Prayer

"Pray without ceasing."

-I Thessalonians 5:17

Prayer.  It's something I struggle with.  But why?  It's a GIFT God has given to His children; it's an honor, a privilege to be able to talk to the King of Kings, Creator of the Universe, Holiest of Holies as a child would talk to his father.  It's a gift to be able to come to the King with all of our requests, burdens, joys, frustrations, worries, hopes, etc. as a child - no need for complicated words or fear of not being heard or helped.  What a true and amazing GIFT!

Prayer fills us with joy as we realize that God cares about every detail of our lives.  "But even the hairs of your head are all numbered" (Matthew 10:30).  He knows me better than I'll ever know myself.  He knows what I really want, really need, really desire.  He knows everything I'll ask before I even think it!  So prayer isn't for God...

Prayer is for us!  Prayer is our God-ordained method of communicating with Him.  Prayer makes us holy and more-Christlike.  Prayer is God's means of providing for our every need.  Will God answer our every prayer?

"And this is the confidence we that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to His will he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him." (I John 5:14-15)

Although God won't say 'yes' to my every request, He always has my best in mind.  And I am so thankful for the times He says 'no'...I don't know what trouble or hardship He is preserving me from.  What Paul is saying in I John 5 is that if we live in submission to God's will (as outlined for us in His Word) and seek to please & glorify Him with our lives, our prayers will be much more in line with His will for us.  By asking for God's will to be done in our prayers, we can bank on the best outcome...whatever that may be.