By: Maxine M.
The disciples
watched as Jesus spent time with the Father in prayer
In that ONENESS
that had shown on Jesus’ face, they desired & wanted to share
So Jesus gave them
an example of how HE addressed the Father so they could compare
He said, “Just
because of WHO He is, He deserves & demands honor & respect”
Humans need to
acknowledge His Superiority; any phony hypocrisy He will instantly detect
An insincere prayer
done for “public” recognition He’ll simply reject
We think of prayer
as handing God a “laundry list” of all wants & needs
When in reality
it’s simply COMMUNICATION with the Creator, seeing where His directions lead
“Not my will, but
Your will be done”…to His all-knowing wisdom one must concede
Repetitive words,
memorized from a book, don’t really reflect genuine thought
As God knows the
heart, this monotonous method doesn’t show intimacy as it aught
Or the sorrowful
contrition for our mistakes as the Saviour taught
A prayer for the
GOOD of others should be on our lips…even for our enemies
And that our deeds
& actions should always bring HIM Glory…reflect His Holy decrees
That, as His
servants, we can spread the Gospel to our family, community, nation as well as
over-seas
The Bible records
many beautiful prayers and the results they brought
Prayer for
forgiveness, prayers of commitment & dedication, prayers for victory over
enemies fought
Then there’s Jonah’s
cry for help, seeking RELIEF from the consequences his disobedience wrought
But it still took 3
days of horrible conditions to FINALLY YIELD to God’s will
To realize God’s
purpose cannot be ALTERED, as the fish’s gastric juices made him ill
So GRUDGINGLY he
went to do what God asked, but saw it as a bitter pill
Now we also find in
times of sudden chaos & distress that “HELP ME!!” works too
When there’s no
time to try and be eloquent, but when your words simply must be true
When we need a
miracle, suddenly we can see things from God’s point of view
In an emergency
room when you or a loved one needs immediate attention
A prayer can be
‘short & sweet”, a “Lord, help me”…heartfelt, without pretention
Trusting &
believing that our Lord will answer even the smallest of requests we mention
Like when the bank
account is depleted, but more bills are still due
We believe He’ll
supply the need when, by faith, we utter “Help me!! What should I do?!”
Finding comfort
that when we live by God’s financial principles, huge debt will not accrue
And a “Help me”
prayer comes quickly in a blinding rainstorm or violent wind
When we SEE our
human weakness…our backs, to a corner, are pinned
We realize how much
we need the Saviour, and that He still loves us even though we’ve sinned
Now when we’re in
trouble, is God our 1st thought, or a last resort?
Like Jonah, do we
resist what we know is His will; not wanting to, our desire, abort?
But only by
submission can we survive the “whale’s belly”…safely reach our designated port
Because prayer
comes in all sorts of different forms, words & dialect
There’s prayer for
wisdom, guidance, comfort, aid or plain worship & praise select
Please don’t forget
those “Thank You” prayers for those “blessings in disguise” we detect
Paul said, “Pray
without ceasing”, meaning always have the Lord on your mind
A spiritual
perspective amid our daily concerns, reason, trust, fortitude, dependence all
intertwined
Give
acknowledgement that God is Sovereign, Almighty, ever present, ONE OF A KIND
Oh Lord, HELP ME to
remember that through Your love & mercy, I’m forgiven & eternal life is
mine
It’s Your Grace
that will unleash my POTENTIAL life by Your design
Through prayer
& supplication we have access to the Heavenly Father, holy & divine
Like he disciples
asked so long ago, Lord please teach me to pray
Then be QUIET &
LISTEN for your response, earnestly desiring to hear what you should say
For I can only show
my love for You when I eagerly & willingly obey
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