year, since I finally decided to prioritize oral health over my fear, and I've still got a few more visits left to get all the problems corrected. But if I can just remember my "secret weapon," I don't think I'll dread the next visit so much. Now to try praising the Lord on an elevator... 
 
What makes you panic? Maybe praise is your answer, too. 

Have you ever been praying and realized your words were actually from His Word? We know God speaks to us through the scripture, but we can use the scripture in our communication to Him as well.

We are given the model prayer by Our Lord in Matthew 6 and in Luke 11, and there is power in reciting this prayer (sincerely and not out of vain repetition) every day. Indeed, all our prayers should center around four words from the Lord's Prayer: "Thy will be done."

But I'd like to present you with some other verses that can be used in prayer. From the Old Testament, I like to use the words from the heart of King David in the book of Psalms as my own plea to God. There are so many we can reference, but for today, these are the verses I've connected together as my personal prayer. This is what is on my heart:

"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psalms 19:14) Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalms 51:10) Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness. (Psalms 143:10) From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. (Psalms 61:2)"

The words from Psalms need no editing, because they are already directed to God. From the New Testament, I've taken the prayer of the Apostle Paul for the church at Phillipi and personalized it.

This prayer is based on Philippians 1:9-11:

"May my love abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,that I may approve the things that are excellent, that I may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."

What more can we ask for in life than to grow in love, for the glory of God? This is my sincere prayer.

The Word is full of examples of righteous requests we can make. Thankfully, we also have the Holy Spirit to guide us in our communication with God, we have Jesus as our intercessor with the Father, and there is no required formula or specific liturgy needed.

​1 John 5:14,15 says:
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

Whatever format you use, take time to talk to God today.

Thank you, Lord, for my children and for the gift of summer vacation.
As this new school year begins, I pray for your blessings on them:

Lord, please give my children Christian teachers.  Let the people who lead and teach them be led and taught by You.
​
Surround my children with kind and patient authority figures, who are also consistent and structured.

Lord, please help my children know and remember their identity in You.  Help them understand how You see them .

Help my children have a healthy self-esteem throughout the school year.  Let them be confident in how well You made them.

Lord, please put people in my children's paths that will encourage them, motivate them, inspire them, and guide them in the right way.

Give them friends who will encourage them in their faith, and let my children encourage others. Teach them how to be a friend.

Please let my children encounter people who are different from them, so they will see how creative You are in Your most important handiwork.

May you expand my children's knowledge of science this year, so they will marvel at Your awesome creation.  Let them learn more about the history of the people you have placed on this earth, so they can learn from the mistakes and the successes of the past.  Give them a passion for reading, and for language, so they will learn how to think and to communicate.  And, let each lesson my children are taught contain only truth.

Teach them how to be responsible.  Teach them how to deal with stresses and pressures.
Please give my children endurance to accomplish the tasks set before them every day.  Help them to try their best at everything, with a good attitude.  Give them a healthy pride in their accomplishments at school.  Please teach them to accept and learn from their mistakes.
​
Father, let this be a fun and happy school year.  I pray school will be a joyful place for my children to spend their days.  I pray this year will be exciting and memorable to them.

Please protect my children from all mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual harm.  Guard them, Lord, with Your strong hand.

Help my children to let their light shine for You.  Please present them with opportunities to show people Your love, at school and everywhere they go.

Above all, let Your will be done in the lives of my children.
​
​Amen

I've always admired people who are "prayer warriors", but I have to admit, I've never felt like I fall into that category.  Don't get me wrong- I enjoy talking to God, and prayer is certainly a daily practice for me, but I am so easily distracted that I often don't spend enough quality time in prayer.  While my intention is not to absolve myself, I had a revelation recently that made me feel better about my prayer life, but most importantly, it filled me with awe about God's grace.

I often find myself whispering the words, "Your will be done, Lord"- when I'm driving, when I'm walking into my office, when I'm cleaning the house.  My mind might be in a million different places, but those words will squeeze their way into my thoughts and I'll direct them to Him.  It was while listening to a radio sermon about the Lord's Prayer a few days ago that God spoke to my spirit about this.  I felt Him say that every time I had whispered those words, He had received them as a prayer and had acted on my behalf.  He honored my five-word prayer.  I suddenly felt like He has been ordering my steps, in part, because of my feeble little prayer for His will to be done.  And then it made so much sense- little prayers are heard by a big God!  I've known this for a long time, but it seemed God was making it a special point to remind me.

Let's take a look at three "little" prayers in the bible that had great impact.

• Judges 16:28: "And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes."  After his prayer, Samson was given the strength to destroy the temple of Dagon.  
• Matthew 8:2: "And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean."  After his prayer, the leper was cleansed.
• Luke 23:42: "And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. " After his prayer, the thief was promised eternal life.

In all three of these examples, the petitions were granted, even though the words spoken were few.  It didn't take great orations or lengthy invocations to move the heart of God.  It seems when it comes to prayer, quality is more important than quantity, and what qualifies a prayer as effective is the faith behind it.

To be sure, the more we can pray, with faith, the better!  I know I should still strive daily to spend more time in prayer.  There are so many things about which to pray- our families; our nation and leaders; our churches; our spiritual growth; non-believing loved ones.  And those are just requests!  We could spend 24/7 offering prayers of thanksgiving and praise!  But, my point is that we shouldn't discount those quick prayers we utter throughout the day.  1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, "Pray without ceasing."  I think that can look like this:

"Lord, help me on this test."

"Please bless my children."

"Make me more like You."

"Give us opportunities to show Your love."

"Thank you."

I'm so glad God hears and responds to "little" prayers, as well as the "big" ones.

Lord, I'm so tired today- feeling like there's no way I can possibly be all the things I need to be, to all the people who need me; feeling like a mental, emotional, or physical breakdown is soon-coming and it's a toss-up as to which happens first.

Then the guilt comes. How can I complain about being tired when there are people battling cancer today?  How can I complain about having so much to do when there are people longing for children to keep them busy and hoping for jobs to help pay their bills?  Then I hear You whisper "It's okay."

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Thank you, Father. 

But, I don't want the world to see my rotten attitude and my down-trodden expression. I represent You!  What if they see the way I struggle today and get the wrong idea about Your Goodness?

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Thank you, Lord, for knowing what I need. 

And now that You've given me Grace in exchange for my guilt, and Strength in exchange for me weakness, now, and only now, can I focus on serving those around me, and on being Your hands and feet. 

Lord, help me fulfill the commission.  Let me not get in the way. Help me live Philippians 4:13, because it's True!  I CAN do all things through Christ who gives me strength. And now that this truth has been proven in me, let me share it with someone who hasn't quite caught on yet. 

Let me be redemption, and not judgement. 

Let me be truth, and not confusion.

Let me be hope, and not disillusionment.

Let me be a help, and not a hindrance. 

Let me build up, and not tear down. 


No. Matter. How. Tired. I. Am. 

Your Grace is sufficient. 


In my weakness Your strength is demonstrated. 

Let me slip off the yoke of the world and follow Your lead. 

You are El Shaddai, and I am Yours. 


Matthew 11
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.