Let’s Dance: Leading My Prayers – Tuesday
Matthew 6:6
“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (ESV)
During the end of my sophomore year of college, I ended up getting to the library on UK’s campus at 6:00 in the morning on Tuesdays and Thursdays (those who know me at my current stage in life are probably shocked by this because I am notoriously never awake before 7:30am these days). This wasn’t necessarily by choice, but with an 8am class on both days, it made sense to get there a little early to finish some assignments and get ahead on my work before the day started.
The spring semester of my sophomore year was a particularly transformative time in my walk with Jesus. After spending almost two years running from Him, I had fully re-surrendered my life back to the Lord and was learning how to mold my daily rhythms around being a follower of Jesus. While I knew how to study my Bible, prayer was something that I didn’t really practice. But there was one thing that I DID practice, and that was the art of journaling (an on-and-off habit I had developed as an 8-year-old after my Gram gave me a little red notebook with a puppy illustration on it…complete with its own locking mechanism!). Although I knew that my dialogue with God in my spoken prayers was stiff and formal, I also knew that *maybe* if I could get my thoughts down on pen and paper…it would feel a little less daunting.
It was during those early mornings in the Willy T Library that I began to journal my prayers. For the rest of my sophomore year and well into my junior year I continued to write out my prayers every Tuesday and Thursday morning. The hiddenness of writing down my prayers allowed space for me to come before Jesus in a posture of deeper vulnerability. I wasn’t trying to come before Him polished and “perfect”, but instead, gave Him my messy scribbles and insecurities spilled out onto a piece of paper.
Tuesday’s Reflection
This week, go to Him in vulnerability. Don’t worry about how you sound or having the right words. Just go to your Father and tell Him what’s on your heart and on your mind.