Philippians 4:6-7
I woke up almost forty minutes late this morning. I had to forego my exercise routine because I am still working, although it is from home. I must be at my desk at 8:00 a.m. and ready to go! I washed my face and went down to my regular spot at the table to write out my daily Scriptures, but before I even started to write out the day’s passage of Scripture, God spoke to me. Yes, right there at my dining room table, God pricked my heart about something I had been neglecting just in these past two weeks! (Shame on me! I should know better!)
Then, I opened up my Bible to today’s passage, and He reiterated to me what He had JUST told me a few moments before I sat down! Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
I have been trying so hard to keep my morning routine the same even though I am working from home, and for the most part, it has stayed the same. The only thing that has really changed is that I do not leave in my car at 7:30 a.m. to drive to work. I simply get dressed, eat breakfast, go to my desk, and prepare to login to my Remote Desktop. I really love how convenient this is!
It is so easy to just go through the motions of doing everything the same way, day in and day out, and not really do everything the same way. It is easy to forget to do certain things every day when our routines have been slightly disrupted. If we are not careful, there is one thing in our daily routines that can be affected. Sadly, it is one of the most important things we should do as Christians—PRAY.
To be completely honest, I have always struggled with my prayer life, or better yet, with making the time to pray, especially for others. I always envied my husband’s prayer life and the ease with which he was able to pray to God. Eventually, I came to accept the fact that I was not my husband and my prayer life would never be the same as his prayer life. However, I still needed to have a prayer life.
Admittedly, it was not easy for me, but I set out to find a way to let my requests be made known unto God. I could not let the busyness of my life affect my Bible study and prayer time. There had to be a way to incorporate at least fifteen minutes of prayer into my life every day! I found a few ways that have helped me stay connected with God in prayer. One of those ways helps me in particular to keep those who are important in my life lifted up in prayer.
I pray in my car before leaving my driveway. God says …in every thing…, right? Hence, before I pull out of my driveway, I ask God to put a circle of protection about my vehicle. It may seem silly, but as I pray these words, I imagine the Lord sending His angels to encircle my vehicle, sprint alongside it, and keep me safe. Just because I am working from home does not mean I cannot do the same thing. I should not neglect to pray for a circle of God’s protection around me and my home in just the same way I pray for His circle of protection around me as I commute to work.
I pray in my car on the way to work. I have a prayer journal that helps me keep everyone for whom I need to pray and everything for which I need to pray organized. I pray for specific things every day.
- On Sunday, I pray for our government, our country and its leaders.
- On Monday, I pray for all of the widows I know personally and otherwise.
- On Tuesday, I pray for other people and their needs.
- On Wednesday, I pray for my children and their families.
- On Thursday, I pray for my church and its ministries.
- On Friday, I pray specifically for my pastors and their families.
- On Saturday, I pray for myself.
I use the fifteen minutes I have in my car every morning to pray for these people and things. Just because I am not praying for these things in my car on the way to work because of working from home does not mean I should not pray for these things in the same way—fifteen minutes before I login to my Remote Desktop.
I have learned to pray in the moment for others. Sometimes it is necessary to stop and pray for someone or something. So many times, when I have received a prayer request from friends and family through a text message or an email asking me to pray for certain things, I have found that if I do not stop right then and there to pray, I will forget about it. I do not want to be that person who just says she will pray; I want to be one of those who really does pray!
Just as we are so careful about keeping the rest of our daily routines as normal as possible, we also must be careful not to become lazy in our prayer routines. We must keep it the same and not let it fall by the wayside!
More than ever, we need to be in prayer for each other and for our country as we go through these difficult times. Prayer should not be neglected. We need to keep our prayer times consistent and fervent. Not praying for God’s circle of protection around each other in these uncertain times is not an option. It is a necessity! We must not let the days go by without lifting up each other in prayer.
by April Hernandez
