Quotes:
"Remember, before all else fails, you can pray"
MJ Flack

Scriptural Reference:
"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

"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

"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people"
Timothy 2:1

“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation”
Matthew 26:41

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words"
Romans 8:26

Reflection:

Prayer has many uses and many applications. We can pray for strtength when facing a conflict. We can pray for the health and welfare of others. We can pray for our elected gavernment officials. Indeed we can pray on and for many crucial topics that we face each day. But do we respect the power of prayer? Do we recognise the source of the power of prayer?

I have rwrotten before about the need to pray and to pray consistantly So this scriptural reflection shouldn't come as a surprise. What might be new is the concept that;

1) One prayer doesn't fit all challenges. If we pray a single prayer without considering what we are asking for and just hope the prayer will somehow fit the new challenge being faced, our rayer will not afford an answer. Each prayer really needs to be expressed with an earnest heart and desire that is focused on what is needed. If we are to consider how to pray we should first consider a short list of where our prayer is going and to whom we should give our thanks.

• It is God we are approaching
  • Too often people approach God with such a familiar attitude that respect of God can be forgotten and a non chalant attitude can slip in to our prayers.
• Recognise His majesty
  • By recognising the glory and majesty of God we will frame our prayer respectfully.
• Make your request
  • We need to ask God for what we need and desire with reverence and respect.
• Ask to know God's will
  • In the end it will be Gods' will not our desires that will be best for us. So seeking to know Gods' will with regard to our request is important.

2) Praying in an automated format doesn't work if your heart isn't in it and your mind is somewhere else. There are some who will say the Lords' Prayer is the only prayer we should make. While there are those who will make a list of requirements that need to be fulfilled to make a prayer that will get answered. In both cases I would say there's a fatal flaw. The Lords' Prayer is important and very useful as a communial prayer by the church; but when it comes to individual prayers we need to bring a personal prayer not a formated script. As for those who say there is a list of requirememts that need to be fulfilled? I would remind them of the Scribes and Pharasies. Their prayers fell to the ground. As any formulated prayer lacks scincerity. Jesus Himself warned us not to copy the Pharasies when they pray. By using a mutlitude of words and public gestures they get their reward from thers who seem them. But not from God.

I remember in a house I shared with other Christians we had a brief prayer list, This image shows what such as prayer list could look like. It is very similar to the one that we used. We would write down the prayer that we asked others in our little house community to pray for. We than kept the prayer going until we were able to write how the prayer was answered. It was not always answered in ways we had expected or perhaps hoped for; but it was answered and for that we gave thanks to God for hearing our prayers.

This of course is just a suggestion. By no means would I suggest that it was a one size fits all prayer journal or list. Each Christian will want to sit down with those they will be praying with to decide what is most important to include or exclude from the list.

In closing it is perhaps important to remember some of the things we learn from the BIble regarding our prayers and our prayer life.

• Pray in the Spirit:
  • When we find words difficult to frame our prayer we can let go and allow the Spirit to help us to word our prayer for us.
• Supplications:
  • The word, supplication, caries a sense of awe and adoration suggesting something tentative, even servile, a respectful appeal to God.
• Intercessions:
  • This is a prayer that has amazing power. Moses himself used it to ask God to treat the Hebrew people with compasion,
• Thanksgivings:
  • We need to always remain fithful and respectful of God that we never forget to thank Him for His faithful love and grace,
    
    Prayer:
    Heavenly Father,
    I bring this my humble prayer to you,
    I will seek guidence by the Spirit,
    Seek comfort from Your Holy Word,
    And place my trust in my Lord and Saviour,
    Jesus the Christ.
    Amen