Christian Counseling & Educational Services

They were in every aisle, every part of the store, and every check-out line! No matter where we turned the other night, young people were grabbing up school supplies and checking off their list of what to bring to school. Many parents helped them prepare for the start of another school year—and some seemed to actually be enjoying their adventure together.

The focus of our devotionals this month has been prayer. It’s such a needed part of our daily lives, but sometimes it seems overwhelming. A dear friend once exclaimed, “There’s so much to pray for! My prayer list is so long that I can’t even get through it all.” I understand what she means. Believing that prayer is one our best weapons against the struggles and stresses of life, as well as a primary means of worshipping our Heavenly Father, it seems we could shut ourselves in our prayer closet and be there all day and night.

My first year of teaching was in the fourth grade classroom in a Christian School just outside of Detroit, Michigan. Everything was new and exciting, and I especially loved the Bible curriculum. To this day I still remember some of those lessons (I wonder if any of the students do?) One of my favorites was on prayer. The book presented this simple little acrostic, ACTSS, as a reminder of what we should include when we pray. In it we find all the elements that are in the model prayer that Jesus gave to His disciples, but by putting them in this format, it’s easy to remember–easy enough to teach to a child!

In Matthew 6 when Christ gave the famous Sermon on the Mount, and again in Luke 11 when the disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray, Christ gave a sample prayer for His believers to follow. We often refer to it as The Lord’s Prayer, yet truly it would be better named The Disciple’s Prayer or The Believer’s Prayer.

In the last few weeks I’ve talked to a lot of people, both in and out of my counseling office, who are going through really intense and difficult times. It seems in every one of those conversations, at some point we’ve touched on the importance of taking all those concerns to God and seeking His wisdom, direction, and provision. But should our prayers be reserved only for those times when things are rough? Of course, not!