What is Prayer?
Prayer,simply put, is a sacred communication with God - pouring out one´s soul to him,submitting totally to His Will and wholly depending on one´s faith in
believing that the prayer has been granted. It is neccesary to stress here that prayer is not ´´complaining to God´´ or ´´begging God´´ to get things done in one´s life!
Some people mistake prayer for the above. Some of us believe that we can stampede God into doing things our own way. For instance,we would start speaking to God thus:´´O God I am very poor while all my neighbours who did virtually nothing are getting richer´´. ´´I have done all there is to do but things are not getting better. O God,why!!! Why me!!?´´
To a typical prayer of this type,characterised with nagging,stampeeding and begging,our God is DEAF! He does not believe that we should be begging him for anything because His words say in (Psalm 24)´´The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein´´. (Romans 8:17)´´And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together´´. In the bible scriptures above,we see that the earth and everything in it belong to God and He says that we are co-heirs with our Lord Jesus to his throne! Why then should we beg for what is rightfully ours? Why should we nag God for what is already done even befor we asked? In these few verses,we would readily see the personality of God regarding his readiness to answer our prayers: (Psalm 46:1)´´God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble´´. (Jeremiah 23:23)´´Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?´´. (Isaiah 65:24)´´And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear´´. Here,we see how eager God is,to hear and answer our prayers! We only just need to ´say it´; remind him why we deserve his provision - because of His son who died and other promises he made! (Jeremiah 1:12)´´Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it´´.
(Matthew 7:7)´´Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:´´(John 14:13)´´And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son´´. The above verses of scripture all testify to the fact that God is more than willing and able to answer our prayers. God Himself prescribed prayer as one of the surest ways of fighting off affliction. (James 5:13)´´Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms´´. The only responsibility we owe him is to pray according to his will. Let us take a look at ´´The will of God´´. To read what is the will of God,click here>>
By: Emmanuel and Blessing Agbo.
We must remember to pray in Jesus name.Since Jesus is our advocate or go between with God, Jesus says in John 14:13, "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." Our requests to God must be in the name of or by the authority of Christ
ReplyDelete"Ask, and it shall be given you." Matt. 7:7, 8
"Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, to consume it upon your lusts." James 4:3
Another requirement of God answering our prayers is we must be forgiving of others. Jesus says in Mark 11:25-26, "And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." How important it is to be forgiving of others? Could the Lord be any clearer as to what will happen to us if we are not forgiving? The Lord will not forgive us. We will be eternally lost. According to Isaiah 59:2, it is our sins that "separate us" from God so we cannot go to heaven. We must develop a forgiving attitude toward all people so that God will be forgiving of us so we can go to Heaven.
God blees you as you Pray .
SHALOM BLESSING