"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people" Ephesians 6:18
Prayer is something I feel is very important. I don't do it as often as I should, but I still feel its important. It's a tough task I think though. We can easily find excuses not to do it. Our lives are busy and we run out of time in a day before we realize we haven't prayed. I have tried over the years to have a weekly prayer meeting at our church. At times, it was a difficult experience. We could get one other or maybe even two on some occasions. But most of the time, it was just my wife and I - or sometimes just me. I felt called to lead a prayer group, but there was no response to it. After a couple of years doing it, I finally decided to end leading the group.
We have a church of hundreds and yet we were struggling to draw one person consistently. At times it became a point of frustration for me and at other times it was a blessing. I don't why no one came very often. I have prayed about it, but have never received a clear answer. Maybe prayer isn't that exciting of an activity as say worship? Maybe we needed more structure? Maybe we needed a better vision of what prayer is? Maybe we need to be taught more on the importance of prayer?
These are all good questions and maybe in the future I will be involved in another prayer group. I believe it is a foundation to our faith, so I have no doubt there will be some kind of future incarnation.
Why should we pray and pray often? If God knows what we want or need, what is the point of praying? What's the right way to pray or what are the right words?
Jesus points out in Matthew that we shouldn't be praying out loud and putting on a show for the public. This isn't to say we cant pray in public, but that our focus should not be getting seen or showing off. Instead, we should pray in private, directly to our Father. The focus of prayer is the relationship between God and us. Paul, in Ephesians, tells us to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. Our lives should be spent continuously praying for everything, whether we believe them to be big or small requests. We should also be praying for more than just us as well. There's nothing more powerful than to know other people are interceding and praying on our behalf. There's a hope and strength that we can draw off of which can sustain us through our trying times. A feeling that we are not battling alone.
Prayer is totally for us, not for God's benefit. It gets us in a quiet place where we can get our thoughts together. Look at it as a conversation, like you would with anyone else. There are no magic words or styles we have to know for a prayer to be successful. It doesn't rely on us at all. That's especially important to if you are praying for someone. It's a sore spot for me that keeps me at times from going up front of church and praying for others. Will I have the right words and speak the right prayer? If you go up, God will bless that - the words that don't have to be perfect - just your heart and willingness to serve.
And God answers prayers. There are no unanswered prayers when you pray. God will answer yes, no, or wait. The first two I can handle, though I may grumble at no. But to me, its an answer. The problem for me is if God tells me to wait. I'd much prefer no to wait. I am terribly impatient and don't wait well on anything. I struggle with waiting. More often than not, I will try to do things to speed up the process or "help" God to move quicker. Doesn't work at all I must admit. God answers them all in the proper time.
As I was writing this and preparing I had heard of the above three answers God gives to prayer. However, I think there is a fourth or more appropriately a replacement for "no". That other answer is "I've got better". And isn't that the truth? Often, God goes beyond what we pray for. Even when He says "no", its not because God likes to tell us "no". It just means He has a different, better plan for us. Sometimes, we need to look past the initial "no" from God and ask Him what His plans are. Then, its a good time to listen.
As I said earlier, prayer is a conversation. And like any conversation, it is not just one person talking. We also need to listen to what God is saying to us. He wants to reveal His plans for us and we need to listen. That's a struggle, as we like to lay out our agenda and requests to God. Imagine if you were having a chat with someone, and they did all the talking? You don't get a word in and they just lay out everything on their minds and then they get up and leave. Not much of a conversation. I do that a lot with God. Yet, God wants to tell us "I've got better"
I believe that God says that to a lot of prayers. "I got better for you" is a phrase God enjoys giving. "Yes, but I will do more than you expect." or "No, but I have something much better for you" God wants to spend quality time with us and what better way than to sit down and chat with Him. He wants to hear what's on your mind, and we can be honest in how we feel. We can be upset and angry with God. He will listen and take us in His arms. He wants to hear about our dreams, our hopes, and our good moments as well. He shares in our joys as well. Sometimes, He wont give us the answer we expect to our questions - we just have to trust that He knows best. That's the power of praying.
