Wednesday, January 26, 2011

When Does Prayer Kick In?

As I was driving to church this morning, I came across a church sign that had the saying: "Prayer should be your first choice and not your last choice."

I wonder how many of us view prayer as a last choice. We have sought out various means to find a solution for a problem or find direction in life and have come up empty. We then feel the need for something more powerful than what we can do (or possibly what the world can offer).

When prayer becomes your first choice it changes the dynamic of what you are seeking to accomplish. God is part of your journey all along the way. It is God who can open doors that you might never have imagined. You know that you are not traveling alone.

Don't look at prayer as an adjunct to your life. Make God a partner in your journey. You will be amazed what this relationship will do to you.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Asking God to Listen

I came across these words in the psalms: "Hear my prayer, LORD God Almighty; listen to me, God of Jacob." Ps. 84:8 Do these words sound redundant? Why should we have to ask God to listen? Are we not sure that God is listening?

I believe that these words go to a deeper level. They display the humility in which the psalmist approaches prayer. The psalmist knows his place in the scheme of creation. He is the creature and God is the Creator.

To ask God "to hear" might sound like a plea; but after all as Martin Luther said about prayer: We are all beggars. We come to God in our sinfulness and hope that God will hear what we have to say.

These words of the psalmist give us direction about our posture in prayer. We can take nothing for granted. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging our humbleness, our need before God.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Praying with God's Attributes in Mind

It might be easy for us to come to God in prayer and not really reflect on this Being to whom we are praying. What is it about God that has meaning for our time in prayer and is the reason that we pray at all?

I believe the psalmist gives us some direction here. We have the words of Psalm 86: "But you, O Lord are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." (vs. 15)

The psalmist asserted his own condition of being poor and needy in the beginning and now includes these words about God's character in his prayer. What do we make of this inclusion?

I believe it is that the psalmist is saying he understands the kind of God that he has. For the psalmist's benefit, it is showing how he places trust for what he is praying.

Have you ever included such words as part of a prayer? What did it feel like? How might you do it in the future?

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Your New Year's Wish

It's that time of year that we seek to make New Year's resolutions. We look how things went last year and think of what needs to be changed or perhaps what new we want to launch into for this new this year.

I wonder, too, what it is that you would want to pray for in this new year in relation to your own life. Maybe there is something specific you want to accomplish or possibly a bad habit to eliminate.

I wonder, too, if there is anything in your relationship with God you would like to see happen. For me, it is to spend more time in communion with God, reading Scripture and especially to be listening for God throughout the day. I know I will need to use prayer to ask God to help me find the time for this throughout each day and to have the attentiveness.

Believing in the power of prayer can be what is needed as we seek to draw closer to God in this new year.