Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Following a one-hour walk around and around my neighborhood, I considered my intention to sit and pray for a while. I should be too embarrassed to admit what happened next, but here it goes.

I was tired from a night of broken sleep and told God, “I might just skip praying this morning.” (See, I told you I should be embarrassed.) “Surely other people are praying right now. I know my dad and mom are praying and probably a lot of pastors are, too.”

“No one else is praying your prayers,” God spoke to my heart. It wasn’t an audible voice, but when the thoughts are so different from mine, I believe they are straight from my Heavenly Father. “Of your five children, which ones would you like to hear from every day?”

“All of them! I’d love to speak with each of them every day!”

“You are my child. I want to speak to you, and to all my children, every day.”

If your prayer list reflects mine, there are people, issues, and maybe even people’s issues on your list that date back a while. It’s not time to give up. For me, prayer sometimes feels like labor, and I believe that God births great things through our prayers.

While in labor for my first child, right before it got really hard, I wanted to go home and sleep. I thought that if only I could take a break, I’d return to the hospital the next day to finish the birthing process. Since I wasn’t given the option, I pressed on. God reminded me of that experience, and it was all it took to return my heart to prayer.

Since then, I’ve applied 1 Corinthians 15:58 to my prayer life, “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

Ronny Michel can be reached at rmichel@rtconline.com