Learning how to pray is difficult for most Christians. For some, it is hard to ask for anything. For others, they seem to think they can ask for anything and receive it immediately. That is a “name it and claim it” mindset which is not what God has promised to those who follow him.
God wants to speak to all of us. He wants us to ask for things that we need and even things that we want. However, he wants us to ask for things that further his kingdom and not for personal gain.
He provides for us. He says so constantly. However, provision doesn’t mean wealth. It doesn’t mean that he will produce the perfect spouse on demand. It doesn’t mean that he will heal us of each and every health issue we face.
Jesus provided us with the way to pray by giving us the Lord’s Prayer. It is not a prayer that we are to pray by repetition, it is a prayer that is an example of the things that we can bring to God.
In the Psalms, David and the other Psalmists wrote their prayers as songs. You can see that they brought their fears, their struggles and their lack of faith to God. They also worshipped God with thanksgiving.
Praying by rote or using unfamiliar language isn’t from the heart. You need to speak to God from the depths of your soul. He doesn’t need to hear thees and thous, he wants to hear from is truly going on in our lives.
He already knows but he wants us to share it with him from our own free will. He wants us to trust him and to lean on him.
He will answer prayers but you may not like the answer. He does what is right and good for his children and not what they think is good.
Think of children, think of teenagers. They ask for all kinds of things that are ultimately harmful to them. Having everything they want can ruin them. A good parent does what is good for a child.
If we are good parents, how much better a parent is God? He is the ultimate father. His way is better than anything we can ever dream of.
Think of children who were given all they wanted and then grew up rotten to the core. They expect society to let them do what they want without consequences.
There is a wealthy twenty year old woman in the news who fits in this definition. She went on rampage with her friends and did over $100,000 in damage to property that did not belong to her. She has been caught and will hopefully face the consequences of her actions.
It’s not too late for her to turn her life around but if she gets off without consequences, she will become worse and worse. I am praying for her that she will be convicted and serve her time and, in doing so, see how wasted she has been living her life. I pray that she will come face to face with Jesus and turn her life around.
This is one type of prayer that God wants from us. He wants us to put others in prayer before him and ask for him to reveal himself to them. Jesus is waiting for this young woman. He is waiting for you, too, if you are not following him.
God is waiting to hear your prayers. Pray for the right things and see what a difference it makes it your life.
John 5:14-15
This is the [remarkable degree of] confidence which we [as believers are entitled to] have before Him: that if we ask anything according to His will, [that is, consistent with His plan and purpose] He hears us.
And if we know [for a fact, as indeed we do] that He hears and listens to us in whatever we ask, we [also] know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted to us] the requests which we have asked from Him.