This morning I had the pleasure of doing something that I haven't done in a while: I took a walk with God. I discovered the utter joy that comes from literally walking with God and talking to Him last January.  I was up at camp for a few weeks, just for fun, and I was walking along the snow-covered trees heading to a friend's house, and I just started talking to Him, thanking Him for different things, telling Him what I was stressed about, enjoying, etc.
A friend of mine stayed over last night, and this morning I ran out to pick up some pain au chocolats, and as I was walking, I just started talking to Him.  In the months that I have been here, I have re-realized just how important prayer is. Pretty much any time I have been out with a friend, before we part ways, we pray together.  In the time by myself as well, it has become ever-increasingly evident to me that prayer is desperately essential and brings about peace.  When your heart is being filled with God's peace, your whole body can turn to peace, and strength to face the problems that arise daily, the mountains that appear when you don't expect them, and the difficulties from simply living in a world that is ever seeking God (even if they don't know it) can come, always through the grace of God.  Never, never, underestimate the power of prayer.
In the fifth chapter of Luke, he tells us, "But [Jesus] would withdraw to desolate places and pray."  I often find that I have the mindset that I can do things on my own.  But Jesus himself went to spend time with the Father everyday.  As a friend pointed out to me recently, when Jesus came down to be born as a human to save us all, it was the first time that he had ever been separated from God.  I find it terribly difficult to even spend this much time without seeing my family, but imagine not only being separated from your family, but also your best friend, as well as leaving a part of your very self.  And so, Jesus would leave those he was with, to commune with God.  We as Christians say that we follow Jesus, and perhaps it is just me, but I know that I don't commune with God like he did and like I want to.
How very deeply do I want to try to do just that.  Not just ask God for things, not just request that He care for others, but truly commune with Him.  And how great a gift it is to be able to pray.