Bless It or Block It: 2-Second Prayers

‘The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.’

James 5:16

Do you believe that God hears and answers your every prayer? Do you ever try to pray, but have trouble finding the right words or know what to pray for? If so, you won’t want to miss today’s message…

One day, while taking a break from working in my office, I found myself thinking about a difficult decision I was facing. I had an important decision to make, but was ambivalent about how to pray about it. Worried how things would turn out, I started to pray about it, and quickly realized I had no idea what to pray for. I was clueless as to what to ask God for, but that knew prayer was needed. Shortly after I closed my eyes and bowed my head in quiet prayer, and the words, “Bless it or block it” came to me. At that moment I knew that was exactly the prayer I needed. So that is what I prayed!

I have several spontaneous 2-second prayers I say often, but my favorite prayer is my “Bless it or block it” prayer. Oftentimes I pray this prayer deferring to God fully, then accepting, whatever answer our loving, kind, and merciful Savior provides. This prayer is my way of giving it over fully to God and saying to Him, “Let it be done according to Your divine will.”

Many of us have a ‘go to’ prayer—one that we say when we are praying for something that is important to us. One of mine has always been The Our Father that I learned as a young girl. That is the prayer Jesus gave us that centers on forgiveness. The prayers we pray need not be very long. Actually, some of my favorite prayers are what I call 2-second prayers. That’s right—2-second prayers. They can be powerful and life-changing in just the same way that longer prayers can.

Here are some examples of 2-second prayers:

• Dear Lord God, please bless it or block it.
• Jesus, Heal me of my unbelief!
• Forgive me, Lord, for I have sinned.
• Father God, Please grant me inner peace.
• Dear Jesus, you are the Great Healer. Please heal me and my loved ones!
• Lord Jesus, Help me do the right thing, according to your will
• God, please protect me and my loved ones.
• Jesus, I trust in You!

Sometimes we all forget to pray and decide to try to ‘go it alone’ without God’s help when times get tough. Other times, we are acutely aware that we need God’s holy intervention to face or meet the many challenges that arise in our every daily lives. This is true especially when the situation we have to deal with feels beyond our control and /or feels dire.

Prayer is so very important for Christians as it gives us strength, peace of mind, clarity, fortitude, and the Godly discernment to press on, even and especially while in the thick of things—especially when things seem to be most out of control. The truth is that we need to pray for discernment before we even pray to know what is within our control, and what is not, as the things that we cannot control are squarely within God’s control. When we trust in Jesus and believe that ‘God’s got this,’ it can make a tremendous difference in our daily lives between failure and success, sinking in times of difficulty or tragedy, or staying afloat, and being able to cope and thrive.

Though fervent prayer, communicating with God, does not require lengthy or eloquent speech, it should never be taken lightly Instead, we need to pray specifically, even briefly, ask for whatever we need, then praise God while we wait for Jesus to intercede and answer our prayers according to His divine will. We need to do so with sincerity and openness to whatever His answer will be. Fervent prayer involves praying with humility, anticipation, and confidence, believing that God is who scripture tells us He is, and His promises are true. Though very short, 2-second prayers come from the heart and with the understanding that God will, one way or another, move on your behalf in His own special time and way. At that point it becomes all about him, not about us.

Like most people, in my humanness, sometimes I am tempted to pray and ask God for whatever I think I need, only to ‘take it back.’ and try to work things out my own way, all to no avail. However, I have found that it is much better to pray, trust, and depend on God’s Almighty, Omnipotent, holy intercession to help me through. For Jesus is the Living God, His compassion is enduring, boundless, and unmatched—and He is ever so worthy of our praise. We need to pray and thank God with gratitude in all things—not just when things go our way and we need something.

I think many of us wait until times are dire before eliciting God’s help. Yet, turning to Jesus in anticipation of trials, great and small, reaps great benefits, and awe-inspiring outcomes. When we pray fervently, placing our cares fully in God’s hands and trusting that all will go well, we are far more prepared for whatever may come. We are able to hold God’s hand through challenges and turbulent storms that threaten to derail us and throw us off track, turning to Him as the living God who is with us in every circumstance.

Though we are all unworthy sinners, God loves each of us profoundly, and far beyond our human comprehension. As striving souls—those who seek God and choose to try to follow His ways and His lead—find favor with God. For our loving, merciful God is a generous, loving God of surprises. Scripture tells us in the following passage that if we seek God, we will find Him, and He will change our lot.

“For I know well the plans I have in mind for you—oracle of the Lord—plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope. ¹² When you call me, and come and pray to me, I will listen to you. ¹³ When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, ¹⁴ I will let you find me—oracle of the Lord—and I will change your lot.”

Jeremiah 29:11-14

Jesus can and will turn every situation into good for those who seek Him will find Him. All-seeing, All-knowing, All-loving, He will work things out for us according to His divine Will.

In the Old Testament God often says if you do such and such, I will do such and such for you. If you humble yourselves and pray, I will bless you. If you seek my face, you will find me. We need to pray, do our part, then step aside so God can do His finest work without our interference, which sometimes prevents Him from doing His best work on our behalf. So we need to pray, then get out of the way!

© Copyright 2024   |   Adele M. Gill

BIO

Adele M. Gill is a retired RN, Chaplain, Author of 6 books, including, How to Go from Broken to Blest. She is also a blog author and podcast host https://www.theinspirationcafeblog.net. Adele resides in Maryland and may be reached at: adelemgill@gmail.com.