Prayer is an awesome privilege
that God reserves for His children. Through prayer you can bring your deepest
concerns to the Lord. As John tells us, “This is the confidence that we have in
Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us,” 1 John 5:14. God
can help you with anything from arguments with friends to a friend or family’s
illness. Prayer is especially important when making big decisions. Before Jesus
chose the apostles, he spent all night in prayer to His Father (Luke 6:12-13).
So whatever you’re choosing…a college, a job, or a mate… always consult God
first. Paul instructs in Php. 4:6 that we should “be anxious for nothing, but
in everything by prayer and supplication…let your requests be made known unto
God.” Just knowing that God is working in these situations will bring the peace
which surpasses all understanding” to your life (Php. 4:7).
When
should we pray? The Bible answers repeatedly: ALL THE TIME! (Romans 12:12,
Psalm 55:17, 1 Thess. 5:17) This doesn’t mean speaking constantly in prayer but
rather that God wants us to constantly recognize and thank Him for the good
things He has done for us and can do for us. When I recognize a blessing in my
life, I remember to pray. A Christian who is close to God will call on Him in good
times as well as bad.
Prayer
is an avenue for confession. Sometimes we try to cover up our faults-our human
nature doesn’t want to admit that we have problems and need help. But God
designed prayer so we could bring Him our sins and difficulties in life and let
Him help us through. Tell God about your problems and struggles. 1 John 1:7-9
tells us that when we as Christians, confess our sins to the Lord and stop
doing them, He will forgive us.
We
need to keep in mind as well that sometimes God answers our prayer with no (2
Cor. 12:7-9 and Mat. 26:39-42), but God knows what we need most. Here are a few
of his suggestions that will help improve any Christian’s prayer life presented
in an article in the June 1994 edition of Power:
1.
Have a prayer list. List people
(by name) and church programs for whom/which you want to pray. It is easy to
forget if you don’t have something to jog your memory.
2.
Organize your list. In
addition to having general prayers each day and specific prayers for immediate
needs, plan a special time to pray for a different subject area each day of the
week. An example of this is below…
A
Weekly Prayer Reminder
Sunday: Saints-fellow
Christians, church leaders, local congregation, the church universal.
Monday: Missionaries-Evangelism,
missionaries, and the lost (by name).
Tuesday: Teachers-Bible
class teachers, elders and deacons.
Wednesday: Washington-Civil
government leaders, worldwide peace, spreading of the gospel.
Thursday: Thanksgiving-Health,
food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and spiritual blessings.
Friday: Family-Friends
and relatives.
Saturday: Shut-ins
and Sick-Elderly
and chronically ill. Also the poor, afflicted and those who mourn.
3.
Review past prayer lists. This
reaffirms our belief that prayer works and increases our thanksgiving.
4.
Develop good prayer habits. Spend
more time in prayer. Pray at set times everyday and be open to opportunities
for spontaneous prayer
I apologize for this being such
a long post but there is just so much to say about the importance of prayer.
Thanks for bearing with me through the lengthy read.
-M
What if you woke today with only the things you thanked God
for yesterday?
Source: Girl to Girl
No comments:
Post a Comment