The Daniel Fast

The Rainbow Pen!

 

Bringing Prayer into Your Lifestyle

 

 

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8). This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him. (I John 5:14-15). If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (John 15:7-8).

 

Prayer is how we experience our relationship with God: communication between two people who love each other. It is having a quiet time with the Lord. It takes practice to feel comfortable. There are many reasons why we should pray. It pleases God and He loves to answer. Prayer helps us know God better, what is acceptable to Him and what is not - we learn His will. The primary reason we pray is to know God, not to get things from Him. When we pray, we learn that we can act as intercessors for others too. Prayer creates opportunities to bear fruit. By failing to pray, we aid in the cause of the enemy. We need to pray. The nearer we are to the Lord, the more aware we become of our shortcomings. Prayer at its core must be an expression of a desire to glorify God and trust in His decision and desires for us. You choose a life path by consulting God, never leave Him out.

 

Sure, we've free will, He has given it to us. But He wants us to look to Him for guidance with open hands. Some tips on how we should pray. Begin praying individually, Holy Spirit led. Ask for help; how to relate to God; pray joyfully, look forward to praying and make the time. Pray respectfully, submissively that would be on your knees if you can get there. Praying aloud is good, it makes His presence more of a reality and helps with concentration. Try to pray concisely, not too wordy. Pray in faith, trusting that God is there with you. Pray expectantly. When praying, keep relevant Bible verses in mind. Quote them back to the Lord and claim them as part of your life. You are a child of God, and He does have beautiful plans for you and your life. Even though uncertainty and other problems might beset you right now, rest assured that the Lord is always there to help and guide you. All you have to do is ask for His help.

 

There are three enemies to prayer: your mind, your emotions, and your flesh. First, your thoughts cannot understand God, yet you're likely to depend on facts rather the truth of God. God's thoughts are far higher than our thoughts, so what appears impossible to us is always possible with God! Second, the way we feel our emotions can be misleading. Satan messes with our emotions - we don’t feel like praying. We feel discouraged, guilty, tired and unworthy. We don’t have time - too many pressures. Our pride says, “We don’t need God.” Too many distractions turn our focus from God to ourselves. And third, our flesh allows sin to keep us from God and don’t trust His love. The world lures us into its value system and prayer seems unnecessary. Our culture goes against God, we have to swim upstream to Him. Our flesh leads us to disobey God easily. God has reasons for our struggles. So, don’t let difficulty stop you from knowing God.

 

God is always ready to listen to us. Understand and know that Christ has our best interest. Surrender everything to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. He will take whatever is bad in your life and transform them inside out; turning you into the best possible person you can be under Christ. This may seem easy but it takes a long time to finally reach the point where we can fully surrender our needs, wants and other so-called necessities and simply trust that Christ through the Holy Spirit will provide for everything. We are predisposed to doubt and fear. So if you find yourself in a situation where you feel like you’re going through a dark tunnel with no end in sight, remember God's Word in the Bible verses you've memorized as you utter prayer for guidance. The Holy Spirit will quicken your mind with some Bible verse! Know that God answers all your prayers, listen to Him.