Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
Bless mommy, and daddy, and puppy,
In Jesus name, AMEN!

    Prayer is a great yet mysterious gift. We may never have all the answers about prayer, but one thing is certain, PRAYER CHANGES THINGS! Over the last ten years, repeated scientific studies have validated the effectiveness of prayer. Patients who prayed, or who were being prayed for (even without their knowledge), recovered more quickly than those who did not. In addition, the survivability of major life threatening diseases, accidents, and surgeries is much greater among those who believe in prayer The results are no longer anecdotal, they’re established fact.

    But prayer does more than change things, it changes us. While we cannot fully know how God’s chooses to respond to our prayers, we can be sure he blesses us when we pray. He has promised his children that he always has time for us to talk with him and he hears us. What many parents and any President would find hard to do, God routinely does—he listens to us attentively (Ephesians 2:18; 3:12). When we pray, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us—he tells God the emotions of our hearts even when those emotions don’t have words and makes our prayers acceptable to God’s will (Romans 8:26-27). When we pray, God releases his power into the lives of those for whom we pray— imagine being given the ability to bless others (Colossians 4:2-5). When we pray, we pause from the hurried activities of the day and re-center ourselves in the One around whom the universe turns and find meaning and purpose for our lives (Mark 1:35-39).

    I don’t know what your prayer habits are, but with such a powerful gift available to us, let’s use it! I invite you to join with me in committing to a time of morning and evening prayer. Let God make a difference in your life by taking time to pray. To help us, Heartlight provides a regular disciplined plan for prayer. I encourage you to follow through with this prayer pattern in our Daily Light section with a regular Bible study plan as well as a set prayer focus for each day of the week. In addition, check out our new prayer focus called Daily Grace. This is a self running trip through the prayer acrostic based upon the word GRACE:

Glorify Your Name
Renew my passion
Accept my repentance
Care for the broken
Empower your Word