Prayer

Isn't it amazing that God teaches us messages for different seasons of life? Over the summer, God taught me a lot about love. Recently, He has been teaching me a great deal about what forgiveness, grace, and mercy mean in His book (no pun intended). But He has also taught me so much about prayer, and I want to talk about that now.
For a while, praying really became difficult for me. Certain sins or emotions clouded me from being able to feel heard by the Almighty, but I imagine that's something a lot of other Christians face at times as well. But prayer had also become a chore; not in the sense that it was monotonous, but in the sense that I felt it took a lot of work. I felt like I really had to muster all of my focus to speak a word, and that some phrases needed repeating until my heart was truly sincere behind them all, or else they wouldn't be heard. Then I listened to the Spirit and thought on Jesus' words about prayer, and He smashed through every barrier and false idea that I had.
Prayer is not hard work. I speak, in direct prayer or not, and God hears, regardless. But also, the Lord knows who I really am and how I really feel no matter what word I use to describe it. He knows what I'm going to say before I say it, so He doesn't need me to repeat a thing. He is everywhere and anywhere, so I don't need some special mindset to reach Him. He is God, omnipresent and omniscient, therefore He always hears. But He is also my Father, and therefore He always answers and cares.
Yesterday I participated in a prayer group in the evening. A few other Christian men gathered around, and we all laid face down in the dark, and every one prayed about everything on his heart. In a group of 6 men, there was an hour's worth of prayer. It was truly amazing to be so open with Christian brothers and to know that we were all praying alongside one another. I really feel like that's what the early church did.
And I have also realized that there is no worry or want to break me from peace and joy in Christ, because I know that God hears every plea for mercy and every call for strength, and I know that James says that if my faith is that God will answer my prayers, I can count them as good as done. That's why "Amen" has become one of my favorite words. It means "Let it be so;" and now I can trust that it is so.
"I tell you the truth, he can ask that the mountain be uplifted and cast into the sea, and if he has faith, it will be so."