Could you
imagine trying to have a best friend without communicating with them? Or your
spouse travelled for a week and you were unable to communicate with your
spouse? How would you feel? Imagine,
being a Christian and not talking to God? The direct telephone numbers to God
are within these two scriptures: Jeremiah 29:13 and Jeremiah 33:3.
“You will
seek me, and you will find me because you will seek me with all your heart.”
(Jeremiah 29:13 GNT).
“Call to me,
and I will answer you; I will tell you wonderful and marvellous things that you
know nothing about.” (Jeremiah 33:3 GNT).
What's
Prayer all about?
God wants us to improve our prayer lives, including me the author of this
post. I believe the word 'Prayer' sometimes makes us feel like it is a big
task to undertake.
Trying to
be creative with the terminology, prayer is simply a time you talk to God, a
time you hang out with God, a time God listens to you and a time that you
listen to Him.
You may not
be able to send a WhatsApp message to God, ring God, send a text message
or snapchat to God, you may not be able to even send an email to God
but guess what? Prayer is just as real as talking to God on the phone or
sending an email.
Why Should You Pray?
- It's a command from God: Jesus told
his disciples a parable to teach them that they should always pray and
never become discouraged. (Luke 18:1).
- It makes your relationship with God stronger. You truly get to know God a lot when you hang out with Him on a regular basis.
- It is a way to seek God and His direction for
your life.
- Praying also helps you to keep and stay out of trouble. Jesus told us to, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation." (Matthew 26:41)
- God will know exactly how you are feeling every day of your life, God will grant you the desire of your heart. God will reveal the hidden things to you.
Jesus - The
Perfect Prayer Role Model
- Jesus was a man of prayer
- Jesus lived a life of prayer: Jesus would
go away to lonely places, where he prayed. (Luke 5:16).
- Prayer was so important that Jesus had to
teach the disciples how to pray.
- Jesus Christ sent the crowd away into the
wilderness and prayed alone with God, a place where no one could find him (Matthew 14:23).
- Before making decisions, Jesus sought the
views of God: Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and He
spent a whole night with God, and he chose his disciples after He had
prayed (Luke 6:12-14).
Why don't we
Pray?
- The Devil
is always looking for every opportunity to stop you and I from praying.
- We do not
prioritise prayers.
- We engage
ourselves in so many things.
- Some of us
believe that we only need to pray when we fellowship with our church brethren.
- Some finds
prayer very boring and tasking.
- Some
people do not know how to pray.
- Too busy
to pray.
- Postponing
when to pray.
- Some people believe their spouse, parents or their church leaders are praying for them.
- Some
people believe Jesus has prayed all the prayers that they need in life.
Tips on Improving Your Communication with God
1. Sometimes some of us say we don’t have a specific time to pray. There is
no way we can learn to practise and stay in the presence of God if we don’t
have a secret time and time alone with God. Have a time that you communicate
with God. Also, be creative about your prayer lifestyle, pray while doing your
chores, pray while cooking, pray while bathing, pray while driving, have a
prayer walk, etc.
2. I believe the initiating of prayer is not an issue but the problem is
that, do we keep it going? Do we preserve in prayer? If it helps, have an
accountability person, tell someone to always remind you to pray.
3. You need to be highly disciplined to continue and persist in the place
of prayer. Sometimes, it's not going to be convenient.
4. Renew your mind and consciously believe that prayer is not a difficult
task but rather a time to hang out with God.
5. When you pray, do not doubt. Ask in faith - James 1:6-8.
6. Say what you want . . . Speak it! Mark 11:23 states that, whoever
says to this mountain, be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt
in his heart, but believes that those things he says he will be fine, he will
have whatever he says.
7. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to improve your prayer life. In the same
way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray
for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. (Romans8:26).
8. Take time to talk to God when you will have less distractions from
other things.
9. Have a Godly friend that you can pray together, this can also help
improve your prayer life.
10. There are prayer books that you can purchase online that can guide you
in your prayer.
11. When you study your Bible, raise prayer points within what you have
read.
12. Tell God about everything on your mind, pray for yourself, your friend,
your family, pray for your country.
Are you a
parent? One of the greatest gifts you can give your child is teaching your child how to
pray. Help your child to develop a daily life of prayer, from age 2 upwards,
encourage your child to lead prayers during your family devotion, encourage
them to pray on their meal before eating, encourage them to share their worries
with God including their wishes, encourage them to thank God for their family,
friends, health, protection, character, wisdom from God, their future, etc.
Having read
this post, please take 5 minutes to hang out with God.
Enjoy the
rest of your week.
-
Myss Lafunky
Thanks for the reminder Myss Lafunky. I ask for the grace to live a life of steadfastness in prayer, worship and study of His word in Jesus name (amen).
ReplyDeleteAmen. You're welcome.
DeleteExcellent post!!! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Now, it's time for me to pray before I fall into the category of reasons that we do not pray.
DeleteExcellent write up & whilst I agree with most of what has been said, I think with prayer its never black or white, there are grey areas & its so much more personal than anything else.
ReplyDeleteI might go off on a tangent but please bear with me, it is only because I am so passionate about not reinforcing all stereotypes & the impact messages have on 'baby/growing' type christians.
In recent times, churches have changed their doctrines - christianity is a relationship not a religion, prayer with God is like talking to a friend not a strict grumpy old man holding a cane - and whilst this is absolutely superb (from a young age, I always believed God was so much more easier to reach than was painted - a judge & a father way up above who needs us to obey his instructions if not hell ta ra ra, though not entirely false, its gross misconception & misrepresentation - comment for another day), we are still putting people under obligations that in my opinion are not as effective as the intent of the obligations.
