Prayer

One way to think about Prayer is as communication with God. You can sit quietly and think in words toward God anything you would say to a friend. You might have a request or concern, anything at all. Prayer can also go beyond words.

Once, when Jesus talked about prayer (right after listing ways not to pray) he gave us a sample prayer which contains elements like:

Think highly of God, give honor to God and God’s name.
Pray for God’s Way (Kingdom) to become more and more real, today, on earth.
Pray for what we need each day.
Pray for forgiveness for our sins, and for others who have wronged us.
Pray asking God to rescue us from trouble and keep us from being tempted.
(Matthew 6)

When Jesus finished this advice, before he went on to other subjects, he gave us a way to understand how much God loves us, so we would approach prayer with that in mind. Jesus said:

“[God] knows that you need all these things…. strive first for the kingdom of God and you’ll be in

the right, and then, all these things will be given to you as well.

…. do not worry …”

The Bible also tells us that Paul, an early Christian leader, advised us to pray for everything with thanksgiving. (Philippians 4:6) I find that praying gratefully is very helpful in living a life of happiness. In his letters (which are now scripture) Paul often prayed for God’s grace, peace, love, and faith among believers.

In my life, when prayer can be as non-judgemental as possible, it seems to have the most benefit. I’ve even concentrated on noticing and dismissing all thoughts that contain judgment. That exercise is humbling because it helps me notice that judgments compose an unhealthy portion of my thinking time (including in that last sentence).

I also find it helpful to pray simply. It even helps me to think of it as praying with the heart of a young child.

If you want, you might try an exercise I gave to the older Logos group last week:

Write one prayer sentence (or phrase) for each of the five bullet points in the second paragraph above.

However you pray — pray often.

Pastor Mike Krewson