Faithbase

Hey, faith-based friends and family, blessings to you today. Today I just want to encourage us with one thing. I've been reading in Ephesians lately, and I read through the armor of God, a really powerful passage there in Ephesians 6, and at the end, this encouragement and challenge that says to pray on all occasions in the Spirit. It's like, after he lists all these parts of the spiritual armor for the battle that we're in, he says, pray in the Spirit. I know this can be a little controversial, what this might mean. I would encourage you to go to Romans 8. As you process, use Scripture to interpret Scripture instead of feelings and experiences or even tradition. Let's use God's Word, be attuned to the Holy Spirit, but pray in the Spirit on all occasions. And it's actually an encouragement. This is in our best interest. But I was processing, as I was reading, there's an author that I really enjoy, and he said one of the reasons that we don't pray more as believers, and this isn't any type of shame or guilt, is that we don't have a plan to do so. It's not that we don't know how. I'm not an expert by any means, but if you'd like to know how, I'd love to talk with you, dialogue about it together, and even discuss what the Psalms reveal to us about prayer. But we don't have a plan. I think about you. I love to go backpacking, and one of my favorite parts is the planning. Some people hate that, but I love to plan. What will I need? Exactly how much food, and my water filter, and which clothing, and layers, and base layers, and how can I keep the weight of my pack low and still be comfortable? I love the planning. And it's if we don't have a plan, we usually don't do it. If we don't have a plan, we usually just do the normal, right? Stay in our routines. Stay in our rhythms. So I encourage you, have a plan. What's your plan? You know, it's an old worn-out cliche, but failing to plan is planning to fail. What's our plan? To pray on all occasions. I encourage you, as I receive the conviction myself today, what is my plan for prayer? To really cultivate that praying on all occasions of praying unceasingly, and it's actually an invitation to like sweet, intimate, personal communion with the Lord. It's not like this. It's like, hey, yeah, let's talk. Let's be together. Blessings to you today. Lord, I encourage you and refresh you.