WHY YOU DON’T?

Sunday’s Monday

Far too many people today have a total misconception of prayer. Some people believe that God will only hear the holiest of holies when they pray, or those long beautiful prayers from spiritual leaders and/or the prayers of people who quote lots of scripture and this is simply not true. By the way, this is usually the excuse of the church attendees, however, there are also those that believe they have been so bad, that God would not hear them. Obviously, they don’t know Romans 8:26 (NLT), And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. Whatever the category or excuse, We see in John 3:16-17 (NLT), 16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. Many will not pray because they have the wrong understanding of prayer! Jesus gave His life for us knowing what we would be like when He did it. Now! Do you honestly think that God would not listen to you when the Holy Spirit convinces you to turn to Him with the concerns and questions of your heart?

Prayer is nothing more than communication talking with and listening to God, just like you would talk with any other people. Many strive for those long, beautiful prayers for the listening pleasure of others, and I have witnessed believers praising people for their praying ability. Resulting in others resisting public prayer because they feel their prayers are not worthy to pray to God. But no excuse carries any validity with God, the man who prays from the scripture is no more worthy than the man that prays from his heart, as long as they’re both sincere. In the spirit of prayer, one’s motives mean everything! God is interested in “you knowing” what you feel in your heart and waits patiently for you to tell Him. As far as being too bad or unworthy for God to hear, Jesus gave His life to make a way. The thing to remember here is not one of us is born or lives without sin. Jesus’ followers have simply made the choice to live their lives as sinless as possible. Sin no longer rules but when temptation happens to overcome a believer, we seek to make things right first with God and then with any we’ve offended as we repent. Again, God removes our excuses if we’ll simply believe and obey what is written in Hebrews 4:16 (NLT), 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. C.S. Lewis said it best when he said, “I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God. It changes me.”

Prayer is simply us talking our thoughts, problems, questions, and concerns over with Jesus - “one-on-one”. We come before Him with offerings of worship, praise, and thankfulness for allowing us to be in His presence and because He is worthy. Then we do as that sweet old song tells us “Now let us have a little talk with Jesus; Let us tell Him all about our troubles; He will hear our faintest cry, And He will answer by and by,” from the song title "Just a Little Talk with Jesus" written in 1910, by Cleavant Derricks. The bottom line here is Jesus loves us and desires an active daily relationship with us no matter what we’ve done or how bad we think we’ve been. He is actively seeking to be in every area of life, leading, advising, protecting, and providing for us. Always remember Philippians 4:6 (NLT), Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Running to God will always bring more pleasure in the long term, than running away from Him!

Father God, I pray this week that we all come to a better understanding of communicating with you. May we apply the simplicity of talking with you as our Father, instead of all this condemnation and misinformation the world has tagged to prayer. May we discover what is written in Ephesians 3:19 (NLT), May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Lord, I pray all can find the futility in trying to live a life of peace and joy without you in it before their time here is over. Father, I ask you to open our eyes to see that you want only a loving relationship with us. May we desire to have a little talk with Jesus and allow Him to make things right in our lives, no matter our status or standing in the community or our past. He awaits! Amen

HAVE A BLESSED WEEK BY BEING A BLESSING TO OTHERS!

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