I am thrilled yet again to have Tracy Binder, one of my coaches and group facilitators, share a piece on reclaiming what pain has stolen through prayer! This woman has the biggest heart with so much love to share and I am so so grateful to have her on my team. You can read Tracy’s bio here.

God understands

I love running. I love the early mornings when no one is awake and I can hear my feet pounding against the pavement with each step. I love the wind in my hair. I love hearing my breath. Running brings me joy and energizes my soul.

I have battled many injuries over the years. Most recently I battled an overuse injury for six plus months and it finally sidelined me. No more lacing up the running shoes in the morning before everyone woke up. No more wind in my hair. No more hearing my breath. This hurt and I was so sad. The pain prevented me from doing something I so dearly love.

Running and pain - you might be wondering what this has to do with betrayal. Well, it’s my loose segue into this concept of pain causing us to be stripped of the things we love. I remember early on in the recovery process having days where the pain was so bad I could not get out of bed. This pain took me away from laughing with my kids. It took away my ability to look at old pictures, my wedding pictures as well as photos of when my kids were born. It took away so much of my life that I loved.

Ladies, this pain can take us to some deep dark places. And, I want you to remember - maybe put this on your bathroom mirror - God understands our pain. He not only understands it, He experienced it all himself when he sent His son Jesus to die on the cross in our place.

So what do we do? What do we do when the pain is so bad we can’t enjoy the things we once enjoyed? What do we do when the pain is so bad we don’t want to get out of bed or leave the house? What do we do when the pain is so bad that we can’t find joy or ever believe we will find joy again?

One of many things that really helped me: PRAYER.

I know I know, you might be tempted to stop reading. Some of you may say “I have tried this, and it did not work”. Others may have had a bad experience with prayer. I want to challenge you to stick with me. I get it. So….

What is prayer?

Simply put, prayer is talking with God. I know this might feel weird, possibly even scary.

I have a great friend who taught me to talk to God like you talk to your earthly dad. Some of you, like me, don’t have an earthly dad that was present in your life. When our relationship with our earthly dad is strained or absent here on earth, it’s hard to imagine talking to God in this way.

Here are a few “tips” she gave me: Start your prayers, “Hey Dad”. (He is our Heavenly father and He desires for us to talk to Him at anytime.) Also end your prayer, “Talk soon…” (A reminder that we can go to Him whenever we want and wherever we are.)

Why prayer?

First, we need to seek God because we need Him. We all need something beyond human power. This can only start when we seek God. Prayer is one way to seek God.

Second, let’s talk intimacy. Intimacy is something you will hear a lot about around Redemptive Living / RL for Women. A simple definition is closeness in a relationship. God desires intimacy with you, yes you! He wants to be close to you and you to Him. One way we can achieve closeness with God is talking to him through prayer. In these painful times, He longs for us to pray, spend time with Him, speak with Him and ultimately grow closer to Him.

Lastly, prayer is powerful. It can break strongholds in lives and heal the impossible. I know I needed a lot of strongholds to be broken and healing to come in truck loads. Also, praying with others allows God’s power to exponential multiply in our lives.

How do we pray?

Prayer can be intimidating especially if you have not done it in awhile. It is important to remember that there is not a right way to pray. Remember Adam and Eve? The Bible tells us that God would come every day to the garden to spend time with them. How awesome is this picture of prayer. That is what God wants WITH you. To spend time with you.

Challenge

Take a step today and decide to spend some time with God in the garden. Take the challenge and commit to pray every day for the next 30 days. Here are some simple strategies to help: - Start with 1 minute a day.

- Pray the Lord’s Prayer.

- Talk with your husband or a close friend and then pray about what you talked about.

- Pray while you are exercising - might I suggest running, anyone?!

When the pain completely overwhelms you, when it strips you of the things you love - talk to God. Pray. And watch God do what only God can do.

And for all of those wondering…yes, I did get back to pounding the pavement again. Not without a lot of rest (another blog post) and prayer. But I was able to heal and enjoy one of my loves.

Dear God, I desire to spend time with you daily. Thank you for teaching me about prayer in your Word. Thank you for wanting to spend time with me now and for eternity. Amen.

How can we pray for you today? Drop a note in the comments below and we will pray for you. Also, as always, would love to hear your thoughts - how has prayer helped you move through pain? What other strategies help you when pain has stripped you of the things you love?

Shine On,

Tracy