James 5:16
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. (NLT)

Have you ever seen a news clip of an elderly couple being asked what their secret to a successful marriage has been? A lot of the time, the answers are either a joke or a pretty simple life lesson: Don’t go to bed angry. Talk out your differences. Be good to each other and make each other laugh. They’re usually very in tune with each other, finishing each other’s sentences, and totally aware of what the other will likely say or do.

Imagine if, at the end of the interview, the couple revealed that they only spoke for 30 seconds in the morning or at night every once in a while. It’d be pretty shocking!

Unfortunately, our efforts to connect with God are often more like a 30-second conversation every once in a while if we aren’t diligent. It’s an oversimplified example, but it’s one I’ve used with my high school small group—not as a guilt trip, but rather, to illustrate the opportunity we have. Most of us have just seen the tip of the iceberg of what a dedicated prayer life can bring. I’ve heard it called “a life of prayer” to turn the idea around. Practically, I find my life slower, calmer, less drastic, less important, and less self-centered when I break out of a tunnel-visioned week and move toward a prayer-driven one.

It’s not easy! And it definitely doesn’t come naturally, but if we can establish a habit of waking in prayer, living in prayer, and resting in prayer, then we can prioritize what Jesus prioritized and grow to be a bit more like Him. And eventually, prayer will become our first solution and our go-to, rather than a have-to or last resort.

Thursday’s Reflection

Pray throughout your day today, earnestly—in your frustrations, celebrations, and even in the mundane. God wants a relationship with you and already knows what you need and what you’re doing, but He wants to hear it from you—because that’s a real relationship.