Prayer is one of the communication techniques we use to talk to God. Sometimes we overcomplicate prayer and make it seem that only certain Christians can pray. We create excuses to avoid praying. I have seen this many times before. At Crossover or any church event, the speaker asks if someone can pray? We all look around trying to pick out someone to pray or we all avoid eye contact with the speaker so he or she definitely does not call us to pray. I pray that this devotional will ease your minds about prayer so that next time you will boldly led prayer in your next church service or even with your friends.
The Bible says in Proverbs 15:8, "The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases Him." Clearly according to this scripture, God desires us to pray because our prayers please Him. We live our lives to please Him and praying to God is one of the thousand ways to please Him. One misconception of prayer is that we have to pray long and continuous prayers filled with the perfect words and dialect and speech. This is not true!!! Our prayers is talking to God so we should pray like we are having a personal conversation to God because basically our prayers are intimate conversations to God. Conversations can be long or short or both. God wants us to talk and share our thoughts to Him. We can do this through prayer. You might be wondering how to pray? or is there a book titled "Prayer for Dummies" at the local bookstore. I have a better book for you.....The B-I-B-L-E!!! In Matthew 6:5-14 tells you how God wants us to pray. You can use these verses as references on how to pray. God desires us to pray and gives us the answers on how to pray. Isn't that an awesome God we serve?
Now we know how to pray but why to pray is a question many Christians want to know. We should pray because it pleases Him and we love Him. Also prayer allows us to have an intimate relationship with God. As Christians, we strive to learn and know more about our Heavenly Father. We learn more about through having a relationship with Him. Through prayer, we can give our petitions to Him and seek His guidance on how to overcome our trials. So many times unaware, we come to God in our prayers listing out our wishes and desires that we want Him to fulfill. Prayer is a dialogue to God. Instead of just giving Him our wish list, we shoud spend more time listening to what He wants us to pray. Sometimes He might want you to pray for your parents, neighbors,pastors,teachers, friends, and even your enemies. In Matthew 5:44, Jesus says "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." God wants us to pray for your enemies. In my life, College is much different than living at home. I have seen many things that I would not have seen unless I went to college. I remember early in last semester, I was having difficulties with my roommates. I am not saying that they are bad girls but they are not true disciples of Christ. I am totally different from them and I felt like I would never have peace in the midst of heavy downpours. At first, I pray to God ,"Please change them. They need your help more than me. Don't change me because I do not need change. Why do they act so bad?" The more I realized that I was praying selfishly. I only wanted God to correct them and not me because in my eyes, I was perfect. I attend a small group from my campus ministry and we are reading "A Heart Ablazed" by John Bevere. John talks about getting rid of our selfish desires in order to have a strong passion for God. God showed me wisdom when I started having dialogue in my prayer. He told me to forgive them for what they did but also walk in His spirit. I was suppose to show God's Love to them and their friends. Most important, I needed to change my selfish thinking and change my heart toward them. I need to pray for them and their famililes too. When I did these directions, I found peace in the midst of my storms. There is peace among my roommates and I. I show them God's love and pray for them every night. By being obedient to His directions, there are no problems among my roommates and I. Also, I have seen a change in their behavior because they are more considerate to me and they have apologize for previously acts. God is so good and I found this out through prayer. I gain so much wisdom when I pray to God. When I pray the way He wants me to, He communicates His direction for my life.
Prayer is also and I hope that you practice the awesome power of prayer and see it marvelous effects in your life.
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