A Life of Prayer (pt 3)

When I was sharing that message from Ravenhill, I explained that his writings had truly impacted my walk of faith in the area of prayer. Oh, I am not an expert in prayer and I have no allusions that I am another "<em>Ravenhill</em>," or anything. Like I have shared, he was known to pray for 6 hours every day. Now whether that was completely accurate or not I don't know, sometimes claims like that tend to get exaggerated. I mean in my own life I am fortunate to pray 15 minutes a day.

It is getting better though once I realized that prayer isn't some kind of mystical experience that requires years of training, it is a communication with someone I deeply love and admire . . . my Father. Once I understood that, I was on my way to enjoying my times of prayer.

I have also shared one of my rules regarding prayer. If someone asks me to pray for them, whether online, on the phone and in person, I say, "Okay . . ." and begin to pray. Way wait? I might forget to pray later, and the need is present <em>now</em>, so why not pray about it <em>now</em>?

Also, make it simple. You are talking to your Father, so you don't have to beg and plead with him to get your request answered, you simply talk to Him and make your request known. It is not complicated and you don't have to empress Him with fancy words or what I call, "<em>Formula</em>" prayers. These are prayers you read from someone's book and they share a prayer that "<em>worked</em>" for them.

Several years ago I read a book called, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=a9_sc_1?rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3Athe+prayer+of+jabez&amp;keywords=the+prayer+of+jabez&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1319395499" target="_blank">"<em>The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life</em></a>." The prayer is a simple one: "Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, 'Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain.' So God granted him what he requested."

Now before I go any further, let me assure you that I am not slamming that book in any way. It was a pleasant read. However, the "<em>prayer</em>" Jabez said worked for him, not because of the words he prayed, but because of the attitude of heart he possessed. It was like when YHWH approached Solomon and told him, "Ask anything from me and I will give it to you." Well, Solomon could have asked for a big house or a fancy chariot . . . but he didn't. He realize the humungous responsibility that was being given to him and he simply said, "Oh my, Lord, can I have the wisdom to do what you have asked me to do?" Well, that was all it took. YHWH said, "Since you didn't ask for wealth and all those other things, I will give them to you, PLUS the wisdom you asked for."

Well! That means I can ask the same thing from the Lord? No. Just by quoting Solomon's prayer (or Jabez's prayer) won't earn you any "<em>Brownie Points</em>" on your behalf. But if you can have the same attitude and possess the same character of heart, you might get the same results. however, if you simply quote the words and expect the same results . . . you might find yourself with nothing.

Which brings us another concern I have. Too often we take our prayers <em>too</em> casually. "Lord, find me a good parking place close to the store." No. We need to become warriors in their prayers. The next time you go before your Lord, I encourage you to go wearing your "Breastplate of Righteousness" and carrying your "Sword of the Spirit" and fight the enemies of YHWH. When someone asks you pray for them, be confident that you are bringing down Heaven on their behalf. Quit playing marbles with those precious jewels of Heaven.

So I encourage you to come before your Father this morning, expecting Him to hear every word you speak. Be open and honest with Him. He won't stick his nose in the air and say, "Don't bother me now . . ." He will open the doors to His Chambers and invite you in.

Nickolas<p>

<blockquote>(I send out messages like each morning. If you are interested, let me know. However, you can also find these messages at: <a href="http://thinkingtoday.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Thought For The Day</a>)</blockquote>