Will you pray for me? This individual had jusr stopped me and asked if I would pray with them about a specific need. So I did. Right then and there. But that was not the end of it. For you see I keep a little prayer book where I list all the names and situations that I come across thru the day. It's important when you agree to pray for an individual or a situation that YOU DO IT. Do not just say you will and then forget about it. DO IT!!!
Here's a few thoughs about prayer and praying.
1. Have a specific place. A quiet place. The evil one specializes in distractions. So find that quiet place to really talk to God.
2. I have found digging into God's Word especially the Psalms to be helpful for me to quiet my soul and clear my mind. Remember the devil specializes in division and distractions.
3. Go thru your prayer book. Name after name lifting up your requests and supplications before the Lord. According to Donald S. Whitney, prayer is simply talking with God. It is an opportunity to share our thoughts, feelings, and desires with the divine. Prayer is acceptable to God only in Jesus’s name. All access to God, including prayer, is possible only through the merits of who Jesus is and what he has done Prayer is a lifelong desire in all those indwelled by the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit indwells a person, he gives him or her the voice of a child. The Holy Spirit not only prompts prayer in all believers but also helps us pray rightly.
4. Time. Find a time to adequately give your list the time those requests deserve. Take your time. Slowing go over every name and situation.
5. Remember to whom you are talking. The creator of the universe is in your audience. You are not talking to yourself not to anyone else but to almightly Jehovah God. Remeember, you are in HIS PRESENCE. YOU ARE CONNECTING WITH THE DIVINE!
6. To help center our thoughts on Biblical prayer, here are some scriptures on prayer:
Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Mark 9:29 And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”
James 5:14-16 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another,that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, 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 your minds in Christ Jesus.
Matthew 21:21-22 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
I am praying for you and your families,
Leonard
