Mom did a bit of study on prayer. It's such an important part of our Christian experience. It's the most fundamental way we interact with our Father. For some, it can be an intimidating experience. Sometimes it becomes stale, done solely out of obligation or duty. Neither of those is how prayer is meant to be. It's just talking or communicating with our Father. Sometimes, we don't even need words, sometimes it's bringing our tears to Him and letting the Holy Spirit transform them to speak our needs into the Father's ear. Sometimes it's a near silent sigh of helplessness and sorrow. Whatever way, prayer is meant to be a beautiful, meaningful, deeply personal interaction with our God. Let's go on to Mom's entry.
2 Chronicles 6:20 May you watch over this Temple day and night, this place where you have said you would put your name. May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place.
Prayer is talking with God. Meditation is listening to God. Communicating with God through talking with Him (prayer) is the most important element of prayer. It is the line that connects our soul with the battery power of God's power. God's power must flow into our lives as we bow down before Him and remember and recognize Him as Lord of all. Prayer is the battle itself.
Prayer is the greatest gift we can give another person. When we approach the throne on behalf of another, we are doing exactly what Jesus did for us. God takes our prayers and uses them to unlock doors of great blessings in the lives of others. One of the greatest blessings come when we recognize the moving of the Holy Spirit and follow Him in prayer. When a name comes to mind, God is putting a burden on our hearts to pray for that person. This is the Holy Spirit calling out to us to be sensitive and to pray for that person.
How to Prayer
In petition: /God does something for us.
In intercession: God does something through us.
In communication: God does something in us.
Pray specifically. Colossians 1:9-14 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.
Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Pray for needs. James 5:13-18 Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.
Pray in faith. Micah 7:7 As for me, I look to the Lord for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me.
Lamentations 3:25 The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.
Pray in patience. Psalm 40:1-8 I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.
Pray everyday, anytime during the day and even when awake during the night. Believe He will intercede.
Pray to understand God's plan for your life. Pray to conduct yourself in a manner worthy of Christ and pleasing to Him (see Colossians 1:9-14 above). "I pray to know You Lord, to know Your will and be obedient. Strengthen me according to Your power."
From me.
We'll stop here for now. I am looking forward to this lesson on prayer. Often, we feel like we've been doing something for so long that we think there is nothing more to learn, but with the things of God there is always more. And I love the way He uses the familiar to spark the new. I have a feeling that is going to happen in this study on prayer.
Lord, thank You that You desire to communicate with Your children, Your creation. That amazes me! Open up our hearts to do a new work in our prayer lives that we may be more effective and passionate pray-ers! Make us Your prayer warriors. In Jesus' mighty Name. Amen
Start a new prayer tradition today!
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