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." (English Standard Version, italics added.)
Matthew 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
Matthew 7:7-11 " Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and the one who knocks will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks you for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!"
Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (Esv, italics added)
I've been praying a lot lately. The Bible calls us to pray without ceasing. One thing I've noticed, when we promise ourselves to set aside a time to pray we don't normally get to it. Now, maybe that's just me. I know a lot of really organized people, so it could just be me. I don't say this to accuse anyone. I say this because this is what I've noticed in myself. What if a busy day comes? What then? Do I sacrifice what my plans are for the day to go to my God and thank Him, praise Him, confess to Him? Do I put God first? Same thing when you eat you know how you pray first because we put God before our stomachs. We pray first to thank God for the meal. As you see in the very first verse I wrote we are called to pray without ceasing. I have several points I wanna make in this post.
How should I pray? The answer to that is quite simple. First lemme point ya out to Matt.6:5-14 "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." In other words don't be like the hypocrites who pray out in the open purposefully so all can see. When He says "they have received their reward" He means all the praises they receive on how "righteous" they are. They are hypocrites, their heart isn't really on Christ but on their selves. They will be judged one day. Ok, back to the Words of Jesus.
"And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. " For example, the Catholic; they are very repetitive in their prayers. They have so many hail Mary's to say, etc. Jesus tells us NOT to pray like that because it doesn't matter how many times you say it for God to hear you. He already knows what we're coming to Him about before we come to Him.
"Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. " Get this I looked up hallowed and here's the definitions I got from different dictionary sources: regarded as holy, venerated, sacred: Hallowed be thy name, the hallowed saints. Source#2 1. HOLY, CONSECRATED 2. SACRED, REVERED. Thesaurus source#1 anointed, beautified, blessed, consecrated, dedicated, divine, holy, honored, sacred, sanctified, etc. etc.
" Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your Father in heaven will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." I think that is pretty self explanatory.
There's also a cool little guide you can use. Acts! A-doration (Giving praise to your God. Adore Him.) C-onfession (we all know what that is) T-hanksgiving (Give thanks for the abudant blessings He bestows on us.) S-upplication (Ask God for what you need. Ask, seek, and knock. Matt.7:7-11 God knows our needs. But, we are told to ask, seek, and knock!) This is a helpful guide if you have faultering lips like Moses, and I. (We're partners.) No, seriously ask my Mom. I told her when I pray I'm like Moses. I have stumbling lips. I sound like a six year old praying. Our Pastor and an elder in our Church (whom I won't name because I don't have his permission) say such beautiful prayers. God cares about our attitudes of our hearts rather then the beautiful words we pray. We can be like the Pharisees and pray such "holy, righteous" prayers, but their hearts were far from God. In other words, those prayers are just pure flattery.
TO BE CONTINUIED!
~L. D.
Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (Esv, italics added)
I've been praying a lot lately. The Bible calls us to pray without ceasing. One thing I've noticed, when we promise ourselves to set aside a time to pray we don't normally get to it. Now, maybe that's just me. I know a lot of really organized people, so it could just be me. I don't say this to accuse anyone. I say this because this is what I've noticed in myself. What if a busy day comes? What then? Do I sacrifice what my plans are for the day to go to my God and thank Him, praise Him, confess to Him? Do I put God first? Same thing when you eat you know how you pray first because we put God before our stomachs. We pray first to thank God for the meal. As you see in the very first verse I wrote we are called to pray without ceasing. I have several points I wanna make in this post.
How should I pray? The answer to that is quite simple. First lemme point ya out to Matt.6:5-14 "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." In other words don't be like the hypocrites who pray out in the open purposefully so all can see. When He says "they have received their reward" He means all the praises they receive on how "righteous" they are. They are hypocrites, their heart isn't really on Christ but on their selves. They will be judged one day. Ok, back to the Words of Jesus.
"And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. " For example, the Catholic; they are very repetitive in their prayers. They have so many hail Mary's to say, etc. Jesus tells us NOT to pray like that because it doesn't matter how many times you say it for God to hear you. He already knows what we're coming to Him about before we come to Him.
"Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. " Get this I looked up hallowed and here's the definitions I got from different dictionary sources: regarded as holy, venerated, sacred: Hallowed be thy name, the hallowed saints. Source#2 1. HOLY, CONSECRATED 2. SACRED, REVERED. Thesaurus source#1 anointed, beautified, blessed, consecrated, dedicated, divine, holy, honored, sacred, sanctified, etc. etc.
" Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your Father in heaven will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." I think that is pretty self explanatory.
There's also a cool little guide you can use. Acts! A-doration (Giving praise to your God. Adore Him.) C-onfession (we all know what that is) T-hanksgiving (Give thanks for the abudant blessings He bestows on us.) S-upplication (Ask God for what you need. Ask, seek, and knock. Matt.7:7-11 God knows our needs. But, we are told to ask, seek, and knock!) This is a helpful guide if you have faultering lips like Moses, and I. (We're partners.) No, seriously ask my Mom. I told her when I pray I'm like Moses. I have stumbling lips. I sound like a six year old praying. Our Pastor and an elder in our Church (whom I won't name because I don't have his permission) say such beautiful prayers. God cares about our attitudes of our hearts rather then the beautiful words we pray. We can be like the Pharisees and pray such "holy, righteous" prayers, but their hearts were far from God. In other words, those prayers are just pure flattery.
TO BE CONTINUIED!
~L. D.
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