Come Up Here: A Symphony of Prayer | A 5 Day Prayer Journey With Darlene ZschechSample

God has never searched for the most eloquent or naturally gifted in prayer and worship. He has always been interested only in the heart, the agenda driving your pleas.

David learned early to pray in truth - whether praising God on a mountaintop or crying out to God (which is still prayer) when caught in very uncomfortable situations. David prayed to our God, who is a God who responds to truthful prayer.

Some of us are scared to pray, feeling we may upset God with our ordinary talk, but there is nothing He does not already know about any of us. He desires a relationship, and relationships are grown through conversation and, in this instance, prayer.

Be earnest and be real. David cried and moaned, but every time he went to God, there was a moment when his prayers and language started to change as he made room for God to move in his situation. Even when we cannot see prayer changing anything in the natural world, we are changed as we learn to lean into God with our honest prayer.

Not one prayer uttered will ever be unnoticed by your Creator. If your heart is hurting over anything today, simply pray. Pray simply: “Jesus, please be in the center of this situation right now.”

My friends, God hears, God knows. Don’t try and impress Him with beautifully structured stanzas. Just open up your heart to Him today. Always remember the importance of thanksgiving. Let’s never be a people who forget to thank the Lord for all He has done and is constantly doing in our lives. Say “yes” to His constant invitation to “Come up Here.”

I will leave you with one of my favorite prayers from Saint Francis of Assisi:

“Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is error, the truth;

Where there is doubt, the faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

Grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled, as to console;

To be understood, as to understand;

To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” -St Francis of Assisi

With love always, Darlene.

I invite you to listen to an instrumental album created to accompany your prayers. Come Up Here: A Symphony of Prayer' by HopeUC.