Prayer is something I feel is very important. I don't do it as often as I should, but I still feel its important. It's a tough task I think though. We can easily find excuses not to do it. Our lives are busy and we run out of time in a day before we realize we haven't prayed. I have tried over the years to have a weekly prayer meeting at our church. At times, it was a difficult experience. We could get one other or maybe even two on some occasions. But most of the time, it was just my wife and I - or sometimes just me. I felt called to lead a prayer group, but there was no response to it. After a couple of years doing it, I finally decided to end leading the group.
We have a church of hundreds and yet we were struggling to draw one person consistently. At times it became a point of frustration for me and at other times it was a blessing. I don't why no one came very often. I have prayed about it, but have never received a clear answer. Maybe prayer isn't that exciting of an activity as say worship? Maybe we needed more structure? Maybe we needed a better vision of what prayer is? Maybe we need to be taught more on the importance of prayer?
These are all good questions and maybe in the future I will be involved in another prayer group. I believe it is a foundation to our faith, so I have no doubt there will be some kind of future incarnation.
Why should we pray and pray often? If God knows what we want or need, what is the point of praying? What's the right way to pray or what are the right words?
Jesus points out in Matthew that we shouldn't be praying out loud and putting on a show for the public. This isn't to say we cant pray in public, but that our focus should not be getting seen or showing off. Instead, we should pray in private, directly to our Father. The focus of prayer is the relationship between God and us. Paul, in Ephesians, tells us to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. Our lives should be spent continuously praying for everything, whether we believe them to be big or small requests. We should also be praying for more than just us as well. There's nothing more powerful than to know other people are interceding and praying on our behalf. There's a hope and strength that we can draw off of which can sustain us through our trying times. A feeling that we are not battling alone.
Prayer is totally for us, not for God's benefit. It gets us in a quiet place where we can get our thoughts together. Look at it as a conversation, like you would with anyone else. There are no magic words or styles we have to know for a prayer to be successful. It doesn't rely on us at all. That's especially important to if you are praying for someone. It's a sore spot for me that keeps me at times from going up front of church and praying for others. Will I have the right words and speak the right prayer? If you go up, God will bless that - the words that don't have to be perfect - just your heart and willingness to serve.
And God answers prayers. There are no unanswered prayers when you pray. God will answer yes, no, or wait. The first two I can handle, though I may grumble at no. But to me, its an answer. The problem for me is if God tells me to wait. I'd much prefer no to wait. I am terribly impatient and don't wait well on anything. I struggle with waiting. More often than not, I will try to do things to speed up the process or "help" God to move quicker. Doesn't work at all I must admit. God answers them all in the proper time.
As I was writing this and preparing I had heard of the above three answers God gives to prayer. However, I think there is a fourth or more appropriately a replacement for "no". That other answer is "I've got better". And isn't that the truth? Often, God goes beyond what we pray for. Even when He says "no", its not because God likes to tell us "no". It just means He has a different, better plan for us. Sometimes, we need to look past the initial "no" from God and ask Him what His plans are. Then, its a good time to listen.
As I said earlier, prayer is a conversation. And like any conversation, it is not just one person talking. We also need to listen to what God is saying to us. He wants to reveal His plans for us and we need to listen. That's a struggle, as we like to lay out our agenda and requests to God. Imagine if you were having a chat with someone, and they did all the talking? You don't get a word in and they just lay out everything on their minds and then they get up and leave. Not much of a conversation. I do that a lot with God. Yet, God wants to tell us "I've got better"
I believe that God says that to a lot of prayers. "I got better for you" is a phrase God enjoys giving. "Yes, but I will do more than you expect." or "No, but I have something much better for you" God wants to spend quality time with us and what better way than to sit down and chat with Him. He wants to hear what's on your mind, and we can be honest in how we feel. We can be upset and angry with God. He will listen and take us in His arms. He wants to hear about our dreams, our hopes, and our good moments as well. He shares in our joys as well. Sometimes, He wont give us the answer we expect to our questions - we just have to trust that He knows best. That's the power of praying.
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