Welcome back to this week's post of The Sweet Life series!  We've been talking about how to bake up your life of purpose and fulfilled dreams.  We all want the sweet life if we're honest, and I'm sharing my recipe on how to find it.  (Go back and read the previous posts if you need to catch up:  PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4, PART 5)

The recipe step we're diving into this week is heating up the oven.  Anyone who has ever baked a cake knows how important it is to preheat your oven.  If you stick your pan of batter in a cold oven, not only does it take much longer to bake, it can also drastically change the outcome of your finished product. A nicely heated oven at just the right temperature, however, transforms that pan of batter into something divine.  

The analogy here in my recipe is prayer and worship.  Now don't go tuning me out if you feel a sense of dread when I say those words.  It doesn't have to be too serious or look a certain way.  Let's start with prayer this week.  

I like to think of prayer as continuous conversations with God.  Sometimes those conversations are in a serious setting with a specific list of requests I bring to Him, but most times they are me sharing my heart with Him in my car or on the go. "Lord, what do you think about this? Should I do that? I'm struggling with this...Please help with that...I'm asking you for________..." and on it goes.  And then waiting to let Him talk back to me if He wants.  It isn't usually an audible voice, sometimes it's just the presence of peace or clarity on one of my questions, but the point is not moving on too quickly.  (We've all had that friend who is happy to unload ALL of their baggage onto you without listening to anything you have to say back!  Let's not be that person ;-))

Daily coming to Him as a partner, friend, counselor and Father brings you closest to The One who actually created you and your unique sweet life, and He is the only one who has all the resources and wisdom to help you get to it.  

Next week, we'll dig into worship on this same note, but this week, if you aren't already, focus on preparing for that dream through PRAYER! All of the things you've written down, dreamed about, envisioned and asked for, take them to God in prayer. Pray for yourself, ask for wisdom and strength to handle those dreams when they do come, pray for all the people involved, pray for the right doors to open, pray for all the wrong doors to close. Most importantly, thank God for all He has already done for you.

Consistent prayer turns the heat up in your life and prepares you for what's to come; in more ways than you can understand.  

Just like an oven transforms a cake, prayer and worship set the right environment and temperature to help our dreams develop.

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