I’m a huge fan of products that offer the ability to simplify my life, help me to be more efficient, and perhaps feel less frazzled. When Siri came out on the iPhone, I was excited about what she might be able to help me accomplish (my Siri has a female voice). She has assisted me a great deal while I’m in the car: calling someone from my contact list, reading and responding to emails and texts, and adding new events to my calendar. If only I could get her to do my laundry! I will say, as helpful as she is, a recent experience showed me that she is “smarter” than I have given her credit for.
A few weeks ago, a friend invited me to prayer walk with a group of other women at our kid’s school. I was driving when it came to mind that I hadn’t yet added this to my calendar and I wanted to make sure I didn’t overlook it with all the distractions happening right before school was to start. When I asked Siri to add this prayer walking appointment to my calendar, she labeled it as power walking. At first I was frustrated that perhaps Apple didn’t program the phone to recognize the word “prayer” but then I realized Siri was right. There is real power in prayer.
And as much as my heart understands the power of prayer, sometimes my head gets in the way. I was lost in the details of the start of school. My focus was on gathering up school supplies, making sure my kids hadn’t outgrown their school clothes during the summer (which, of course, they had), and trying to get everyone on a more balanced sleep schedule.
But as all the other preparations were being made for the start of a successful school year, I’m grateful someone had the wisdom to realize how powerful it could be to spend a little time walking around the campus praying for the students, the teachers, the administrators, the parents, and the year ahead. And while we know it isn’t necessary to physically be located somewhere to pray, I am always amazed at how that can bring us closer to the needs at hand.
On that hot summer evening, we spent just a little time power walking and praying for the needs of others. I’m not sure what the long-term effects of those heart felt prayers will be but I know the Lord was listening and I trust in His sovereignty. I do know that I came away that night more grateful for the blessings of my kids school, much more thankful for the teachers that work so hard to teach our kids, and began to realize that all the stress and chaos I had been feeling about the start of school was replaced with a sense of peace. There is real power in prayer!
I will admit something to you. My prayer life has sometimes been an area of weakness for me over the years. Reading the Bible and learning more about my Savior has been exciting and rewarding (even the sections I struggle to understand). It is an activity that I can get behind. I always come away feeling closer to the Lord and feel as though He has talked directly to me through the scripture, but I have struggled with a certain awkwardness in praying. It can feel more like an inactivity (not sure that is a real word). And in our “get things done” world, inactivity can seem unproductive. And so I have been tempted to skip over or speed through that part of my quiet time.
But missing out on prayer and not fully recognizing the power of it, robs us of the blessings of spending time talking with our Savior, it cheats us of being able to see His hand in our lives and in the lives of others, and it keeps us living in a state of chaos. When we pray to our Heavenly Father, we come away changed. When we spend time in His amazing powerful presence through talking to Him, He humbles our hearts, He realigns our perspective, and He gives us His assurance and peace.
If perhaps you could use a little prayer encouragement, consider reading David Jeremiah’s book on prayer. Here’s a link to the book if you are interested in reading more about it. Dr. Jeremiah wrote something in that book that has continued to stay with me (I think he shares my love of a good run-on sentence). “What we do for the Lord is entirely dependent upon what we receive from the Lord, and what we receive from the Lord is entirely dependent upon what we are in the Lord, and what we are in the Lord is entirely dependent upon the time we spend alone with the Lord in prayer.”
So whether we are prayer walking (good for the body and soul!), praying in the car (where we seem to spend so much of our time), waiting in the checkout line (those back to school cashiers need our prayers), or perhaps all alone in a quiet place on our knees, we have the assurance that our Lord will meet us there. He is waiting to meet us today! And if we need to add it to our calendars as a gentle reminder, Siri can help (I didn’t get an Apple endorsement for this devotional).
My prayer is that we do not allow our head to talk us out of time spent in prayer. That we will recognize it is not inactivity but truly a productive time that allows God’s power to be known and understood in our lives. He can take our simple requests and change our lives and hearts in the process. May we never lose sight of the power of prayer. 
