this past weekend I attended a women’s conference that ended with a beautiful ceremony where each woman was crowned and prophesied over.  Full disclosure, my company co-sponsored the event but I had no control over what God would reveal during this program!

My dear sister in Christ began prophesying over me by telling me that God considers me a covert prayer warrior. While I may feel that no one knows, God does. My words have power, a ripple effect. Like the pebble that gets thrown in the pond, it never sees the ripples across the water above it, so am I to my prayers and words of encouragement.

How encouraging! I was so blessed by these words. I recalled a blog post I wrote last year that I never published about my secret prayers. I didn’t publish it because i was concerned that my intentions would be misunderstood. But I’m feeling like God wants me to stop over thinking, and just share.

The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 that we should, pray without ceasing. There will always be times in our lives that we need to hunker down in our prayer closets and pray those powerful, mountain-moving prayers. But what Paul is telling us in Thessalonians is that those constant, little, daily prayers are necessary. Pray when presented with a need — when you hear a siren, when you see someone who is unwell or in need, when you see a tragedy on the news, when gossip should really be a prayer — don’t wait, just pray.  Short, sincere prayers can be prayed without ceasing.

In Matthew 5:5, the Bible warns us not to be hypocrites and pray so that others intentionally see that we’re praying, but that God will bless us for these secret prayers.

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Matthew 5:6

I started this blog with a completely different goal, but I think God wanted something more intentional here. Know that when it doesn’t feel like anything is happening, it is. Your prayers, your words are like incense ascending into heaven, directly to the throne of God.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 1 John 5:14

Finally , Paul reminds us in Timothy 2:1-3 that our prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings made on behalf of all men allow us to live a life in peace. And this is good and acceptable to God.

Amen.

Blessed to be a blessing,