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----
