As we walk with God into 2023, one of the important aspects is our prayer life with God. How well we listen and respond to God, as well as how God responds to our requests, determines the character of our journey. Here is a devotion that helps us examine how in sync we are with God:

IN WORD No one wants detestable prayers. The very thought is strong enough warning to keep us faithful to God. But the prescription for acceptable prayers is hard for us to live with. Legalism? Is that really what God wants from us? Scripture never tells us that God only hears our prayers when we keep His law perfectly. It does, however, exhort us to have our hearts turned toward Him and to be zealous about our obedience. We often learn the negatives by heart—“Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2), for example—but positive encouragement is stressed in Scripture at least as often, if not more so.
A heart inclined toward God opens the way for Him to have ears inclined toward us. He can answer our prayers a lot more frequently when He’s not disciplining us for ungodly behavior. Any time the Old Testament Law is stressed in Scripture, we get uptight about legalism, as though obedience in order to earn righteousness might be confused with obedience as a result of faith. They may look the same on the surface, but their motivations are poles apart. So we can relax: God never tells us that legalism is the means to a vibrant prayer life. He only tells us that those who accept the order and standards woven into His creation are qualified to ask Him to intervene in it. A heart in sync with God’s heart results in prayers in sync with His plan.
IN DEED Have you struggled with unanswered prayer? There are numerous possible reasons that God may withhold His answers, but consider this one: Have you submitted to His authority? It only makes sense that if we are going to appeal to His authority that we would be expected to live under it. When we rebel against His will and then ask Him to accomplish His will, we are contradicting ourselves. But when we submit to His will, we are lining ourselves up with the flowing current of creation. We are ready to experience the power of prayer. “He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find Him the rest of the day.” – John Bunyan (in “Walking with God” by Chris Tiegreen)

How is your prayer life? Take time to read all of Matthew 6 and ask the Holy Spirit to help you be attuned to the Lord. If you pray rightly, you can be like Paul and walk in peace daily (Philippians 4:6-7). Have a blessed week! - from Singapore, Pastor Sam