TEACH ME TO PRAY WEEK #5

This is our last week for our Bible study on Prayer. I hope each one of you have found at least one thing that will help you when you pray.  The prayer devotional that I had mentioned in our last lesson has some more suggestions for prayers. I want to list them below:

Pray about your doubts and fears.

Pray supine, with you face to the ground. Then stay there in silence and listen.

Pray for an issue dear to your heart asking God to help you lead the charge.

Think of an area in your life where you really need God’s kind of wisdom and ask for it.

Pray that God will give you a clear view of something that is unclear to you.

Pray that He will help you perceive what would bring Him glory in your current situation.

Pray that we live our lives in a way worthy of Jesus.

Pray that the Church will lift Jesus up and show the world what He is really like.

Ask God to make you more aware of the thoughts and prayers the Holy Spirit has for you.

PRAYER MODEL - CHAT

Cheer God for WHO He is.  What fact about God makes you glad?

Humble Yourself:   If Jesus took a tour of your heart, what would he find?

Appreciate what HE has done: What happened in your life today that you can thank God for?

Tell God your needs: what do you Need God to work in your life and in the lives of others?

This is similar to ACTS. The song “Just a little talk with Jesus makes it right”. Well “just a little ‘chat’ with Jesus makes it right” too.

Max Lucado wrote a book called “Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer. Very good read so far. I have kind of skimmed over it . I am going to give you some of the highlights that I read. 

He talks about the disciple asking Jesus to teach them to pray. Jesus gave them the “Lord’s Prayer” for a model. Max stated that all the prayers in the Bible could be distilled into one. The result is a simple, easy to remember, pocket-size prayer:

“Father,

       You are good.

              I need help. Heal me and forgive me.

                     They need help.

                           Thank you Lord.

                                  In Jesus’ name, amen.

You can use this prayer all day. When you wake up, on your way to work, while you are at work/school, while waiting in line.

Prayer is a conversation with God, while drive to work or awaiting an appointment or before interacting with others.

We speak He listens. He speaks, we listen. This is prayer in its purest form.

When we invite God into our world, he walks in.

Prayer is simply a heartfelt conversation between God and His child. He wants to talk to you.

Prayer begins with an honest heartfelt “Oh Daddy”.  Jesus invites us to approach God the way a child approaches his or her daddy.  We are to ‘become as little children” READ MATTHEW 18:3. Carefree. Joy filled. Playful. Trusting. Curious. Excited. Forget greatness. Seek littleness. Trust more, strut less. Make a lot of request and accept all the gifts. Come to God the way a child comes to his Daddy.

The one who hears your prayers IS YOUR DADDY.

In praying, vocabulary might impress people but no God. If prayer depends on how I pray, I’m sunk. But if the power of prayer depends on the One who hears the prayer, and if the One who hears the prayer is my Daddy, then I have hope.

Prayer really is that simple. Resist the urge to complicate it. Don’t take pride in well-crafted prayers. Don’t apologize for incoherent prayers. Just be honest- honest to God. Climb into his lap. Tell him everything that is on your heart. Or tell him nothing at all. Just lift your heart to heaven and declare, Father…..DADDY.

Sometimes “Daddy” is all we can muster. Stress. Fear. Guilt. Grief. Tears.  That is still enough. Tears are prayer words too. God understand what they mean. 

Before you face the world, face your Father.

The moment you sense a problem, however large or small, take it to Christ. (Yes you may be talking to Him all day and that is the point! ) 

An unprayed-for problem is an embedded thorn. It festers and infects- first the finger, then the hand, then the entire arm. Best to go straight to the person who has the tweezers.

God keeps His Word. We just need to ask.

Resist the urge to reclaim the problem once you've given it up.

The Lords has heard your prayer before it was even offered.

Jesus said to "bring your problems to me". State them simply. Present them faithfully and trust Him reverently.

----- The End----