With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and stay alert in this, with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.
Ephesians 6:18
For the past 2 months I have been studying the book of Ephesians in detail. Verse by verse. Chapter by chapter. I encounter myself in the last chapter, which tends to be the most famous one amongst believers: Ephesians 6.
Most of my readers have heard of the Armor of God at some point. We are familiar with the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, etc. However, we do forget about the one piece that ties it all together: Prayer.
I am guilty of this. I wish I could honestly say that prayer is my first response but if I am frank, though I pray on a daily basis, when I am on a pickle, I pray when I have exhausted all of my earthly options. It was when I read this verse, along with my devotional, that prayer should not be my last resort rather my first response.
I realized though that to execute prayer as my first response, I have to learn how to pause. It is easy for us to be on the go, quick to react and problem-solve before we are even aware of how we feel about a given situation. However, in order for us to effectively use prayer as our first response, we need to be mindful and pause. Before you call someone, pause. Before you are quick to check the bank account to see if you have enough money to cover that emergency, pause. Before you are going to verbally disagree with your spouse, pause. Before you are quick to defend yourself, pause.
Once we learn the concept of mindfulness, of leaving room to breathe, of pausing, then we can effectively remember to use prayer as our first response.
How then can we implement “pausing”? I am glad you asked.
Allow yourself enough time between meetings or commitments
Take a few minutes every morning just to be alone. Completely alone. No Social Media, no TV, no one but you and God
Take “mindful breaks” throughout the day by setting reminders
Journal
Sit still for one minute (or two).
Ask yourself “what am I feeling right now?”
Allow for “divine interruptions”. When things don’t seem to be flowing how you expect, just stop for a few moments and pray
Jesus himself knew how to set boundaries of pausing to go pray. I encourage you to find breathing room this week.
My name is Lillianis J Cruz. I am originally from Puerto Rico but have been living in Kissimmee, FL for the past 14 years. I have been writing for many years but for the first time, I am sharing many of the things that just have been sitting in my journal. I used to wonder why I was writing so much and truly felt like 2018 was the year to release most of what God was giving me.
I am the proud wife of Edgar Cruz and mommy to Isaak, my promised child. I fellowship at Journey Church in Winter Park. I am the owner of Hope Counseling of Central FL LLC, which is the platform I use to practice my profession as Licensed Mental Health Counselor and impact my community one person at a time.
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Hearing from the Throne 