“Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will make the answers known to you through Jesus Christ”. (Philippians 4:6‭-‬7 TPT).

I’ve been on a journey of exploring purpose for quite a while now. Recently, God has been focusing my attention on the importance of praying and reading His word. When we spend time in conversation with him, we get a clearer picture of who we are, that is, who He says we are, and the purpose that He has for our lives.

Prayer and studying God’s word positively impact our lives. We are not like the average person, we are children of the Lord God Almighty who created the entire universe. Our reality is not the same as ‘mere humans’ who aren’t empowered by the Holy Spirit, and who are not part of the Kingdom of God. ‘We have power over all the works of the devil and nothing can harm us, we can do greater things than those that Christ did while on the earth, we can command mountains, trees, and seas’. Can you see the truth of your reality?

Consider Mary the mother of Jesus, like her, God has a specific purpose for you to fulfill, and He has planted that seed within you and will empower you to, not only carry it to term, but to see it grow and thrive and fulfill its purpose.

This is a good time to pause for introspection. Ask God to clarify the vision that He has given you. “He’s not the author of confusion…” (1 Corinthians 14:33), He wants you to have clear sight. When you see the vision, it’s okay to ask as Mary did in Luke 1:34, “But how could this happen?”

When we are entrusted with ‘Big’ assignments, things that haven’t been done before, we often get stuck because we look internally for the resources to complete them. That’s likely what Mary did initially, she considered the impossibility of a virgin becoming pregnant and giving birth. Let’s explore Mary’s process.

Verse 37 gives part of the angel’s response to Mary’s question, “Not one promise from God is empty of power, for nothing is impossible with God!”

Then in verse 38, Mary gets it and responds, “This is amazing! I will be a mother for the Lord! As his servant, I accept whatever he has for me. May everything you have told me come to pass.” And the angel left her.

I know you’re thinking that wasn’t much of a process, and you are correct, it was super short! If I were Mary, I would have had at least 5 additional questions, and that would have been perfectly fine because that’s just how God made me. The important thing in the process, whether long or short, is that we get it.

We need to get the fact that ‘Nothing is impossible with God!’ If He gives us an assignment, He will provide all that is necessary to see it through to successful completion. Mary got right up and continued to live with expectation, according to the ‘Big’ assignment she had just received.

Mary didn’t sit around waiting for things to happen. She spent 3 months with her cousin Elizabeth and wrote a song. Later on, she took a 5-day journey with Joseph, by donkey, while very pregnant, from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census, and gave birth to the Messiah.

She kept living, and God kept shifting things around her and ordering her steps to keep her moving forward in His purpose. Mary didn’t have to do anything to get the three wise men to the correct location, on the correct day, and at the correct time. God handled all of those details.

Like Mary, you just need to be a vessel available to be filled and used. Remember that, “… God is at work within you, helping you want to obey him, and then helping you do what he wants,” (Philippians 2:13).

It makes sense that in order to follow ‘the plan’, Mary had to have been in constant communication with God. That’s prayer, which is an important key to breaking the chains of fear and doubt that hold us back from fulfilling our purpose.

Praying doesn’t have to be a ritualistic reading of pre-penned words or the use of philosophical or theological terms. Prayer is simply conversing with God. Whatever that looks like for you, it’s super important that you are in communication with your Heavenly Father, so you can follow His path correctly.

If you’re not sure how to pray, check out Matthew 6:9-13 where Jesus gave His disciples a pattern for prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to understand it.

Reading God’s word, the Bible, is another way to stay in communication with Him. The cool thing is that as you read, the Holy Spirit causes the Bible to come alive and to be applicable to each step of your purpose-led journey. God speaks to us through His word.

How’s your communication with the one who created the roadmap for your life? I must remind you that praying and studying God’s word shouldn’t be done just out of a sense of obligation. That’s performance Christianity. God won’t love you less or punish you if your ‘prayer life‘ sucks, you just won’t be as empowered and as effective as you could be. I hope you’re getting this!

Self-reliance can hinder our communication with God. When we’re self-reliant we don’t crave time in God’s presence, because we don’t need Him as Noah, Mary or Moses did. We are convinced that we can do it all on our own, and we view God as ‘the great resource box in the sky’ which we only need to access intermittently.

Philippians 4:13 says, “…for I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power.” When I read this scripture, I picture a lamp that has been plugged in and turned on. Think about what happens if the owner decides that the lamp should be powerful enough after being plugged in all day, and suddenly unplugs it at 11 pm, just as she’s about to read a book? Yep, you are correct! She would be unpleasantly surprised by the sudden darkness. We are like the lamp, to function, we need to be continuously plugged into the power source that enables us to ‘do all things’.

When we recognize our desperate need for God, we hunger for His presence and want to be in constant communication with Him, continuously drawing power from the source. It’s no wonder that 1Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to, ‘…pray continually’.

Are you relying on your human capability, or are you plugged into the limitless capability available through your Heavenly Father?

I wrote this while on a 3.5-hour bus ride across Jamaica. The movie “Evan Almighty” starring Morgan Freeman was one of the featured movies for the trip, and as I watched, it got me thinking about the real Noah, chosen by God to build an ark.

Firstly, the fact that God gave Noah instructions for building the ark, and throughout the rest of the ‘ark process‘, shows that he was in communication with God.

Secondly, nothing disqualifies us from fulfilling God’s great plan. Noah was between 500 and 600 years when he built the ark, so we are definitely not too old. Noah had 3 sons and a wife, so being busy with a family, etc. doesn’t disqualify us. And my favorite, Noah had zero ark-building skills, so our lack of skills or ability doesn’t disqualify us either.

Noah’s only qualifications were: he found favor in God’s sight and ‘he got it‘, and “did just as God instructed him”.(Genesis 6:22) As a beloved child of God, you’ve already found favor in His sight. Do you get it?

Let’s pause again, and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us. You’re not reading this by chance, the Holy Spirit is using this post to shine a light on the importance of communicating with God. He is helping you to want to put things in place to establish a consistent habit of praying and reading the Bible. Perhaps for you, consistency is already there and He just wants you to glean more from your times together.

If you’re not consistent, let’s change that now! After no fear Friday, we are unstoppable. What time works best for you? Can you commit to 15 minutes of daily ‘chair time’ in the morning, evening, or at some other time during the day? Put it in your calendar, set alarms and reminders, and let’s stick with it for the week. I would recommend using a paper bible if you have one, because realistically, from experience, it’s very easy to get distracted by notifications.

If you’re not sure where to start, a wise mentor got me to start with reading a passage from Romans and a Psalm daily. Set a time and place, and journal to keep a record of what your Abba says to you. Don’t feel pressured to chat, sometimes it’s more important to just sit and listen, and allow Him to do all of the talking.

Your heavenly Father longs to spend time with you so that he could pour into you all that you need for accomplishing your BIG assignment. Are you ready? Are you plugged into the power source?

Father, I pray over your children reading this today. Please meet them at the point of their need. Enable them to establish consistency in their communication with you. Tune their ears to your frequency and bless and prosper all that they set out to do. Grant them divine favor and open unexpected doors that are in line with purpose. Let them experience your loving embrace as they intentionally sit at your feet and draw strength from you to fulfill your purpose. Amen!

We would love to hear about your journey to consistency in praying and reading God’s word. Please leave a comment or use the contact us form to let us know how you’re doing.

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