I totally agree that we should pray, infact if we do not pray we only deprive ourselves of the numerous benefits we are entitled to only by the grace of God, not by the number of good words or positive energy we think we are sending God's way. I use the term positive energy very waringly.
Prayer to me should be anytime, anywhere, anyhow. The bible says we should pray without ceasing (1 thess 5.17), unceasing dependance upon God & like an article I read says; prayer should be like breathing.
I dont think its fair to box people into the stereotype of specific prayer times.
Now hold on, I do believe that these are more healthy than not practices, more prayer is definitely a plus and from the life of Jesus, we know that He took special time away from the noise of the crowd to pray but I think when we begin to preach the message of specific times, for baby/growing christians, it introduces guilt.
Guilt that an obligation isnt fulfilled, some even go ahead to fulfill for the sake of 'let my mind be at rest', whilst nothing is lost from praying, that only causes daily drudgery and eventually it will not last (Ref: Matt 6:7).
Prayer for me is anytime, I am watching the news & hear something bad, I say God please take control of this situation, I am on my way somewhere and someone smiles at me, I say God bless that person & make them continually smile, I am running to catch the bus & the driver stops or waits for me, I say God you know what this man needs, show him kindness as he has been kind to me today & my fav of all time, I am watching a movie and something bad is about to happen, I say (more like scream at the Tv) God please open this persons eyes to see the danger coming (laughable right? I know). Bottomline, prayer to me is constant communication stemming from the little things up.
Let our hearts be turned to God, let us really treat God as a friend and father & make prayer the communication line its meant to be, not the morning and evening tonic but the constant conciousness of who He is & with a heart filled with thanksgiving.
The bible does say the book of the law should not depart from our mouths, but we should meditate on it day and night (Josh 1:8) and of course we can choose to add prayer to this meditation but that choice is up to the individual not a standard.
What I am saying in a nutshell is this, if truly God is your friend, you will not wait to set a part of your day aside, you will want to speak to Him as much as you can, as many times as you can.
And for all the people who are struggling to meet up with the standards placed on you, break the mould and speak to God in the pattern that works, observe I didnt say in the pattern that works for you... Why? Because its a joint decision between you & God and if you ever worry that you cant hear God expressly, you are not alone but remember you have the Holyspirit who is there to teach you all things!
I totally agree with your view about using every opportunity and prompting one gets to pray but I'm a bit concerned about not choosing a time to pray. I don't believe it has got to be a specific time everyday but as the person sincerely deems fit while ensuring its done daily. You'd agree that for many people who lead busy schedules, things need to be planned else, they simply won't get done and that should apply to prayers as well. If one chooses to ONLY pray whenever we feel like or we come across situations to prompt us to pray, I wonder what would happen on days when such promptings are not there. The summary of this is that we should pray as much as we get the opportunity and prompting to do so but not ignore committing a certain amount of our time daily to praying.
DeleteThanks Twale, for you have reinforced my point.
DeleteYou said: "I don't believe it has got to be a specific time everyday but as the person sincerely deems fit while ensuring its done daily"
So I reiterate, "Prayer to me should be anytime, anywhere, anyhow. The bible says we should pray without ceasing (1 thess 5.17), unceasing dependance upon God & like an article I read says; prayer should be like breathing".
In my opinion, prayer should not be a chore set for a specific time (although any prayer said is never at a loss), prayer is constant communication.
I think what most people who might struggle with what I am saying may feel is that the prayers said at a certain & specific time is more effective (I was brought up in this pattern btw) but I believe we should transcend from the daily tonics to a constant consciousness.
My point, let God lead us in a pattern that works whether it be a set time or spread through out the day (we shouldnt feel guilty if our pattern isnt the most popular and we shouldnt impose guilt on others who dont follow our exact pattern) But you can probably tell which I prefer ;)
I decided I like your blog and will visit as often as I can, to drop comments or just to read in the shadows, hence I shall adopt the name D anonymous instead of my usual anonymous (not that you can tell the difference between my anonmity & the next anonymous fellow). I really enjoyed reading the last few posts and leaving comments.
ReplyDeleteA suggestion tho, Is there a way you could post an open topic? Thereby people like me who really want to remain anonymous can drop comments for you without having to go through the email provided. I have so many topics which I think about so often and think it would be great to see what you & indeed other believers think about this. Pls consider it... Pretty please.
Thank you for this platform.
Aww! Thank you. I think anonymous style of writing helps me to distinguish different people that are anonymous.
DeleteThank you for your suggestion. Please, what do you mean by an open topic? Can you please give an example?
My understanding of open topic is for me to write a post and encourage readers and followers to leave a comment about what they would like to discuss in respect to their Christian faith.
You're welcome :)
DeleteYou're bang on the money, that was exactly what I had in mind. A post that encourages R&F's to suggest topics of what we deal with in our daily christian lives and if others face such and how we handle them strictly according to the word of God.
For example, I am a huge Romcom gal & as we know most movies produced these days have some sort of 'affectionate' behaviour involved, I find myself grinning from ear to ear when the girl finally gets her prince or two friends see they are meant to be (movie love, the real world, defo needs Gods say) & go ahead to lock lips & then proceed to go further (channel change! Does anyone else still do this?), then I shake my head at myself and snap out of the trance and say no no (whilst talking to the TV yet again) get married first jo! Sigh! This is one of my struggles, so I wonder if there are any other christians who have tips for me. I know your stand on THKS, personally K is up for debate but hey I will not detract from the original intent.
NB: I am not talking about Blue movies oh, just to clarify. That is totally out of the question.
You are funny.
DeletePoints noted. Myss Lafunky's blogspot publishes post every Monday. I will write something in that line in two weeks time. Watch out for tomorrow's post.