Did you know that your heart has a voice? Yup...it can speak to God. Did you further know that the Lord WANTS to hear our voices talk to Him...we do it through prayer. Alot of people who are new to Christianity and some that aren't get confused by the subject of prayer. They don't feel that they pray well enough. They don't feel that they know the right things to say, that they aren't eloquent enough, that they aren't smart enough, that they are just not capable. Well guess what, WRONG! First of all I want to say that talking to God is just a conversation, just like you would have with your best friend.
It doesn't have to be eloquent, it doesn't have to be wordy or pretty...just raw heartfelt emotion is fine. God gets it, He is pretty good that way. In Colossians 1:3-12 it tells us how to pray...lets check it out a little. a quick breakdownvs 3 says : we always pray for you & we give thanks to God
vs 9 & 10 says: we have not stopped praying for you; we ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdowm and understanding, then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit.
vs 11 & 12 says: We also pray that you will be strengthened with His all glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy always thanking the Father. So lets break that down further, we should pray to 1) lift up others 2) thank God 3) ask for strength Ok, so I once was told that you can use the acronym ACTS to pray Found in Colossians, but also in 1 Tim 2:1 I urge then first of all that requests prayers intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone. A: Adoration - pretty self explanitory
C: Confession -(repent) ask for forgiveness for the things you have done wrong and for strength or help from God
to overcome those trials.
T: Thanksgiving - Thank God for all your blessings.
S: Supplication -(requests) Anything that you need help for or with...God knows, and He WANTS to help us. The next question alot of people ask is...Does prayer reaaaaaaally work? Uhhh, ya ..ya it does. The answer might not always be the one you want to hear, Jesus even had a prayer that He didn't have answered the way He wanted :Matt 26:39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." So there is a huge point to be made there. Its Gods will, not ours. We can ask, but the answer doesn't have to be yes. Think as a parent how many times your children asked you for something...a dog? a horse? a jet? to go to an unchaperoned party? the list is endless...and just as we have to tell them that wonderful two letter word NO sometimes, as does God with us. We don't know what the reasons are but we don't have to...I can hear in the back of my head "Because I said so!" So, last note here...The Bible says...1 Thess 5:17 pray continually.Wow, ok really? How do I pray CONTINUALLY?!?? I mean that must mean that I can do nothing but pray all the time day and night right? Well yes, and no...remember when I said that prayer is just a conversation that you have with God. So lets follow this along, I talk to my children continually, now they dont really listen, but I do talk to them..we get up in the morning and talk, I call during the day, they call me, we text and in the evening we talk, and then we all go to bed....a continual stream of communication. So when you pray continually to God...its a continual stream of conversation 7a Hey God its me, thanks for the wonderful day, please let all go well
730a Hey God just wanted to say that sunrise! Wow, good work there!
745 Hey God, its me again, please help my temper driving through rush hour and help me get there safely, I know my temper can get set off in this traffic
8a: Hey God, its me again, please bless this food thank you for providing itand so forth and so on...I pray for you all, for strengh, wisdom, growth, health and joy in Jesus name. amenSharyl
It doesn't have to be eloquent, it doesn't have to be wordy or pretty...just raw heartfelt emotion is fine. God gets it, He is pretty good that way. In Colossians 1:3-12 it tells us how to pray...lets check it out a little. a quick breakdownvs 3 says : we always pray for you & we give thanks to God
vs 9 & 10 says: we have not stopped praying for you; we ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdowm and understanding, then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit.
vs 11 & 12 says: We also pray that you will be strengthened with His all glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy always thanking the Father. So lets break that down further, we should pray to 1) lift up others 2) thank God 3) ask for strength Ok, so I once was told that you can use the acronym ACTS to pray Found in Colossians, but also in 1 Tim 2:1 I urge then first of all that requests prayers intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone. A: Adoration - pretty self explanitory
C: Confession -(repent) ask for forgiveness for the things you have done wrong and for strength or help from God
to overcome those trials.
T: Thanksgiving - Thank God for all your blessings.
S: Supplication -(requests) Anything that you need help for or with...God knows, and He WANTS to help us. The next question alot of people ask is...Does prayer reaaaaaaally work? Uhhh, ya ..ya it does. The answer might not always be the one you want to hear, Jesus even had a prayer that He didn't have answered the way He wanted :Matt 26:39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." So there is a huge point to be made there. Its Gods will, not ours. We can ask, but the answer doesn't have to be yes. Think as a parent how many times your children asked you for something...a dog? a horse? a jet? to go to an unchaperoned party? the list is endless...and just as we have to tell them that wonderful two letter word NO sometimes, as does God with us. We don't know what the reasons are but we don't have to...I can hear in the back of my head "Because I said so!" So, last note here...The Bible says...1 Thess 5:17 pray continually.Wow, ok really? How do I pray CONTINUALLY?!?? I mean that must mean that I can do nothing but pray all the time day and night right? Well yes, and no...remember when I said that prayer is just a conversation that you have with God. So lets follow this along, I talk to my children continually, now they dont really listen, but I do talk to them..we get up in the morning and talk, I call during the day, they call me, we text and in the evening we talk, and then we all go to bed....a continual stream of communication. So when you pray continually to God...its a continual stream of conversation 7a Hey God its me, thanks for the wonderful day, please let all go well
730a Hey God just wanted to say that sunrise! Wow, good work there!
745 Hey God, its me again, please help my temper driving through rush hour and help me get there safely, I know my temper can get set off in this traffic
8a: Hey God, its me again, please bless this food thank you for providing itand so forth and so on...I pray for you all, for strengh, wisdom, growth, health and joy in Jesus name. amenSharyl
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