PRAYER: OBLIGATION OR PLEASURE?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
(Matthew 21:22)

MEDITATION:
Have you ever had a conversation with someone and he or she
did ALL the talking? It wasn’t really a conversation, was it? It
was more of a monologue, wasn’t it?

So how is your prayer life? Do you do ALL the talking, or do you give
the Lord a chance to respond? Prayer is a two-way conversation – we
talk to God, and He talks to us. We may not hear His voice audibly,
but we can ‘feel’ His voice, can’t we?

For instance, you may have a big decision to make about a job
or something else. When you ask for God’s help in making the
right decision, you can have a peace about what you are about
to do. When God gives us peace about something, we can get a
better night’s sleep. A good night’s sleep is not only a blessing,
but it is good for our health as well.

It seems that any issue is magnified when we are awake during the night.
Let’s assume someone has really offended you and during the night you
start planning what you will say to them when you see them the next day.
You think about everything the other person might say, and what your
response will be.

The more you plan, the more you feel you have to plan to cover every
possibility. You wake up in the morning even more irritated because
you assume the other person got a good night’s sleep, and you didn’t.
While you were planning, they were resting.

Adding insult to injury, when you see them they say something you
didn’t expect, or plan for. They may even say something nice to you
that totally disarms you. Wouldn’t it have been better if you prayed
about the situation, prayed for the other person, and prayed for your
own attitude?

If you had prayed, God could have convinced you that you were getting
upset over something that might have been misunderstood, or should be
overlooked. In addition, He might have made you aware of your own faults,
and reminded you of how He loves you anyway, so you should do the same.

At any rate, when you are praying for someone else, it is difficult to be
upset with them at the same time, isn’t it? And when you pray for your
own attitude, it is hard to be irritated at the same time.

The bottom line is, when we fail to take our concerns to the Lord, we can’t
expect to receive the ‘special’ peace that only He can give us. We have a
heavenly Father who hears and answers our prayers – His Word confirms
that He does. However, when we pray, we should be prepared for God to
respond with unexpected answer. We know what we want and what we
think should happen, but He knows what we need and what is best for
us.

If we expect a personal relationship with our heavenly Father, then
prayer must be a regular and consistent part of our lives. We can’t
afford to be too busy to pray. Jesus set the example for those who
follow Him – He spent many hours in prayer. If He felt the need
to pray, then we should feel the need as well. Someone said that
‘a prayer-less believer is a powerless believer’.

ACTION:
Repeating the question asked earlier – How is your prayer life?
More importantly, how are you improving your relationship with
your heavenly Father? You should never feel that prayer is just
something on your checklist, but it should be a time you look 
forward to spending with God.

If you have struggles with praying, then start by praying prayers of thanks.
When you thank Him for your blessings, name them specifically. You can
thank Him for good health, food, clothing and shelter, but don’t stop there;
thank Him for your job, a car to get to your job, air conditioning, phones,
friends, etc. etc. We are grateful when others show appreciation to us, so
we should express our gratefulness to God. And when you ask God for
something specific, always be prepared to receive His answer.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us the opportunity
to talk with You through prayer. Help me to realize the value
of spending time with You in prayer. Teach me how to listen
for Your response to my prayers, and to accept Your answers
even if they are different than what I expected, or wanted. Give
me a concern for others and a desire to pray intercessory prayers
for them. Thank You for the blessings You have given me, and I
look forward to Your answers to my prayers. Remind me to come
to You in prayer when I am in need of guidance and direction for
my life, and any decisions I have to make. Thank You for Jesus
and what He did for all of us. Thank You for the Holy Spirit You
have given to each believer to help us navigate a sinful world and
remain faithful to You. Thank You for the spiritual gift You gave
us to use in serving You. Thank You for rescuing me from harm,
sickness, and sin. Thank You for everything good in my life.”

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