"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take."
Proverbs 3:5–6 (NLT)What does it look like to walk with God in all things great and small?
What can happen if we invite our Heavenly Father into the smallest, most mundane tasks to the principal crux-point decisions, situations, and events of life?
God is available to us in our highest highs of joy, celebration, and achievement as well as in the deepest moments of physical, emotional, or spiritual pain, fear, anxiety, confusion, doubt, and misery.
It is in all of these moments that our Father, our Guardian, wants to hold you.
All these life markers, and every point in between, is part of a life designed perfectly with the purpose for us to experience the gamut. It's also one of the ways our Designer prompts us to make a bid for Him. His aim is for us to invite Him into our experience.
God wants us to open to Him willfully, intentionally, and decisively.
He draws us in by massaging our hearts. He can melt our hearts with the realization that the wins and victories in our lives come from Him and conversely, He can soften our hearts because we feel lost, hopeless and not sure we can or want to continue. A life typically gets all of these colors of experience.
Science has finally caught up in seeing the connection between our biology and our inclination for deeper meaning, spiritual experience, transcendence, and a connection beyond ourselves.
We are wired to be connected to our Creator, to feel God and to want attuned to our Higher Source.
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart..."
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV)When we pray and give thanks it feeds our neuroanatomy with life-bringing nutrients in blood flow and triggers the release of calming, pleasing, and connecting brain chemistry. Practicing that consistently brings us peace, resilience, and emotional well-being.
That spiritual devotion aligns your soul with those positive frequencies. When that alignment is achieved and you commune with God, it opens up the door to manifesting the dreams and desire in your life.
By way of this relationship with God, He gives us the ability to ask for the What and then we're to sit in patience and faith as HE unfolds the How.
You will find your highest state of being and bounty by, in all things, walking in step and staying in conversation with our Master Guide.
"God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us."
Acts 17:27Invite our Lord in and see what happens, what changes, and how prosperity starts to flow in all.
Everyday Opportunities to Partner with God
Here are just a few examples of places to ask God to be a part:
- Relationships: Invite God into any relationship, perhaps one that is just starting or one that needs reconciliation and renewal… whether with a spouse, a parent, a child, a friend, a co-worker and observe the flowers that blossom in ways that you've never experienced before.
- Family Struggles: Ask God to show His presence in a family struggle, dispute, or impasse, when you can figure no common path and you feel like hope is lost, and revel in how resolution, love, and harmony ensue.
- Making an Impact: Appeal to God when you are wanting to make an impact and to give back to the world. You may not know where to start or how it can possibly come to fruition but with that simple, heartfelt plea you'll enjoy how everything falls into place with a smoothness and ease that is uncanny and unprecedented.
- Facing Futility: When you feel like you are on your last option and your efforts seem to be futile in a difficult situation, by seeking His assistance, He will settle things in an order that changes the course and assures a new fulfilling trajectory.
- Health & Healing: If a health crisis is afoot or there's a body part or system that needs fortification but you've "tried everything", the options seem pointless and you don't know how it can possibly change, the prayer for healing and surrender can unlock the system and allow vitality to flow back in as well as the needed resources and practitioners to enter your life.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart... in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
Proverbs 3:5–6There are infinite other opportunities to partner with the Most High.
Consider making prayer something you do more readily and more often as a first step in your solution, not a last ditch, desperate, I've-run-out-of-options attempt. The results in your life and your experience will be astounding, awe-inspiring, and self-evident.
Tips and Support for Prayer
In the ideal scenario, you would bring yourself to a quiet place where there are no distractions:
- A favored place in your garden
- A peaceful location in your home
- A spot in nature that fills your heart with gladness
But this also can (and should) be done at times that you don't have the option to pick your environment and control your setting:
- While stopped in traffic
- The time between making phone calls
- When you come to consciousness in the morning, before you even open your eyes
- When you've closed your eyes for the day and you're inviting sleep
- While you're sitting in quiet reflection
- Before you eat a meal
- While on a walk, hike, swimming laps, or doing cardio exercise
- As you're showering or brushing your teeth
4 Steps to Deepening Your Prayer Practice
- Breathe & Expand: Start with a deep and nourishing breath through your nose, allowing your belly to expand. Hold it for a count of 3-5 seconds. Then release the breath with a long, liberating exhale that you follow to its most comfortable end. Sighing audibly is welcome.
- Present Moment: Come fully into the present moment.
- Feel Your Heart: Take a moment to feel the sentiments that your heart is experiencing. Take your time in finding and selecting the words that match as closely as possible the feelings of your heart.
- Speak Consciously: Allow words to start rolling from your consciousness. Speaking out loud, even in a whisper, will help you from getting sidetracked and losing your way. If you get stuck, you can say something like, "If I knew what I wanted to say, what would I say?" or "Please God, I know you know my heart." Try to keep speaking. Often it will become an outpouring that brings immediate relief, release, and a change of your emotional state.
"Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge."
Psalm 62:8 (NIV)When the occasion allows, pray with another to magnify your plea.
"For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them."
Matthew 18:19–20 (NIV)A Closing Prayer
"Thank you God for wanting a relationship with us. We are so very fortunate that You, Creator of all creation, would want to be involved intimately in all the details of our life. You propel us into successes, cover us when we need support, and comfort us when we feel out of possibilities. You are always there. Thank you for Your kindness, grace, guidance, and love.
In Jesus name,
Amen"
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
Philippians 4:6