All about praying


“God will answer you prayers better than you think. Of course, one will not always get exactly what he has asked for....We all have sorrows and disappointments, but one must never forget that, if commended to God, they will issue in good....His own solution is far better than any we could conceive.” Fanny J. Crosby


* What is praying? Praying is talking intimately with God, a direct conversation to God. Prayer can be audible or silent, private or public, formal or informal. Prayers don’t need to be fancy or complicated — the best prayers are often humble and simple, they come from the heart. If you are a new Christian, don't panic, just talk with God and He will hear you. 

God is more interested in the content of our hearts than the eloquence of our words. You do not need to rehearse a pray to make it perfect —all prayers are perfect to God . . . just speak . . . just talk. 

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)




* Why do we pray? Simply because God haasked us to, its not a matter of choice or something we can do occasionally, it is something we must do all the time. Praying is one of the fundamentals of Christian life we can't live without it — "Prayer is as normal to the Christian as breathing is to the human." John Macarthur

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

Prayer develops our relationship with God and demonstrates our trust and utter dependence upon Him.

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. (Colossians 4:2)




* What can we pray about and whereAnything at any time. . . there is nothing we can’t pray about.

We pray to get closer to God—to understand Him better, to grow closer
We pray for advice
We pray to overcome temptation and sin
We pray for strength and guidances
We pray in preparation for major and minor decisions—any decisions
We pray for others who are in need, sick, or struggling
We pray to strengthening others spiritually 
We pray when we have specific requests
We pray to give thanks, to show gratitude
We pray as a way of obtaining His solutions to various situations
We pray for our families, our children, our husbands/wives
We pray to pour out our soul to the Lord
We pray in desperation — when we are in pain
We pray when something wonderful has happened

"...True prayer is measured by weight, not by length. A single groan before God may have more fullness of prayer in it than a fine oration of great length." — C. H. Spurgeon

We should keep a running conversation going with God all day long — "praying always" (Ephesians 6:18) — when you are getting up in the morning, driving to work, eating your breakfast, waiting at the traffic lights . . . We do not need to be kneeing beside our beds to pray our eyes don't need to be shut or our hands folded nor do we need to be at church — we can pray ANYWHERE at ANYTIME. Our prayers are our private conversation with God and He wants us to talk with Him about everything. 

In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice
 from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears. (Psalm 18:6)




* What not to do? Prayers are not about going to God with a long wish list of "I wants". Prays aren't about you, they aren't about what you want — your demands. Prayers aren't about asking for a larger house and expecting God to provide. Prayers aren't about asking for pay rises, bigger bank accounts, more money or a luxury holiday—God will give you want He thinks you need and it may be very different to what you want. 

Prayers are not about repeating ourselves because we think God hasn't heard us — God heard the first time, so no need to keep on repeating yourself. 

Prayers aren't about begging for something. Praying is simply a conversation.

Sadly many people only pray when they want something or when they get sick but forget to pray when things are going well. As Oswald Chambers says so well — we tend to pray as a last resort.

“We tend to use prayer as a last resort, but God wants it to be our first line of defense. We pray when there's nothing else we can do, but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all. Most of us would prefer, however, to spend our time doing something that will get immediate results. We don't want to wait for God to resolve matters in His good time because His idea of 'good time' is seldom in sync with ours.” Oswald Chambers

Praying is not a joke so being funny in your prayers isn't what God wants to hear. Praying is serious business and shouldn't be treated lightly. 

But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. (1 Peter 4:7)




* Does God answer all our prayers? Yes, but not always the way we expect. I might ask God about a pay rise, instead He shows me how to save money. I might ask for improved health, instead He shows me how to trust Him and live with the illness I have. God works and thinks differently to us, therefore don't expect answers to be the responses we would give to a request.

"I have lived to thank God that not all my prayers have been answered.” ― Jean Ingelow

God hears all, but doesn't always answer our prayers instantaneously — some prayers may take years to be answered but the waiting is part of the lesson in patiences, faith and trust—about drawing us closer to Him. We may hit many road blocks and bumps along the way but all these things bring us closer to God.

Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it.” ―  Corrie Ten Boom


God also says "no" to our prayers  which can cause confusion and sadness — some women would love to be at home full-time but God says no. Instead He might do something different, not quite what we wanted. It may not make sense to us, but it does to God. Through saying no, we learn to trust in the Lord in all things. Remember, that His plans for us are always right even if it doesn't feel that way.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Sometimes we ask with the wrong motives and God says no — for example, I would like an extension built on my home so we have more space, this though isn't about serving God, its about my want and needs. All prayers should be about God and serving Him and not about us and what we want.

Even if our prayers are not answered the way we want, it doesn't give us the reason to stop praying — we need to keep on praying with earnest because that is what God has asked us to do.

Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16:24)


Comments

  1. This was a beautiful post. I enjoyed it very much. I shared a prayer request on my blog yesterday. Not mine. One from an incarcerated young man. I'd love you to come over and visit my Simple Sunday post. I'm writing a post today a children's book review that will post tomorrow. I will link to your post. Thank you for sharing this.
    I was Blessed. Have a good week.

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    1. Thankyou - yes, I will pop over and visit :))

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  2. How can I know that I've been saved and my sins are forgiven. How can I know that I will go to heaven? I have prayed the sinners prayer so many times. I really liked your post today.
    Rue

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    1. Prayers are talking with God, asking for His guidances, His advice, His comfort - we all sin from time to time, but our prayers shouldn't be all about our sins, rather what we can do for God. Remember that prayers aren't about you, they are about God - we don't need to say sinner's prayers - we need to have a running conversation with God throughout the day (as you would with a dear friend). They don't have to perfect or well-rehearsed and it doesn't matter if you stumble - God just wants to hear us talk to Him. Believe in Him - have complete trust in Him, believe that He died on the cross for our sins - live a Christian life, read your bible, talk with God and don't follow the world. It takes time and we all stumble on our journey with Christ. He died to wash away our sins - remember though that don't keep on sinning and one needs to not sin. God is watching over you and always there for you :))

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  3. Prayer is SO important. And it's really vital that we remember that God wants to hear all the little details, so big or small, we can always ask Him anything. Something else to remember is that we must "clear the slate" every time we pray - take our sins to the Lord and repent of them. Salvation only happens once, but repenting of sins we commit daily should happen regularly. In the Psalms it says "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Psalm 66:18). We've taught our children to "clear the slate" at the beginning of their prayers so they can then pray and be thankful and bring their requests to the Lord with a clear conscience. :)

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    1. I think this is very important but not something people like to do as it can be uncomfortable and difficult. Cleaning the slate, doesn't of course mean you can keep on doing the bad things but asking for God;s forgiveness every night!! We need to learn and change our ways!

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  4. Love your post. Thanks for sharing it. Come visit & share at the Over the Moon Link Party, open every Sunday evening.

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