Recently, my wife Cheryl was talking about the need to increase her prayer time and I was definitely agreeing that praying is very important in our spiritual life.

In the middle of our conversation, she said, “We should turn our cares into prayers,” and that instantly caught my attention. I love catchy phrases and told her that I just might borrow that slogan!

We all have worries and cares, but for some strange reason many times we do not consider praying as our highest priority. In fact, for most of us, it’s usually a last resort.

Similar to prayer, I’m reminded of the fire axes that are mounted in glass cases and reserved for emergency use only. Sadly, we often forget what a great price God has paid in order that we might have the privilege and opportunity to communicate with Him. It’s been said that prayer is the least we can do and yet the most we can do.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, the bridge of intimacy was severed between God and mankind and forgiveness became a temporary covering instead of a permanent removal. This infection of sin not only prevented our Creator from indwelling the heart of the individual, but the restoration of our relationship was also not possible until Jesus went to the cross.

The crucifixion and resurrection allow us to see that God loved us and wanted to be with us so much that He sent His Son as a ransom for our soul. The blood of Christ was the only payment that could redeem us.

So today, instead of going to a priest and having them intercede and slaughter an animal for our forgiveness, we can approach Jesus Christ directly and invite Him into our life as our personal Savior and Lord.

Prayer is the deliberate act of communicating with God. We can talk with Him while we are doing our daily work and if we need to be quiet we can concentrate and know that He understands us and knows our thoughts.

Prayer has been described as simply pouring out our conscience to God about our desires, needs, burdens and everything that is important to us. Whatever is weighing heavily upon you today is causing anxiety and worry but there is encouraging news.

God has provided a wonderful opportunity to cast our cares on Him. A huge aspect of faith is believing that He is concerned with our fears and troubles and that He desires to intervene.

Consider writing down these circumstances and petitions and trust Him with all of your heart that He is going to take care of them. Billy Graham once said, “This should be the declaration of every follower of Jesus Christ. No matter how dark and hopeless a situation might seem, never stop praying. When we come to the end of ourselves, we come to the beginning of God.”

Prayer may sound easy, but anyone that has attempted to approach His throne on a regular basis will tell you it’s one of the most challenging undertakings of the Christian life. There are certain steps to take in order for prayer to become a serious part of our journey and it may sound elementary at first, but we must have a desire to pray.

Without a deep love for God, other people, and a higher level of dedication we will not incorporate prayer as a lifestyle. Next, it’s important to believe that prayer is real and that God is listening.

This is also not as easy as it sounds because if we have not abandoned our will and allowed Him to sit on the throne of our heart, He already knows we are just playing games. He is not mocked or deceived neither does He disregard sin. He is very sensitive to our intentions and attitudes as this directly affects how He responds to our request.

Once we decide to approach Him, let us humble ourselves and ask Him to forgive and cleanse us from our transgressions. This is how we can proceed into His holiness with a pure mind and heart. Since He has a specific destiny for us, may we always respect His decisions which include when He says no as everything is about His will being done instead of our own.

Dr. Billy Holland is a Christian minister, chaplain, and author. Discover more about his ministry at billyhollandministries.com