There are a few common things we can do today to make sure we open our eyes to God’s presence: moments of prayer scattered throughout the day, reading from the Bible, getting out in the fresh air to walk and meditate on issues that will make a difference not just for today but for many days to come. But it’s not up to us to insert God into our days. It’s not that we take some God-filled container and pour God into our day. It doesn’t work that way, because he’s not that kind of God. Living a God-filled life does not mean that we schedule God for an appointment or two and feel satisfied that we did God the favor of squeezing him into a very busy schedule.

Prayer is the power tool for Christians to communicate with the Lord. It is our way of realizing that we have needs and the only provider of our needs is the Father in Heaven. The Bible tells us that He will never leave us, as it is written in Scripture,

The LORD Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged” (Deuteronomy 31:8).

Plenty of times I have viewed communication with my loved ones as an obligation or something to check off my to-do list. But I’ve learned that communication is much more than a task. Communication actually is the relationship. And since prayer is our main form of communication with God, prayer is our relationship with God.

One Sunday afternoon my wife was in bed with a high fever, groaning and unable to sleep. I was lying next to her praying. I actually wasn’t mainly praying for her. I was in a season of significant spiritual wrestling, which was absorbing most of my prayers. But I remember being filled with hope over some precious promises of God and expressing thanks to him. Suddenly, my joy in God grew unusually intense. It was both inexpressible and irrepressible. God seemed almost tangibly near. I was almost overcome and I couldn’t help overflowing in awe-filled worship. Almost immediately I knew, without doubt, that if I prayed for Pam, she would be healed.

Over the years, I’ve discovered from Scripture and experience that God loves to answer our prayers. Here are five of his most frequent answers:

1. “No, I love you too much.”

The Lord of the universe isn’t under obligation to say “yes” to every prayer. That’s a good thing, considering some of the things we request!

It’s easy today to be feeling a lot of anxiety, fear, discontentment, and restlessness. With so much uncertainty about the future, so much job loss, widespread illness, and isolation, you may be battling anxiety as you never have before. Unfortunately, a lot of times we look in all the wrong places for something to fill our inner need for peace and contentment. Some people look to food while others look to alcohol or drugs. Often we look to others to somehow fix it all and make us feel safe.

Are you praying for a spiritual breakthrough in your life? Maybe you’re praying for something to change in your life, or maybe you’re praying for God to help you change from the inside out? 

The Bible has powerful instructions on encountering God and experiencing spiritual breakthrough in your life. Here are 10 biblical keys to spiritual breakthrough:

Just as there are different levels of waiting and different levels of suffering, there are different levels of grief. Lysa Terkeurst has written a blog piece for (in)courage titled Dealing with Deep Grief. She writes, “Losing someone you love can cut into your heart so viciously it forever redefines who you are and how you think. It’s what I call deep grief.”

We have the anointing or power of God. And with that power, we can take what God says in His Word, believe it, act on it, and receive it for ourselves.