A GOD-LIVED LIFE: Prayer

             We are in a series of sermons with a Stewardship emphasis. Stewardship, ultimately, is about our entire life. We use what God gives us to his glory and for the good of our neighbor. Over the next few months, we will consider the various ways we use the gifts God gives us as is God-pleasing.

          Each week, I will be sending out an email to further encourage what we pondered on the first Sunday of that month. In this way, the thoughts do not perish by that Sunday evening, but each one can give intentional consideration how he or she may put into practice what was proclaimed as a God-pleasing way to serve him.

          For the month of October, we continue to consider what it means to have A Life of Being a Disciple.

A GOD-LIVED LIFE: A LIFE OF BEING A DISCIPLE

Week #4      Prayer

            God the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, gives you a standing invitation: “Call upon me in the day of distress.  I will deliver you, and you will honor me” (Psalm 50:15). 

            The Lord Jesus Christ, conqueror of death and the grave who lives and reigns over all things, gives you a faithful promise: “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.  Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be made complete” (John 16:23-24).

            Of course, to pray in Jesus’ name is not a blank check to get whatever you want.  Every prayer includes this petition, whether spoken or not: “Your will be done.”  God’s will is always done, and we pray that it be done among us also.  We can pray for whatever we want, but we also know that our good and merciful Father in heaven, who is all-wise, will only give us what is good for us.  Sometimes that means withholding what we ask for because he has better things in mind. 

            But our prayers are important.  God speaks to us in his word; we speak to God through our prayers.  This dialogue is essential in our faith.  The Father speaks to his children; the children respond to their Father.  The children call upon their Father for every good thing and for aid in every evil thing; the Father is honored when we demonstrate our faith in him and is delighted to provide for, to protect, and to console his children.

            How to pray?  Here are some helpful thoughts.

1)      Pray for whatever you want.  Be bold, and trust that whatever God does is the right thing.

2)     Be persistent.  If you have children, you know how they can pester you continually with their requests.  We are God’s children, and he wants us to appeal to him persistently—not because he needs to be worn down, but because he is disciplining us to call upon him fervently.

3)     Trust his promises and hold him to them.  This is not disrespectful; it is faithful.  God is honored when we take him at his word and hold him to his word.

4)     Let the Scriptures inform your prayers.  The point of our prayers is not to coax God into thinking like us.  By our faithful reading of the Scriptures, we learn to think like God.  If you pray the Psalms, God’s answer to them will always be “Yes!”, for God is always in agreement with is own word.

5)     Pray out loud.  I don’t know if the devil can read our thoughts, but he certainly can hear our words.  Prayers vex the devil and drive him away.

6)     Pray with your family.  Gather requests and intercessions.  This models for your children that prayers matter and teaches them to do it too.  It also binds the family together better.

7)     Pray without ceasing.  This includes setting aside time for intentional prayers where your time is dedicated to calling upon the Lord.  It also includes brief, quick prayers spoken throughout the day for people and circumstances that come to mind.  “Lord, have mercy upon ____,” can be uttered often throughout each day, and God will be pleased to hear it.