Matthew 6:7
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
When was the last time you prayed? Matter of fact, do you know how or why you should pray? As believers, prayer should not be considered an odd phenomenon or an act that consistently eludes us. Prayer is the quintessential function of a believer. But more often than not, many see and only use prayer like a fire extinguisher for when all hell breaks loose and leave it at that. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. Yet, how would you like it if you were in a relationship with someone and they only called you when they wanted something? Or called you after they created a disastrous mess of things and wanted to use you as their scapegoat? What if I told you that this is exactly how you treat God?
Look here though, this isn't actually a post to beat you over the head about when you pray per say, but more so a post to guide you into a place of understanding the dynamics of prayer so that you can place more value on prayer. Does that make sense?
I'll be honest, I never took prayer serious until about five or six years ago. Before that I only prayed when I felt like I was losing control of something I'd been desperately trying to piece together myself. I think it was just one day something snapped in me and triggered an alarm in my soul that cried out, 'God I need more than Your hand in this! I need YOU!" I was no longer satisfied with the revolving mundane practices of my church going life. I was tired. I was furious. And I was disappointed with this friends with benefits type of relationship I'd established between me and my Heavenly Father.
So what did I do?
I purposely developed a disciplined prayer-life. If you didn't know, prayer is one of the most important facets that makes up the Christian lifestyle. There are a lot variables that will dilute a Christian and one of them happens to be the smoke and vapors of a life in God absolutely devoid of prayer.
So, I forced myself to allot some time to spend in prayer in the morning after waking up and at night before I went to bed. To hold myself accountable, I recorded my prayers. I backed up my prayers with the word of God standing on Numbers 6:24-26. I also made my requests known, I asked for clarity, peace, and joy. And oh me oh my!! Did He respond!
He responded in ways that I wasn't expecting though. Unbeknownst to me, my little brokenhearted prayers pulled me right to God's feet and in His face. I had no idea that when I asked for clarity, He would give me discernment. When I asked for peace, He would bless me with peace that surpasses all understanding. When I asked for joy, He would bless me with such expressions of His loving kindness, that till this day I can't really put a finger on it. I just know that looking back at some of the things I'd faced, they should have done more damage to me, but didn't because of this precious unwavering joy. It was then that I knew what was meant by the scripture James 5:16, "The prayers of the righteous availeth much."
#Sidebar- You should always leave a very healthy space of expectation for God to respond. GOD ALWAYS RESPONDS!!! Sometimes His response will not be what we were thinking because our thoughts are not His. He may not respond in the same setting of your prayer because His divine operations are not governed by time whether vice versa. In some cases His response will come through a cluster of days. A day can be a word. A week can be a sentence. A paragraph can be a month. A phrase can be an hour. It all depends on what you've prayed for and if you're a prepared recipient of His response. CATCH THIS!!!
I want you to grasp this concept of prayer, beloved. Prayer is vital. It is your most effective source of communication with God. It is meant to develop intimacy with you and Him. He longs to communicate with you on a regular basis. We shouldn't feel comfortable with deducing prayer to asking God for material things solely. We shouldn't feel comfortable with making requests of God that simply requires some personal discipline on our part. We shouldn't feel comfortable with relying on others to pray for us when we were born with two lips of our own to pray for ourselves!
Oh! If you're reading this and you're thinking, "Well I can't pray like so and so. I don't know how to pray like so and so." Listen, prayer is not some fancy gathering of poetic words or the mimicking of other people's prayer languages. Please don't refer to the prayer styles of people you've heard. This will only hinder you. Matter of fact, what you probably heard were people interceding which is a branch of prayer but it is not the template for prayer. The word of God is your template. Matthew 6 tells you how you should pray. When you want to get closer to Him, it is that longing that will chaperone your words to where you're no longer consumed by the package of your prayer especially when it's deliberate and on purpose.
Prayer should become a habit for you. It should be like second nature. It doesn't have to be drawn out or long winded. It could be a few sentences. It could be you just weeping. Let everything and anything trigger a prayer not just through dire circumstances and superficial quicker picker uppers. Your motive is to stay connected to God. To stay close to Him. To invoke His presence, because in His presence is fullness of joy! In His presence comes provision. In His presence comes understanding. In His presence comes the exceeding abundantly all that we could ever ask or think. Need I say more?
I tell God everything in prayer! He holds all of my secrets. He knows the language behind my tears. He knows the keynotes of my groans. He's very familiar with my curse words. (Yes!) He rejoices in my laughter. He rents air to be the wind beneath my wings when I'm overjoyed. He commissions warring angels when I feel afraid. He knows what to prescribe me when I need encouragement. Because in prayer, I tell Him when I'm angry, when I'm sad, when I'm paranoid, when I'm lonely, when I'm scared, when I'm offended, when I'm confused, when I feel betrayed. I tell Him when I'm happy, when I'm in love, when I'm at peace, when I'm good, when I'm empowered. I TELL HIM EVERYTHING IN PRAYER!
