Prayer

Recently, prayer has really been on my heart. In Trowbridge we recently did a 24 hour prayer day at Bethesda Baptist Church and I lead 2 slots, one for youth and one for Maranatha and it really rekindled my love for prayer. Why is it always seen as boring? Isn't it often seen as a chore? Why is that?

So firstly, what is prayer? 

Prayer is the communication with a divine and holy God. A God who is above us all. 

Luke 9 v 42 says: ' They were all amazed at the mighty power of God.'

In the Old Testament, only the very select could speak to God on a one on one basis. The priests who were special men from a special family from a special tribe from a special people were the only ones who could intercede between God and man. The priest would have to go through many sacrifices and cleansing ceremonies in order to be worthy- talking to God in the old testament was a HUGE deal. 

However, since Jesus became human, he has become our intercessor between us and God. He petitions for us and we can now have a constant relationship with God through the use of prayer. Isn't that amazing? Do we sometimes take for granted the fact that we can talk to God so freely? Makes you think twice about prayer doesn't it!!

So, Why should we pray?

There are two main reasons why we should pray to God on a regular basis. 

From a solely logistical point of view because God told us to  

Ephesians 6 v 18 says: 'With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.'

God can't answer prayer unless we ask. The bible says 'knock, and the door will be opened,'  yes God already knows what we are going to say but he needs us to ask for it! I am always reminded of the parable in the bible of the persistent widow, who asks and asks and asks and asks the judge until he eventually gives in! What a brilliant picture of what our prayer life should be like!! ( Though we should always ask-your will be done God, sometimes it's not God's will for us to win the lottery unfortunately!!)

From a more fundamental point of view, prayer builds relationship with God. 

Have you ever built a friendship or relationship without having some form of conversation?

It's pretty impossible right? So how can we have a relationship with God if we don't talk to him?

In John 15 v 7 it says: 'If you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like and it will be granted!' Pretty awesome promise...

So how should we pray?

Like talking, everyone has a different way which they find praying comfortable. There is no certain 'holy' posture. In the bible people pray in many different ways. In 1 Kings 8:54 Solomon knelt down, in Matthew 26:39 Jesus prayed flat on his face. In 1 Kings 8 v 22, Solomon prayed standing. Some people prefer to have their eyes closed, I quite like praying with my eyes open. Any which way, pray how you feel comfortable, don't feel that God will only listen to you if you get into a particular body shape!

Importantly, prayer is about your heart. In Mathew 6v7, Jesus tells his disciples about the importance of avoiding praying to look good to your peers. He states, 'when you pray don't babble on!' Praying isn't about making your words sound poetical or posh, it's about talking to your heavenly father. Remember how holy he is, but also remember you have a relationship with him! If you were talking to your Dad you wouldn't use as many posh and long words as possible would you?

So what is needed to make a successful prayer? What do you need to check before you begin to pray!

You have to WHORF! (Ok it's a rubbish acrostic word.. but it's the best I can do!!)

You must have:

Wholeheartedness- In Jeremiah 29 v 13 it says: 'You will seek me and you will find me, because you sought me with your whole heart.' 

As I said previously, God is all about the heart. He cares about what your thinking and how your feeling.The best way to work out whether you are wholehearted, is to be the opposite of halfhearted! Put your all into prayer, focus solely on the activity of prayer and don't be distracted by Facebook or your phone or whatever. Also,be real with God- say what you are feeling! Some of the Psalms are so heartbreaking and are really crying out to God, but God appreciates you just being you. He made you the way you are... so of course he's going to like it!

Next- is Humility! In 2 Chronicles 7 v 14 it says: 'If they call to me and turn away from their sins,then I will hear them in heaven.' As I said previously, being praying to a huge, mighty and divine God is such a privilege and praying to God with that level of respect and seeing him as having the authority is so important! Let's not pray to God with a list of things he can do, but thank him for all he has done. Thank him for this horrible rainy  day as he still made it!

O is for obedience.1 John 3 v 22 says: 'We receive from him because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.' One of God's biggest commands is... forgiveness. In the Lord's pray it states, ' forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.' Is there anything we need forgiveness for? Now is the time to ask for it!

R is for righteousness, James 5 v 16 says,'The prayer of a good person has a  powerful affect!' Righteousness is being right with God. One of the best ways we can be right with God is being right with other people. Before we pray we should apologize to anyone who needs to be apologized to. We should think if there's anyone we aren't 100% happy as larry with and sort that out! Have you ever tried to have a conversation with someone, knowing there's something stopping you from being honest with eachother? Let's forgive other people and be right with God before we speak to him!

F is for Faith, Mark 11 v 24, 'When you pray and ask for something, believe you will receive it and it will be given to you.' There is no point asking for something if you are half expecting it not to happen! If you struggle with faith..ask for it! 

 Now these qualities are what makes a successful prayer... but the most important thing to do is pray! If you can't do all of these pray! If you can't do any of these... pray! Let's just really commit to praying as much as we can and let's see how our relationship with God and those around us improves. :) Peace out! <3