In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. Romans 8:26

Truth be told, it has been tough for me to learn how to pray, mostly because I am so easily distracted. But good things require good effort, right?

For awhile, it seemed I would never get the “hang” of it. Not until God showed me, in His Word, something special. It is that the Holy Spirit helps us pray. He knows what is in our hearts, even if we have trouble finding the words.

He also showed me that it’s okay that it takes me more than a few minutes of praying to get really focused on Him, listening and worshipping Him. I used to think there was something wrong with me because it took me so long to really feel His presence.

Now, I know that was His way of teaching me to slow down, so that I could get the most out of my time with Him. He knew I needed that:) Why do we, as Christians, sometimes rush our prayers?

THREE THOUGHTS…

ONE… We pray when we need something, so, after we ask, we may feel our prayer is done. That would be true if the purpose of prayer is only to ask Jesus for things. But it’s not.

Prayer is also for inviting Him in our hearts and forgiving our sins It’s about togetherness with Him and communication. It’s about needing Him and honoring Him by prioritizing Him and His will.

TWO… We have much planned for the day, so we may rush our prayers. I know I have done that. But Jesus deserves more than a cursory nod or few words thrown in His direction. We are HIS servants. He is not ours.

What if we reverse our thoughts and HIS plans become more important to us than OUR plans? What if He has an opportunity for us to tell someone about Him today? Isn’t that way more important than my to-do list? Yep!

THREE…It is okay if we need tools to help us pray. Here’s a few ideas:

1. God’s Word is always the best first place to look for help. We can look up verses that can help guide us. God will bless our efforts!

2.An acronym such as this may help… P.R.A.Y.E.R. Pause in His presence. Raise your praise to Him.. Ask for His will. Yield your heart. Earnestly listen. Request help for others. Try making your own acronym based on purposes for prayer.

3. Make a list of what makes a good relationship, and apply those to prayer. Examples…communication, time together, advice and guidance shared, sincere desire to grow the relationship, ability to admit we were wrong, desire to please the other person, etc…

4. Focusing on others, make a list of who to pray for and who to help and who to reach out to. Write down when God answers prayer. Ask God for His guidance in all areas of your life.

These are just my thoughts as I, a still-learning pray-er, try to please God in coming to Him more intentionally. Hope it can be of some help to us both!

With love from the Father to you, have a great day!

Christina

 

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:18

Here’s a poem I jotted down about prayer. I am overwhelmed with wonder that we can pray to our Creator and Savior and friend!

I Pray To The One

Totally there because He cares,

Jesus is my best friend.

Thankful I come, to pray to the One

who truly loves without end.

Sometimes I’m late for our prayer date

as I’ve errands to do and such.

Then I realize, its not very wise

to cheat One whom I love so much.

Dear Jesus,

Thank you for being ever present, ever loving. You are the best friend ever. Teach us to be better servants for you. Guide us to know Your will and equip us to do it. We love You. Amen

Thanks for reading! I hope you have a Terrific Wednesdayy! Merry Christmas:) With love from the Father to you…

Christina

I tried so hard to get my flashlight to work. Frustrated at my lack of success, I spouted to my husband, ” I need this to work!” His response? “Did you check the batteries?” (Duh, I thought to myself!) With forced calm I said, “Yes, about ten times.” I gave him the flashlight; he rearranged the batteries and the flashlight worked! The problem was that the batteries weren’t making good contact, but he fixed that problem.

I wish I had not waited so long to ask for help, but I like to do things on my own. When it comes to our relationship with God, we often try to handle things on our own too, don’t we? And when we fail to make things work, we finally come to Him, frustrated. Just like my flashlight, we can not produce light or anything meaningful without God.

We may TRY to work as we were meant to, but without being filled with the right things in the right way, from the right source, we will not work as God meant us to do. We will not produce light. And… what good is a Christian who has no light? Can we shine out Jesus’ love if we are not filled with Him? No.

THREE THOUGHTS:

ONE…We have to receive God’s light (love) to be able to shine it out to others. We do not have the ability to make our own power. We need God’s!

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

TWO…Light does it’s best work in darkness. We have so many opportunities to shine love and light into our dark world! If that is what we want to produce, He will provide all we need to do that.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6

THREE…We cannot manufacture the pure, true light of the Lord, but we can receive it. And we can shine it! Doesn’t that make your head spin a bit? It does mine! We are lit by the Lord, once we repent of our sins and ask for Him to live in us. We are children of His light!

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. Ephesians 5:8

Dear Father, Thank You for Your light in our hearts that You so freely gave us. Please remind us to show it to others by giving us opportunities to do so. You are so good and holy. Help us to be more like You, so others will see, not us, but Your light in a dark world. We love You! Amen

With love from the Father to you, have a great week celebrating our Savior!

Christina