I can never take prayer lightly for as long as I'm living. This is where we as sons and daughters of the Most High God need to always be. Whether we're backed into a corner or standing atop a mountain, running a race or sitting on the bench, wearing a crown on our heads or staring at handfuls of thorns and thistles, we should be praying!
I'll be honest, I never took prayer serious until about five or six years ago. Before that I only prayed when I felt like I was losing control of something I'd been desperately trying to piece together myself. I think it was just one day something snapped in me and triggered an alarm in my soul that cried out, 'God I need more than Your hand in this! I need YOU!" I was no longer satisfied with the revolving mundane practices of my church going life. I was tired. I was furious. And I was disappointed with this friends with benefits type of relationship I'd established between me and my Heavenly Father.
So what did I do?
I purposely developed a disciplined prayer-life. If you didn't know, prayer is one of the most important facets that makes up the Christian lifestyle. There are a lot variables that will dilute a Christian and one of them happens to be the smoke and vapors of a life in God absolutely devoid of prayer.
So, I forced myself to allot some time to spend in prayer in the morning after waking up and at night before I went to bed. To hold myself accountable, I recorded my prayers. I backed up my prayers with the word of God standing on Numbers 6:24-26. I also made my requests known, I asked for clarity, peace, and joy. And oh me oh my!! Did He respond!
He responded in ways that I wasn't expecting though. Unbeknownst to me, my little brokenhearted prayers pulled me right to God's feet and in His face. I had no idea that when I asked for clarity, He would give me discernment. When I asked for peace, He would bless me with peace that surpasses all understanding. When I asked for joy, He would bless me with such expressions of His loving kindness, that till this day I can't really put a finger on it. I just know that looking back at some of the things I'd faced, they should have done more damage to me, but didn't because of this precious unwavering joy. It was then that I knew what was meant by the scripture James 5:16, "The prayers of the righteous availeth much."
#Sidebar- You should always leave a very healthy space of expectation for God to respond. GOD ALWAYS RESPONDS!!! Sometimes His response will not be what we were thinking because our thoughts are not His. He may not respond in the same setting of your prayer because His divine operations are not governed by time whether vice versa. In some cases His response will come through a cluster of days. A day can be a word. A week can be a sentence. A paragraph can be a month. A phrase can be an hour. It all depends on what you've prayed for and if you're a prepared recipient of His response. CATCH THIS!!!
I want you to grasp this concept of prayer, beloved. Prayer is vital. It is your most effective source of communication with God. It is meant to develop intimacy with you and Him. He longs to communicate with you on a regular basis. We shouldn't feel comfortable with deducing prayer to asking God for material things solely. We shouldn't feel comfortable with making requests of God that simply requires some personal discipline on our part. We shouldn't feel comfortable with relying on others to pray for us when we were born with two lips of our own to pray for ourselves!
Oh! If you're reading this and you're thinking, "Well I can't pray like so and so. I don't know how to pray like so and so." Listen, prayer is not some fancy gathering of poetic words or the mimicking of other people's prayer languages. Please don't refer to the prayer styles of people you've heard. This will only hinder you. Matter of fact, what you probably heard were people interceding which is a branch of prayer but it is not the template for prayer. The word of God is your template. Matthew 6 tells you how you should pray. When you want to get closer to Him, it is that longing that will chaperone your words to where you're no longer consumed by the package of your prayer especially when it's deliberate and on purpose.
Romans 8:26-27
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
I tell God everything in prayer! He holds all of my secrets. He knows the language behind my tears. He knows the keynotes of my groans. He's very familiar with my curse words. (Yes!) He rejoices in my laughter. He rents air to be the wind beneath my wings when I'm overjoyed. He commissions warring angels when I feel afraid. He knows what to prescribe me when I need encouragement. Because in prayer, I tell Him when I'm angry, when I'm sad, when I'm paranoid, when I'm lonely, when I'm scared, when I'm offended, when I'm confused, when I feel betrayed. I tell Him when I'm happy, when I'm in love, when I'm at peace, when I'm good, when I'm empowered. I TELL HIM EVERYTHING IN PRAYER!
I can never take prayer lightly for as long as I'm living. This is where we as sons and daughters of the Most High God need to always be. Whether we're backed into a corner or standing atop a mountain, running a race or sitting on the bench, wearing a crown on our heads or staring at handfuls of thorns and thistles, we should be praying!
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Amen! Well said.
ReplyDelete