Perfume and Prayer

Psalms 141:1-2  God, come close, come quickly! Open your ears, it's my voice you hear! 

Treat my prayer as sweet incense rising.  My raised hands are my evening prayers.
Welcome to the beginning post of a prayer blog.  First let me say that I am not an open book kind of person, I am closed.   Pretty much everything in my heart is under lock and key.  My husband calls me "tough as nails." But really, I am weak and not good at revealing that weakness to anyone.  So, perhaps I have had enough of that kind of living, perhaps (gasp!) it is time to open my spirit and how I talk to THE Spirit, and the Father, and the Son.  


Talk to anyone, christian or non-christian, and they will likely tell you their prayer life is inconsistent.  We tend to make prayer complicated.  We are afraid so we ask protection. We ask for healing.  We wait until we have exhausted all our personal resources, then we say "Ok, I have tried everything. I guess, God, maybe you will have to do something..." We honestly don't know what time of day to pray, how long and what prayers God really likes.  We are intimidated.  We are struck down by guilt and shame and don't feel worthy.  We give excuses. We don't even know if God remembers us, or really wants to talk to us anyway.  After all, it has been a long, long time since we talked to Him. And all those "thee's and thou's" muck us up.  


 Prayer is not something to get right or wrong.  Prayer is not for God to feel great and mighty. The rocks would cry out if we do not because creation praises the Creator.  He doesn't need to hear our needs, He knows.  He doesn't have to be asked to heal, He just heals.  God doesn't need to hear our doubts, fears, failures and celebrations.  He knows them already. 


 He loves you fully, and you can't get more Holy or more loved than you are right now. So scoring "prayer points" is redundant.


Here is the revelation: God doesn't 'need' your prayers to work and move. He really just likes it when you talk to Him.  It is a gift that allows us to put all our worries on God.  It blesses others when we intercede for them.  It lets us talk to God like He is our friend.  It makes us know Jesus and gives us passion.  It is a vehicle for the Spirit to move and work. It keeps our center and focus not on ourselves.  Prayer is power for the powerless.  We don't hold the power at all, all we do is start the conversation. God does the rest. 


Whew, pressure off. 

 Every Xmas I receive expensive perfume from my husband.   I don't use it much, maybe once a week, and by the next year there is half a bottle left and the perfume has turned color.  So I throw it away.  I recently decided to start enjoying my expensive perfume everyday, even when staying home and doing laundry.  It smells good, reminds me of someone who loves me, and I won't have leftovers this year.

Our prayers are like sweet perfume to God.  They should be enjoyed by Him (and us) daily.  They are not meant to be saved for special occasions.  And no matter whether simple and straightforward or long and flowery, all prayer smells good to God. 

If you decide to join me on this (slightly scary) journey, I hope you will start simply this week. Tell God you miss Him and that you want Him back in your life. I promise, He has just been waiting for you to ask. 

Actually, He was there all the time.