Pour out your hearts

“Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.” Psalm 62:8


The 5 o’clock hour at our home can not necessarily be considered the most peaceful part of our
day. Between homework completion, four hungry tummies roaming around, tiredness creeping
in and dad not home yet, finding time to talk to the kids one-on-one about their days is almost
nonexistent. A rare moment occurred one afternoon this week where my oldest daughter and I
found ourselves....alone.... in our kitchen while I cooked. The floodgates opened and I had the
pleasure of hearing, uninterrupted, about her whole day. From who she ate lunch with, to how
she did not like her math lesson, she talked and I listened. What a treat! In that moment I felt
us grow closer. I felt us share even more things in common and I could sense the comfort she
got in laying her day out before me.

Relationships thrive on good communication. God lovingly invites us and encourages us to
communicate with him through prayer, much as a parent encourages their child to share their
daily lives with them. Our faith relationship is incredibly important to Him, not because He
needs it but because He loves us. He created us for relationships - first and foremost with
Him but also with others. He sent his only son to die for us to save us from all that makes us
unworthy of God. He wants that relationship to grow to the point where it is more important than
anything else and this happens when we reach out to him in prayer. There are lots of kinds of
communication - facial expressions, hand gestures, tone of voice, physical gifts. But above all,
verbal communication consists of all those things expressed in words. Prayer is that kind of
communication with our Heavenly Father.

It is both humbling and thrilling to realize that God wants to hear from us. He wants to hear
about our days, to hear out fears, our joys, all the mundane things included. He wants us to
bring our requests to him with open and sincere hearts. In Psalm 62:8, God tells us that we
should pour out our hearts to Him because He is our refuge. God is always available, never
distracted and and always eager to share our lives.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the gift of prayer. Thank you for loving us so much that you desire to have such
an initimate place in our daily lives. Help us each day to humbly come before you with all the
things that burden our hearts and all the joys we want to share with you. May we prioritize
those conversations with you so in turn our relationship with you can continue to grow deeper
each day. Amen.