July 20, 2018 at 10:54 am

Why Prayer Is
So Important
Five reasons why prayer is the answer
when life turns upside down.
Written by Janet Perez Eckles

The Lord is there to rescue
all who are discouraged and
have given up hope.
— Psalm 34:18
The doctor’s news crushed me. I
squirmed on the examining chair.
“There is nothing that can be done for
this retinal disease,” he said as he pulled
back from examining my eyes. “No one
knows how long you’ll have your sight.
You need to prepare for the inevitable.”
He was right. Despite my frantic search
for a cure, a few months later my vision
closed in completely. Horrified, anxious
and desperate, I trembled at the notion
that without sight, I would not be able
to care for my three small sons. I tossed
awake at night questioning God.
Where was He? Why didn’t He hear my
prayers as I begged for a miracle? Hope
threatened to leave me.
But one day God showed up. That day a
friend invited me to a Christian church,
and everything changed. My eyesight
wasn’t healed, but my heart was. I faced
my need to know Christ. I realized the
emptiness that ruled my life was
because I had prayer all wrong. I had
asked and asked some more. But prayer
required something more, something that
made our communication powerful. And
that involved listening.
To my relief, after months of soaking my
soul in His Word, I added listening to my
prayer time. And through that prayer
relationship with Him, He revealed these
five promises to calm my soul:
1. He will transform.
God was about to transform me as I
invited Christ to be my Lord of all. And
through Him, God made me righteous.
He saw my tears, knew my desperation,
and heard my cries. “If you obey the
Lord, he will watch over you and answer
your prayers.” Psalm 34:15
2. He reassures.
When loneliness tried to come in, God
reassured me I wasn’t alone. His army
of angels would stand with me, by me,
and around me. “If you honor the Lord,
his angel will protect you.” Psalm 34:7
3. He strengthens.
Those days when I lacked the emotional
strength to be a mom and wife, God’s
promise to provide soothed me. “You
rule with strength and power. You make
people rich and powerful and famous.” 1
Chronicles 29:12
4. He guards.
When tempted to succumb to anxiety,
worry or fear, God’s instructions were
clear and beautifully reassuring. “Don’t
worry about anything, but pray about
everything. With thankful hearts offer up
your prayers and requests to God. Then,
because you belong to Christ Jesus, God
will bless you with peace that no one
can completely understand. And this
peace will control the way you think and
feel.” Philippians 4:6-7
5. He answers.
When I needed comfort to face a lifetime
of blindness, or in small things like
sorting my sons’ clothes or finding rides
to doctors’ appointments, I trusted. I
believed. And I was confident that God
would help me because… “We are certain
that God will hear our prayers when we
ask for what pleases him. And if we
know that God listens when we pray, we
are sure that our prayers have already
been answered.” 1 John 5:14-15
God’s healing came, not through my
physical eyesight, but through the
spiritual eyes of my heart. I saw how
prayer is a sweetly personal conversation
with Him. It’s the direct connection
between me, a mere human with the
divine Lord. And it’s the channel through
which I receive all that’s good in order
to bring peace to my nights and joy to
my days.
Pray this week:
Father, I praise you
because you heard my sobs
at night. You saw my
struggles as you’re aware of
my inadequacies. And I
praise you because our
conversation-filled prayer
gives me the confidence to
believe that there is no
battle I face that you won’t
win for me. And there is no
struggle I encounter that
you won’t bring victory. In
Jesus’ name. Amen.
What prayer is your heart echoing right
now?
Five reasons why prayer is the answer
when life turns upside down.
Written by Janet Perez
The Lord is there to rescue
all who are discouraged and
have given up hope.
— Psalm 34:18
The doctor’s news crushed me. I
squirmed on the examining chair.
“There is nothing that can be done for
this retinal disease,” he said as he pulled
back from examining my eyes. “No one
knows how long you’ll have your sight.
You need to prepare for the inevitable.”
He was right. Despite my frantic search
for a cure, a few months later my vision
closed in completely. Horrified, anxious
and desperate, I trembled at the notion
that without sight, I would not be able
to care for my three small sons. I tossed
awake at night questioning God.
Where was He? Why didn’t He hear my
prayers as I begged for a miracle? Hope
threatened to leave me.
But one day God showed up. That day a
friend invited me to a Christian church,
and everything changed. My eyesight
wasn’t healed, but my heart was. I faced
my need to know Christ. I realized the
emptiness that ruled my life was
because I had prayer all wrong. I had
asked and asked some more. But prayer
required something more, something that
made our communication powerful. And
that involved listening.
To my relief, after months of soaking my
soul in His Word, I added listening to my
prayer time. And through that prayer
relationship with Him, He revealed these
five promises to calm my soul:
1. He will transform.
God was about to transform me as I
invited Christ to be my Lord of all. And
through Him, God made me righteous.
He saw my tears, knew my desperation,
and heard my cries. “If you obey the
Lord, he will watch over you and answer
your prayers.” Psalm 34:15
2. He reassures.
When loneliness tried to come in, God
reassured me I wasn’t alone. His army
of angels would stand with me, by me,
and around me. “If you honor the Lord,
his angel will protect you.” Psalm 34:7
3. He strengthens.
Those days when I lacked the emotional
strength to be a mom and wife, God’s
promise to provide soothed me. “You
rule with strength and power. You make
people rich and powerful and famous.” 1
Chronicles 29:12
4. He guards.
When tempted to succumb to anxiety,
worry or fear, God’s instructions were
clear and beautifully reassuring. “Don’t
worry about anything, but pray about
everything. With thankful hearts offer up
your prayers and requests to God. Then,
because you belong to Christ Jesus, God
will bless you with peace that no one
can completely understand. And this
peace will control the way you think and
feel.” Philippians 4:6-7
5. He answers.
When I needed comfort to face a lifetime
of blindness, or in small things like
sorting my sons’ clothes or finding rides
to doctors’ appointments, I trusted. I
believed. And I was confident that God
would help me because… “We are certain
that God will hear our prayers when we
ask for what pleases him. And if we
know that God listens when we pray, we
are sure that our prayers have already
been answered.” 1 John 5:14-15
God’s healing came, not through my
physical eyesight, but through the
spiritual eyes of my heart. I saw how
prayer is a sweetly personal conversation
with Him. It’s the direct connection
between me, a mere human with the
divine Lord. And it’s the channel through
which I receive all that’s good in order
to bring peace to my nights and joy to
my days.
Pray this week:
Father, I praise you
because you heard my sobs
at night. You saw my
struggles as you’re aware of
my inadequacies. And I
praise you because our
conversation-filled prayer
gives me the confidence to
believe that there is no
battle I face that you won’t
win for me. And there is no
struggle I encounter that
you won’t bring victory. In
Jesus’ name. Amen.
What prayer is your heart echoing right
now?