The Importance of Prayer

There are many good things that come out of having a consistent and fervent prayer life...
Some of these benefits include:
1) A closer, deeper relationship with God
2) Better decision making
3) Improved relationships with not only God, but other people too.

These are just some of the benefits of prayer. For me, praying has done so much more than just those three things!
Prayer can increase your faith, help us feel the presence of God, and helps us unload our stress and give God our burdens. It really can change your whole life!

There are a few Bible verses that you can look at that teach you some things about prayer.
Matthew 7:7-8, Romans 12:12, Colossians 4:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Hebrews 4:16, 1 Peter 3:12

These are some notes I took on these verses:
They tell us that when we ask, we will receive. When we seek, we will find. When we knock, the door will be opened to  us. We should be faithful in praying with a thankful heart. When we pray confidently, we will receive mercy and grace. And God always hears our prayers.

There are three people in the Bible that set examples in their prayer lives.

•  Mary She was around 14 years old when Gabriel was sent to speak to her in the first chapter of Luke. This is when she learned that she was going to be Jesus' mother. Now, I don't know about you, but if an angel appeared to me saying that I was going to bear the Son of God, I would have probably passed out. Then, after waking up, I would come up with a ton of excuses as to why I wasn't the kind of person that should raise the Savior of the World. But Mary, (thankfully!) didn't do that. The first thing that popped out of her mouth was this: "I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said."
  Then, later in that chapter of Luke, there's something called Mary's Song. it says this: "My soul glorifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the might One has done great things for me-holy is His name..." She had just received the news of her life, something that would change her life forever, but she didn't doubt that God was right beside her. She praised His name, rather than complaining and feeling sorry for herself.
  I hope that next time I face a problem,  I react to it as Mary would. That I would pray and seek God, and not worry about it...
• The second person we can learn from is Elijah in James 5:16-18. It says that Elijah prayed earnestly. I wasn't for sure, exactly, what earnestly meant, so I looked it up. The definition of earnestly is showing deep sincerity. So Elijah prayed with deep sincerity. 
• Jesus is the best example for prayer. Mark 1:35 says, "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed."
  The first thing Jesus did when He woke up was pray. He went off to a quiet place, where He could be alone with God and prayed to Him. That's something very important in an individual's Christian walk. We should be seeking God every day...preferably at the beginning. We should start our day with God, so that we start off on the right foot. When we do this we should be alone with God. We should turn off all of the electronics, and get away from any distraction so that we can spend that time One on one with God. 

I hope you learned a lot from this post! :) If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me!:) We should be seeking God every day, as it is important in our relationship with Jesus! A relationship takes communication, so we must be praying, but also listening to hear the heart of God. Some of us think we can't hear God because He's too quiet. But the thing is, we're too loud! Get quiet during your alone time with God and just let Him speak to your heart! I promise He'll say something!:) :)