Sunday, August 8, 2010
One thing that has been in my heart A LOT lately has been my personal prayer life. It has just been pounding in my heart like something I need to look at more. Ever since I came to Christ, I have learned that prayer is important, that it is not just reciting your "wish list" to God, but actually our means of communing, talking, praising and worshiping God. Prayer is so much more than just praying before every meal and before going to bed.
I am reminded of the powerful words that the Apostle Paul adressed to the church in Thessalonica:
Sometimes it irritates me that people won't make an effort to attend prayer meetings at church, having other things that seem more important. I understand that life is different for everyone, I am not married, don't have kids so I have more freedom to do things like this, but still, it bugs me that people won't make the time to spend with God, to fellowship with other believers.
One of the most neglected activities by the modern church is prayer, and as Jesus' return gets closer, it is said in Scripture that this will happen. I believe that as a church, now is the time when we need to be more in prayer.
I don't want to sound judgemental, but this is something that has been fervently in my heart lately. I want to be a man of prayer, I want to wake up in the morning with the Lord, be in constant fellowship with Him through out the day and end my day with Him. Yet I get distracted by a lot of things, work, school, media and just daily things get in the way.
I think Satan has made it very easy in these days for us to turn away from fellowshipping with the Lord. We spend more time in front of the TV or computer than almost anything else. Even I have fallen to that, I love entertainment, yet sometimes I put God in the back of my mind and go to Him when I need Him.
My prayer is that I will turn away from that, that He will be my No. 1 in everything, that I will long to commune with Him, in the good and the bad times. The Bible has so many examples of Godly men and women who relied and depended fully on God, and God worked so much through them.
Prayer is not to get your wishlist out of the way, it is seeking to be more like Christ, to be transformed inward and outwardly, so that our will, will be in line with God's will for our life, not the other way around. It is not to "change God's mind", He already has the plan for your life set out, prayer should conform you more to following His will.
I am reminded of the powerful words that the Apostle Paul adressed to the church in Thessalonica:
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
(1 Thessalonians 5:12)
Sometimes it irritates me that people won't make an effort to attend prayer meetings at church, having other things that seem more important. I understand that life is different for everyone, I am not married, don't have kids so I have more freedom to do things like this, but still, it bugs me that people won't make the time to spend with God, to fellowship with other believers.
One of the most neglected activities by the modern church is prayer, and as Jesus' return gets closer, it is said in Scripture that this will happen. I believe that as a church, now is the time when we need to be more in prayer.
I don't want to sound judgemental, but this is something that has been fervently in my heart lately. I want to be a man of prayer, I want to wake up in the morning with the Lord, be in constant fellowship with Him through out the day and end my day with Him. Yet I get distracted by a lot of things, work, school, media and just daily things get in the way.
I think Satan has made it very easy in these days for us to turn away from fellowshipping with the Lord. We spend more time in front of the TV or computer than almost anything else. Even I have fallen to that, I love entertainment, yet sometimes I put God in the back of my mind and go to Him when I need Him.
My prayer is that I will turn away from that, that He will be my No. 1 in everything, that I will long to commune with Him, in the good and the bad times. The Bible has so many examples of Godly men and women who relied and depended fully on God, and God worked so much through them.
Prayer is not to get your wishlist out of the way, it is seeking to be more like Christ, to be transformed inward and outwardly, so that our will, will be in line with God's will for our life, not the other way around. It is not to "change God's mind", He already has the plan for your life set out, prayer should conform you more to following His will.
"I want to be a man of prayer, I want to wake up in the morning with the Lord, be in constant fellowship with Him through out the day and end my day with Him."
"It is not to 'change God's mind', He already has the plan for your life set out, prayer should conform you more to following His will."
What a good reminder.