By Lucas Pruett

I love to read. Early on in my professional career, I learned a quote that says “Leaders are readers.” I have a stack of five books on my desk that are my next up to read. Whenever one gets completed, I pick up the next one and add one to the bottom of the pile. I try my hardest to stick to the books that are in that pile. I tell you all this because I broke my tendency earlier this week. I went and found a book about prayer that wasn’t in my stack. You know why? Because prayer is something we are always learning and a class that will always be in session for the rest of our lives. I truly feel that prayer is that one thing that we can always improve. It is truly our lifeline. It is how God speaks into our hearts and how we commune with our heavenly father. It’s not stuffy or boring, but it is real and beautiful. I found myself only one chapter into this book of prayers and I was floored by what I found. It is a simple message and I would love to share it with you this week.

As humans, we desire love. We were born to recieve love and give love to others. The most important person that we need love from and that we need to give love back to is God. This is true because He is the one person we were designed to be in relationship with and to be in love with. Our heart beats with the one purpose of falling in love with God, whom Jesus is the exact image of. One of the primary ways we share love with God is through prayer. It is our avenue to connect, commune, and give and recieve love with our heavenly father. Prayer isn’t a good deed or a religious duty. It also isn’t a Christian magic trick to help us control all of life’s outcome. Prayer is opening our hearts to the One who is the source of all love. These are simple truths you all possibly may be aware of but they are also beautiful reminders. In Mark 1:11, we read “You are my child, my beloved, with you I am we pleased.” Prayer is us talking to our Father. Prayer is us talking to the one who loves us. Prayer is us talking to the one who is well-pleased with us and delights in us.

Out of this knowledge, the book I was reading became practical. It describes a process that happens when we pray. Man, it hit me square on. It was my most recent lesson in the school of prayer. When we share love with God through prayer, three things happen. 1.) We STOP AND TURN our heart’s eyes and ears to God. 2.) We STOP AND GIVE our attention to God. 3.) We STOP AND SPEND time with the One who loves us into being. I love how each of those things begin with the word STOP. Effective prayer begins with us being able to stop. Through stopping, we let go of control. We must stop. Furthermore, in the process of stopping, we walk through this process. We allow our hearts to turn to the father. We give Him our full attention. We spend time with the one who loves us into being. We are not stopping for no reason. We are stopping to commune with the one who dreamed us up, designed us, and has loved us through every twist and turn of the journey. Also, we are giving our good Father what he deserves, which is our heart and our attention. Beloved one, try this. Start with step one and that is just STOP. Then precede from there into the three areas of focus. My prayer is that you will learn this lesson from the school of prayer with me and that the kingdom of God would be glorified through our restored hearts, focused attention, and unshakeable love that is granted to us by the Father. As always, please let me know if you have any thoughts or questions for me! You can contact me at writingonpurpose@gmail.com.