1 Samuel 8:21 (NKJV)
“And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the Lord.”

Take it to the Lord. As things happen to you on a daily moment-by-moment basis, take them to the Lord. When life surprises you in a way you least expect, take it to the Lord. It may seem like a small and simple thing, but it’s something we often forget to do because we think we need to process things alone. Our minds are like overactive computers that are always spinning and turning, and processing and analyzing – and very often, they come out with results that seem logical and correct, all without reference to the God of creation. Sometimes, we think we don’t need Him to be involved in minute details of our lives, and we somehow think we can resolve these issues by human calculation and simple decoding. But with life, nothing is simple, and no decoding is ordinary. Everything has a spiritual angle, and only God can give a full interpretation of what’s going on in any situation. Now, I am not talking about spending time in prayer and consciously seeking guidance from God. We have dealt with that in an earlier devotion. What we are looking at is an attitude of constantly reporting events that happen to us, to the Lord.

When Jesus sent the disciples out in Luke 10, they returned and told the Lord everything that had happened. One discipline we need to develop is the art of constantly reporting to the Lord, the events of our days. He may respond, or He may not – but the practice is a healthy one whichever way. Although Samuel knew that the Lord had heard what the people were saying, he still “repeated them in the hearing of the Lord.” Again, note that this is not a call to conscious prayer but a practice of “repeating things to the Lord.” This will create a sweet connection between you and the Lord, a kind of conversational interaction that exists between friends. By this practice, you are not asking Him to do anything. You are simply bringing to His notice, stuff happening around your life. Even if you think you know how to handle your situation, and whether He does something about it or not is not the issue. It’s just learning to “report events to Him.”

May we grow in this lifestyle of processing life with Jesus. I believe this will take a lot of weight off our shoulders when we do this. Don’t wait for some sanctimonious time for prayer. Just keep talking and report life to Jesus, even on the go. This cuts out all religious expectations and brings a heart-to-heart connection between us and our Lord. And by the way, I think Jesus really loves and prefers this practice more than our regular religious prayers.