Fumbling Toward Jesus: Praying BFF Prayers (Colossians 4:2)
Back in the 90s, MC Hammer said, “We got to pray just to make it today,” and he’s not wrong, y’all. Over the course of the next week, we are going to be looking closely at prayer. How to pray, what to pray about, and the myriad of examples of prayer we see throughout the Bible.
Looking at today’s verse, the word “devote” definitively means to literally “give over” yourself to the display, pursuit or study of something. This word choice is so appropriate. It’s not something we should approach half-heartedly. While we should approach God as we do a friend, we should not approach the concept of prayer as something casual in the sense that we just do it every once in a while or only when things are bad.
It’s something we need all the time.
Think about it in the context of friendship. If you have a friend who you never talk to, then you start to lose touch with that relationship. That’s not to say that we don’t have friends who we can just pick up with like we never left (my own re-dedication journey felt a little like this), but our closest friends are the ones who we invest our time and energy into building and maintaining relationships with. We call, we check in, we email, we Like their posts on social media. In short, we engage in activities to let that person know we’re still here and that we love them.
Why wouldn’t we want to also be that way with our Creator? I mean, it’s a huge massive deal that we can even talk to Him directly. He sent Jesus to die for our sins so we could have the privilege of coming to Him without a necessary additional sacrifice or intercessor—so why would we not want to hang out with Him?? It seriously makes no sense, but it’s a trap we often fall into.
All day every day, God wants so badly to be our BFF. Make time for prayer hangs with Him. Talk to Him, vent to Him, thank Him for being such a good Father. It’s about a super personal relationship. The most personal relationship possible. Our friends here on earth don’t actually know our minds and hearts—but God does! Consider this. Bond with Him in a genuine relationship. It has the potential to be the closest friendship you’ll ever experience in your life.
What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
And what a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer
Oh, what peace we often forfeit
Oh, what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged
Take it to the Lord in prayer
Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness
Take it to the Lord in prayer
“What A Friend We Have in Jesus”
(Joseph Scriven)
Just like any friendship, time is absolutely necessary to grow relationship. We’re so blessed to be able to talk to Him, and the sooner we truly recognize that, the sooner we receive the blessings that result from that quality time we spend together.
I am Jessamyn Orchard (@jessamynorchard), and I am a former youth pastor, worship minister, and church lay leader, who graduated from a Christian college. Most recently, however, I’m an addict in recovery who rededicated my life to Jesus about 6 months ago. I was raised in church, and saved at age 12, but I did a lot of straying over the past 10+ years, falling into pits of sin through addictions and self-pity. I’m no authority, just a believer in a big God and called to spread His word through as many conduits as present themselves to me. Fumbling Toward Jesus is a multi-media ministry campaign and includes a written blog of daily devotions on Steemit and an accompanying monthly podcast on Anchor.fm, and it represents years of study—both over the years and lately, and now combined with a whole load of human experience. I’m just a super nerdy sinner saved by a really awesome grace.
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A Sinful Woman Forgiven Series: Part I,Part II, Part III, Part IV
Keeing Negative Thoughts In Check (Philippians 4:8)
When Depression Strikes (1 Kings 19:5)
The Discipline of Darkness (Matthew 10:27)
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Any bold or italics used in scripture quotation is of my own emphasis.
All stock photography is sourced exclusively from pexels.com, and is used with permission. All image collages, photo editing, text addition, and image alterations are original to me.
