Passion in Prayer

My voice rises to God, and I will cry aloud; my voice rises to God, and He will hear me. Psalms 77:1 (NASB) As I read through the Psalms again, I am greatly struck by the passion with which the psalmists seek God. They cry out. They raise their voices. They earnestly seek Him. They are so exceedingly and incredibly passionate. Where is my passion? As I begin the morning with praise; as I work through my prayer lists; as I seek the Lord's voice through Scripture reading - in all of those things, am I truly passionate? When I'm struggling do I truly cry out to my God? When I'm joyful do I act like I'm ready to jump out of my skin in exaltation of my Savior? When I'm repentant, do I truly put my heart into confession? When I'm in the mundane, average, every day sameness of life am I still passionate about lifting petitions, praises, and thanksgiving to Him? I am challenged to learn from the psalmists to truly express my passion for my Lord as I grow in communion with Him. My personality tends to create lists and check them off. But, prayer is not a checklist of how great He is, how repentant I am, how much I need, and how thankful I am for how He has met my past needs. Although I never consciously approach prayer that way, sometimes I do tend to slip into that mentality. Prayer is a passionate interaction with my Savior, and I am challenged to make it a conscious effort to maintain that passion.