For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

I Peter 3:12

One of my favorite Scriptures is Matthew 11:12: …the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. One aspect of advancing the kingdom of God is by boldly laying hold of the promises of God through prayer. As believers we are called to be bold in prayer, to use prayer as one of the keys of the kingdom, and to believe that the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. (Matthew 16:17-19) I used to think of prayer only as something that I was supposed to do to communicate with God, but throughout the years I have learned that prayer is working alongside the Lord to bring His kingdom and His will to earth! What an awesome responsibility we have to advance His kingdom here on earth through prayer. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we often do it by rote, but when we really ponder the words that we are saying, they are powerful indeed. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. We must be bold and diligent to go before the Lord in prayer and work towards the advancement of His kingdom here on earth! When we pray for God’s will to be done, we are asking for heaven to invade earth; we are asking for God to send the resources of heaven into our families, our workplace, our relationships.

The eyes of God are on the righteous and He hears our prayers. As we grow in our relationship with Christ, we begin to realize that although He already knows what is in our hearts, prayer is the tool that draws us into a closer relationship with Him. Although He knows what we desire in prayer, He longs to communicate with us. Prayer, like communication, is a two-way conversation.

The next time you pray, wait and listen to the Lord. He longs to communicate with you, too.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for the gift of communication through prayer. Thank you for the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who has made a way for me to approach Your throne room. Help me to remember to listen as You communicate Your heart to me.

In Jesus’ name, Amen