When, where, and how do you pray? Is it only in times of crisis or need, possibly once a week at church?

Prayer is being online with God when our hearts are connected with His: “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). Being online includes uploads from us, downloads from the presence of God, and links with others. Typically, we avoid prayer for two reasons: (1) cost and (2) competence. We do not want to risk the cost of our time, talent, or treasure, and we do not deem ourselves competent to pray. Consequently, we work offline from God, limiting our encounters with Him to a church building with a particular group of people, functioning in a certain style for one hour on one given day of the week.

Addressing these barriers, David, who was the leader of the strongest superpower of his day, wrote what Spurgeon called his crown jewel psalm, a prayer song to God. Psalm 145, titled, a psalm of praise, is an acrostic poem. Each verse (including 13b) begins with the successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet as a method to assist followers in memorizing the psalm.

Praise appears 46 times in Psalms 145-150 (the Hallel Hymns sung in the synagogues each morning), but David’s idea of praise superseded the boundaries of a building, a particular group of people, a style, or the limits of one hour of a given day each week. Rather, he described praising God anywhere and everywhere as he painted a picture of being online with God 24/7, being a person who PRAYS. Interestingly, David’s pattern of praise correlates with the flow of the Lord’s Prayer evidenced in the life of Christ.

This week, take five minutes every waking hour to praise God for who He is. You will sense His presence in a new way.

Episode 24: Online with God 24/7 from mitchkrusetv on Vimeo.