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In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 we read: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Prayer is simply conversation with God, and that should be an on-going conversation, where at any time in any day you are so connected with God that you keep the conversation going.
I was thinking of the ways we stay connected now with the people in our lives. Because of all the technological advances and gadgets that we have, we truly can keep a conversation going just about all the time, can’t we? Well, don’t you think we should stay connected with God throughout our entire day at least as much as we do with our loved ones and friends?
I have a long-time friend who is a successful lawyer, and she incorporates prayer all through her day. I asked her how she keeps this continual conversation with God in the midst of a busy day, and how that affects her life. Here is how she replied.
“I have many goals every day as I work—like providing valuable legal advice, articulately presenting a client’s position, clearly and accurately drafting necessary documents—but there is no more important goal that I have in my work with clients and with co-workers than to show the love of Jesus to them in every interaction. I try to pray before every call, every meeting, and even as I am walking through the halls of my office, that I will show Jesus’ love. I text my prayer partners before important calls and meetings to pray that I will show Jesus’ love to everyone. It changes everything about how I see people and how I treat them. It helps me focus on the most important thing—the love of Jesus. And no matter what the outcome is of the call/meeting/interaction, whether I performed well or whether I delivered the value that I wanted to deliver to our client, if I was able to share just a tiny bit of the love that Jesus has given me, then I consider it a success and not a failure because love never fails.”
I am one of her prayer partners and I love the way she brings a conversation of God into everything she does. She prays on all occasions with all kinds of prayers, and as we read in James, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16b). When you have been born from above and the righteousness of Jesus has been given to you, then you can claim this promise, that your prayers are powerful and effective, because you have the righteousness of Christ.
I strongly urge you to keep a conversation going with God all day long. His Spirit is totally with you and is attentive to your prayer, so pray! And remember, there are no pointless prayers!