Lilly Feliz
When we pray, we are communicating more than just the desires, worries, and gratitude we have to offer God. We are practicing the belief that He is sovereign. When we pray, we are saying, “I have come here with not just something to say, but I came to the only person that knows me and my needs by name.”
A lot of my time in prayer starts off with thanksgiving, followed by a list of my needs and others’ needs, and ends with self-examination. In those final moments of prayer, I often find I run out of things to say. Haven’t we all? Then something amazing happens. I enjoy some quiet time in the place He’s called me to. After I finish my lines and my petitions, if I am attentive to His response, I can lay down in green pastures before Him. I can be in the secret place He called me to. I can respond to His Spirit and His love. I can arrive at the place Jesus calls me to. I get to abide.
In this place, we have access to experience God in so many ways. Sometimes, we can be in stillness and quiet. Other times, we can be surrounded by people. But one thing always holds true—we carry Him wherever we go. Prayer can happen at any time, anywhere, if you wish to communicate with Him. I believe that the secret place is where a mutual exchange can occur. He calls us there for our good. Psalm 91:1 says, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
While the Israelites were leaving Egypt, the Lord protected them with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 14:19). When I think of this secret place, and abiding in Him, I am reminded through both of these passages that His protection never leaves us. Our prayer closets, our prayer walks, and our prayer gatherings all invite the Lord to engage with us. No matter where we communicate with the Lord, He is there. If we seek the secret place, and desire that time with Him, He is faithful to meet us no matter where we are.
If you don’t know how to pray, and you have been following Jesus for a long time, be of good cheer knowing His very disciples asked for advice on what to say and how to do it. The Lord’s Prayer is one of the most edifying lines of Scripture left to us—His followers (see Matthew 6). It is my favorite thing to pray when I feel like I have prayed everything.
David was a man after God’s own heart. He had many prayers that we can pray when we don’t know what to pray. I encourage you to open your Bible on days you don’t know what to say. David was beloved because He loved Gods instruction and obeyed the laws and decrees that God commanded His people to follow.
He loves us. He wants us to commune with him—to abide in Him. He invites us into relationship and communication with Him. I am never more at home than when I am in prayer, speaking to my Father.