Everyone faces trials and tribulations, but it is how you deal with these problems in life that describe who you are as a person. When I face problems in my life, I fall back on what I was taught as a child, and that is to pray. The power of prayer is so incredible and unlike anything else that I have ever witnessed in life. Growing up in a family who always had me go to church, I was given the opportunity to see just how powerful prayer can really be. I will never forget the first time I saw my church’s elders lay hands on someone in front of the congregation. The feeling that surged through my body was nothing less than the Holy Spirit.
Even with all that being said, I have fallen guilty of not praying. I am at a point in my life where things are constantly changing. Nothing stays the same for more than a couple weeks, but at the time it feels so major and significant. During these times, my initial reaction is to become completely overwhelmed and stressed out. It is a vicious cycle; I have a lot of seemingly important things happening at once and I get overwhelmed which leads me to stress out, and, then, I start to get anxious and doubt myself- putting me even further behind. Instead of stressing myself out I am trying to redirect my worries and anxiety to prayer.
Prayer often times has a stigma around it that whatever you say has to be well thought out and perfectly spoken; however, I believe it should be the exact opposite. Prayer should be passionate, raw, and something you do spur of the moment because you feel like it is what’s right.
I think many people do not turn to pray first because they believe prayer should be reserved for “big” things. However, in 1 Chronicles 16:11 it says, “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face ALWAYS”. That ‘always’ being there lets us know that nothing is too big or too small to pray about. I believe once people understand this, prayer will no longer be seen as a last resort.