Daily Devotion

The Importance of Prayer

 

You know when you are little, you may have been taught this prayer:

 

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep,

And if I die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take.

 

If you were like me, you eventually learned the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13:

⁹After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 

¹⁰Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 

¹¹Give us this day our daily bread. 

¹²And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 

¹³And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

But do you know that if you talk to God and bring your requests before Him the way you would in your normal conversation, that God answers that kind of prayer too?  In fact, because God knows everything about us, He already knows what we need and desire but He wants us to be open with Him and honest.  He hears your cries, He hears you especially when you pray without giving up.  I have been truly feeling out of it lately and praying is the only way that I can relieve my pain.  God answers all prayers---sometimes it may not be the answer you want.  Its important to have three characteristics in prayer: praying from your heart, praying genuinely, and praying without ceasing.  We must also pray for others because its in praying for others most times that God works on our problems and allows us to grow.  We must also be SPECIFIC!  You can't pray for a job and get angry with God when you get a job but its not the one you want.  You weren't specific. 

 

Here are some verses on prayer for you and my prayers are with you today!  I really appreciate you all and hope that you are truly, earnestly blessed today.

 

Be unceasing in prayer [praying perseveringly] 1 Thessalonians 5: 17

"Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." Matthew 18: 19-20(NKJV)

 

Be earnest and unwearied and steadfast in your prayer [life], being [both] alert and intent in [your praying] with thanksgiving. Colossians 4: 2

Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]. James 5: 16

Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. Philippians 4: 6