Posts Tagged ‘Prayer’

As 2009 draws to a close, many of us are no doubt going through that annual rite of passage of coming up with our New Years Resolutions. I don’t know about you, but personally, I am horrible about keeping resolutions. I have great intentions each year, and tend to do pretty well for the first few days, and then the old will power dies and the resolution is thrown out with yesterday’s trash!

I think part of the problem is in previous years I focused on things that I really didn’t want to change! I knew I needed to, mostly for my health or professional growth, but my motivation was amiss. Doing something for the wrong reason’s will generally lead to failure.

Having said that, my resolution this year is not about physical or professional goals, but spiritual one’s. I want to draw closer to God, and serve Him better than I ever have before! In a nut shell, that’s my one and only resolution for 2010. And I am hoping that everyone that happens to read this will join me in that goal!

Think about the impact that this could have in our lives. If we are truly striving to serve Him above everything else, then many of the “problems” that we face day in and day out will not seem so insurmountable. This doesn’t mean that they will just go away, don’t get me wrong. We’ll continue to have challenges, that’s just part of life! But if our mind is set on the things above, and that is where our focus is at, we’ll see these challenges in a completely different light. Rather than being some daunting or horrible obstacle, we’ll begin to see them as opportunities for growth, as opportunities to remain faithful to God, no matter what!

You may be saying “sounds great, but how?”. There’s many ways I’m sure, but for me personally it’s going to involve more time in studying my Bible and prayer. That’s how I connect with God the best, and I would dare say that would hold true for any of us. The more time we spend communicating with God, either through bible study or prayer, the more He is able to mold and shape us into the people that He wants us to be. I once heard someone say that God is a gentleman, and He will not force His way into our lives. He stands at the door and knocks softly, waiting for us to invite Him to take His proper place as the priority in our lives. The really exciting thing is once He is given that place in our lives, He’s able to being working in ways we never before imagined possible!

So my challenge, to myself as well as you, is let’s make 2010 a Spiritual New Year! Let’s commit to taking our devotion and service to Him to a brand new level! Let’s open that door and allow God to take His proper place in our lives. When we do, great and wonderful things will happen!

I found this article today and had to post it! It’s so very true! I’m ashamed to say I can honestly see myself in this short article. It really makes me wonder why we would ever say something like this from a sense of defeat or helplessness! We’re going to God, the Creator of All Things afterall!

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I’ve heard it a thousand times. I’ve probably said it a thousand times myself. Someone bares their soul to me, and the situation is terrible, painful, difficult … far beyond the reach of anything I can do – or anyone can do – to help. And then those six words slip from my lips:

“All I can do is pray.”

Even as I write the words, I can hear the defeat resonating from them. Properly translated, what I far too often mean when I say those six words is, “I’m sorry I can’t do anything to help. I don’t have the resources you need. I wish I did. I’ll pray about it, but I know that’s just a drop in the bucket to what you really need. I don’t expect anything to really happen as a result of my prayers.”

Then one day as I said it, God rocked me back on my heels. I realized how much I was cheapening God by the attitude behind my words. Think about it:

“All I can do is pray. I’m sorry – all I can do is call upon the sovereign Lord of the Universe, the One who holds all resources, all grace, all power, all hope in his hands. All I can do is ask the loving God who sent his Son to die for us and then raised him from the dead to help you out. All I can do is ask God to demonstrate his divine character in your life through his unending providence, generosity, love, miracles, presence, and care. Sorry I can’t do more.”

It comes down to a question of attitude and a recognition of adequacy. As Paul writes in II Corinthians 3:5 “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming form ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.” Our attitude should be one of humility, recognizing that our adequacy to meet any need or act in any situation is from God alone.

Once we assume that attitude and understand that our adequacy comes from God, we will no longer despair when we are faced with situations that are beyond our control or help. We simply turn in the same humility to the God who is more than adequate to meet every need – and call upon him for deliverance.

With the right attitude and an understanding of where our resources always and only ever come from, we can truly reach out and say with confidence and trust, “I can’t help you. I wish I could, but I simply don’t have the resources you need. Fortunately, I know the One who does. All I can do is pray – but I know that God will take care of everything else.”

© 2009 Paula Marolewski

Article Source: http://www.articles.narrowisthepath.com

“Pray without ceasing” Paul says in I Thes 5:17. Think about that for just a moment. In the context of passage, Paul is exhorting the church, instructing them on how they should conduct themselves. And regarding prayer, he did not say that we should pray when we are in church, or before we eat, or before we go to sleep. Although those are certainly good times for prayer, Paul takes it to a much deeper level and instructs us to Pray Without Ceasing.

Just like today, those to whom Paul was writing had jobs to perform, families to take care of, and many other duties that filled their day. So I do not believe that Paul was suggesting that they stop tending to those activities and separate themselves from the world in order to be able to pray. No, I believe that what Paul was stressing to them was that we should be in constant communication with God as we go about our daily activities.

When we get down to the heart of the matter, what is prayer? Is it the formal act of getting down on our knee’s or bowing our heads and speaking to God? Is that prayer, or an act of prayer? The difference may seem small, but truly it is at the very heart of keeping with this instruction. Prayer, at it’s very core, is simply communicating with God. If we remove the formality from the equation then the implication of what Paul is instructing us to do is much more manageable, and applicable.

I believe that what Paul is instructing us to do is to be in a constant attitude of prayer, always being sure to keep our heart’s and mind’s centered on God and His plan and will for our life. This requires a dramatic shift in the way we think, act, speak and live our lives! It’s part of that ongoing process of personal transformation that is at the very heart of the Christian Journey. We are constantly being transformed, being made over into the image of Christ. Or at least we should be, IF we are doing our part! Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. What better way to renew our minds, to continue the journey of transformation, then to constantly be in an attitude of prayer?

So what do I mean by “an attitude of prayer?’ The concept itself is very simple, but putting it into action is quite challenging. Take a moment and consider your frame of mind when you are formally praying. Chances are that your mind if focused on God, on worshipping Him, on pleasing Him, on handling problems the right way, on helping others, on becoming a stronger Christian, on working through some difficulties in life, etc. Our challenge is to take this same attitude our of the formal prayer time and put it into practice every minute of the day! If we constantly think about God, about His will for our life, about being stronger Christians, about helping other people, then we are maintaining that attitude of prayer. And when we do this, something absolutely amazing happens. We begin to live our lives differently, because we become different! Things that previously seemed so important and so stressful suddenly are put into their proper perspective, and though they still may be important they aren’t nearly as significant as our Walk. Do you see the difference?

So my challenge to you today is to go about your day in an Attitude of Prayer. Focus on God as much as you possibly can as you prepare for work, go about your job, interact with other people, return home, etc. Keep that line of communication open and let Him speak to you. If we can begin to develop this attitude of prayer, God can and will do amazing things in our lives.