Why Should We Pray?

What is prayer anyway? If we looked up prayer in the dictionary we'd find something lilke the following:

• a devout petition to God or an object of worship
• a spiritual communion with God or an object of worship, as in supplication, thanksgiving, adoration, or confession
• the act or practice of praying to God
• a formula or sequence of words used in or appointed for praying (The Lord's Prayer)
• a petition

I think those are all correct, but really to me praying is talking to God. God created us because He wanted a relationship with us. He wants us to seek Him. He wants to be our Father. He wants to hear about our good days and our bad days. Do you have a relationship with God, or do you just know about God? You know, we could read all the books we wanted to on the President of the US. We would get to know him well by doing that. However, we couldn't just walk up to the White House and walk in because we don't have a relationship with the President. It's the same with God. He wants a relationship with us. He wants to be Lord of our lives.

So what are the reasons we pray? Well the main reason we should pray is because Jesus prayed. If He is our example for living, then we have no excuse not to pray. Luke 6:12 tells about Jesus spending the entire night praying. Luke 18:1 said he told a parable to show us we should always pray. The Bible is clear that Jesus thought it was important to pray.

We also pray to deepen our relationship with God. Psalms 145:18 says that God is near to all that call on Him. I sure want God near to me! When I met my husband I didn't immediately love him. I liked him a lot, but didn't grow to love him and trust him until I got to know him better. The more I get to know Jesus through prayer and through reading His Word, the more I trust Him and the more I love Him!

It's hard to think of November without thinking about Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is another reason to pray. We have so much to be thankful for! And if you're looking for a good prayer for Thanksgiving, check out some of the things David wrote in the Psalms!

What about for healing? I bet a lot of people reading this have prayed for either their own healing or the healing of a close friend or family member. God is indeed in the healing business! Jesus said in Mark 9:28-29 that some demons couldn't be driven out except by prayer. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says God will "heal their land" of those that seek him and pray. He is the Great Physician!

Want a good road map of what direction to go in times of trouble? Why not try praying? James 5:13-16 Says if you are in trouble, you should pray!

Need more peace and less worrying in your life? Pray. Philippians 4:6 says to pray about everything and you will receive God's peace.

Last on my list of why we should pray, but certainly not least, is we should pray because others need us to pray for them! 1 Timothy 2:14 says we should be intercessors for others and this pleases God! I want to be a God pleaser for sure! And, how can we not pray for those around us. I know as a mom I'm always praying for my family, and the families of those I love!

So what reasons do you pray? What evidence do you have that God does indeed hear prayers? Please post your comments to the blog or email them to me and I'll post them. stephieb@swbell.net

Prayer

If there is one thing different denominations and different religions can agree on, it's the need for prayer. If I were to ask all my friends if prayer were important, I can't imagine any of them would say "no". We know prayer is important. It doesn't take much of reading the bible to figure out that prayer is important.

2 Chronicles 7:14 says "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Luke 6:12 says "One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God."

Mark 9: 28-29 says "After Jesus had gone indoors, His disciples asked Him privately, 'Why couldn't we drive it out?' He replied, 'This kind can come out only by prayer.' "

Old Testament and New Testment are both in agreement. Prayer is important. So why don't more Christian pray more often? Why isn't prayer the first thing we think of when we have a problem, or even when we have something to celebrate? For me, prayer is good but I struggle with getting enough of it. And actually, how much is enough of it?

In the next few weeks I'm going to take a journey through the Bible looking up different prayers. I'm going to focus on increasing my prayer life. I'm going to set a goal to pray more for others. I'm going to learn what the Bible says about prayer. And in the process, I'm going to committ to reading the book 31 Days of Prayer by Ruth Myers. Maybe you can read along with me and chat with me on this blog. Maybe we can both increase our prayer life and better our relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Are you in? Or do you need to pray about it? (-:

Moving On and Sin Is Deadly

Ladies, what a pleasure it has been to do this bible study with you. I have so enjoyed hearing Priscilla, Beth, and Kay speak. I'm learning stuff and hope you are too. If you missed last week's session, here are the notes:
1. We've got to move past our devastation with God. David was angry and afraid but he had to get past that.
2. We've got to return to whole-hearted obedience. Joy is coming.
3. Let's have the courage to see the fulfillment of God's promises to us.
4. Your God has good things for you - not painless things for you, good things for you!

Kay lead the discussion this week. I like her style a lot. She's down to earth and really loves her Savior. So cool! Here are the notes from this week...

Scriptures tell us that the following is sin:
1-Sin is to knowing the right thing and not doing it.
2-Sin is lawlessness. It means that you are not going to keep the law of God.
3-All unrighteousness is sin. To not do what is right in the eyes of God is sin.
4-Whatever is not of faith is sin.

Five Things About Sin:
1-Sin will take you farther than you ever intended to go. She referenced 2 Samuel 11 & 12, and also 1 Chronicles 11:41 (the story of David and Bathsheba)
2-When you sin, you are despising God.
3-Sin is evil.
4-The temptation to sin is not more than you can bear.
5-Sin costs you more than you expected to pay.

This is all good information. I needed to hear it.

I hope to see you all on Tuesday if not before then!