Prayer

"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16


Prayer is defined as a conversation with God; to intercede with or make a petition to God. Prayer is your personal time with God. Prayer allows you to talk to God just as you talk to your friends. You should let Him know what's on your mind, how you are feeling, and what issues you are dealing with be it large or small. Jesus taught the disciples how to pray and gave them The Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) as a guide. So, what guide do we use? What should you say while praying? How long should one pray? How often should one pray?

Prayer is one of the best tools God could've given us to use. It allows us to contact Him directly without having to have someone else intercede or speak to Him on our behalf. Prayer gives you the opportunity and ability to draw closer to Him and build your relationship with Him.

Think about it this way. How do you build friendships? You meet someone that happens to have the same or some things in common with you. You spend time together, go places together. When a crisis or issue arises, you reach out to this person you have connected with for support, guidance and an encouraging word. This is how prayer works. When you pray to God you are building an everlasting relationship with Him. There is nothing you can't tell Him that He doesn't already know. You can share your secrets, issues and cares with Him. He wants us to reach out to Him for EVERYTHING not just the big issues. This is how you build an intimate relationship with Him.

There is no noted formula for prayer that works for everyone. Our prayers should be as individualized as our lives. There are certain things you want to be sure to address when you do speak to God. Keep in mind, God does things for us that we know and some we may never know about for the betterment of our lives. We need to approach God with a thankful heart. Show your appreciation for what He has done for you by saying thank you for what you have and the blessing he has bestowed upon you both ,known and unknown.

Our God is a selfish God. We are to worship Him and only Him. Worship and adoration is what God seeks from us. Praise God for who He is to you, the life He has given and the promise for more in the afterlife.

Prayer is the opportune time to confess your sins to God. Sin is anything that goes against the will of God. Any transgression you may have can be freely shared with Him. When you confess your sins, you free yourself of the bondage that sin provides. Confession loosens the grip Satan has on you that is tied to that sin. One thing I must convey to you is that if/when you sin, that is the time you need to reach out to God the most. One of the biggest mistakes I have made in my life is to withdraw from God once I committed a sin. You have to realize that is what the devil wants you to do. He wants you to separate yourself from God so he can gain access to you. Nothing should separate you from God, not even sin. Yes, God hates sin but He loves you. He will never stop loving you. He will never stop providing for you. The devil would have you believe that you are not worthy of God's grace and mercy once you have committed a sin.. That couldn't be any further from the truth. God knows our origin. We are born sinners. He expects us to sin but He also expects us to come to Him once we have sinned, repent or turn away from the sin and ask for forgiveness.

Supplication is defined as the action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly. Prayer is the best avenue to express to God the desires of your heart. You should not only ask for your needs but for the needs of others, for spirit renewal, for the salvation of souls and for the opportunity to  bring others to Christ.

Now, all prayers don't have to include all of the above. You can just simply pray to God and say thank you and that will be sufficient. Again, there is no formula for prayer but in order to build a relationship with God, its not a bad place to start. I have this book, "Praying the Bible Into Your Life" by Stormie Omartian. If you don't have the words or don't know how to begin, this book is a great reference. Along with today's post I will provide a few of my favorite prayers from the book.

My prayer today is that I hope I have reached someone today, given someone a new way to approach your relationship with God. I pray that someone has an ah-ha moment and begins to build this much needed relationship with our Creator. Many blessings to each of you!

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