What holiness really looks like for our lives #1

2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV)

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

One of the best ways we can start learning to be set apart for God is to spend time with Him, just like we talked about yesterday. But how do we do that? Prayer!

It seems like the classic Christian answer, but prayer is powerful, and it can transform your life in huge ways. Prayer can sometimes feel like this awkward experience where you’re talking to an empty void. But it doesn’t have to feel that way.

Think about a time you learned a new skill. Maybe it was a sport, a complex math problem, or a new hobby. It took time to learn how to do it well, right? Prayer is the same way. It feels awkward at first. But you have to embrace the awkward to get to the awesome.

Think about it like this. Imagine you needed to talk to a stranger for a minute. Just the thought of that seems awkward and stressful, right? Now, imagine you’re talking to your best friend for a minute. Totally normal.

That’s how prayer works. The less time we spend praying, the more time it’ll feel awkward. But, when we continue to pray, even when it doesn’t feel natural, we start experiencing God in ways we never have before.

The reality is that we become like who we spend time with. So, if we’re going to be set apart for God, we’ve got to get to know Him. We’ve got to talk with Him and listen to Him.

So, let’s practice. Today, spend just two minutes in prayer. You could write it down in a journal, draw it in a creative way, pray in your head, or speak it out loud. Try to do this every day for the next week and see if you don’t start experiencing prayer in a whole new way.

When you spend time praying to God, you’ll start becoming set apart for God.

Dear Lord, we thank You that we can talk to You. Help us to work on the skill of praying to You. Hep to become closer to You as we talk with You each day. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.