I've been reading from various sources about prayer and how it's used to communicate with God. It's amazing based on what I read how most people use it almost like a laundry list of requests to the Lord for him to intervene. Granted, we do pray to God to help us with our daily lives and everyone should pray, but prayer shouldn't be just requests in my opinion. In all reality, God knows what we are going to ask for anyway if you think about it. Anyway, people should also take the opportunity to praise God for all the things he has done for us and for others. People should glorify him in prayer as well.
I know when I pray, I always try to glorify God in some fashion that comes from my own feelings. Glorifying should not be just to "kiss up" to the Lord. It should come from the heart. An example would be: "Oh wondeful father who grants us eternal life..." My praises come from things I feel. For example, I always thank the Lord for giving us such a beautiful world that we live in because I'm always in awe of nature and all its beauty daily. There are other things I praise God for, but this is just an example.
Then there is the requests themselves. Prayer is for anything you are asking for. I try not to be petty in what I ask, but we are all human and it's easy to fall into that. The Lord listens to whatever we ask for and determines what we need. Like I said earlier, he knows what we are going to ask for anyway, so it's okay to pray for anything, for God will answer in his own way and his own time table. I admit I ask for petty things, but I try not to. I do ask for things like helping those in need, in harm's way, those are dealing with illness, etc. because I do care for them. Once I pray, I feel like a burden has been lifted. I don't feel like prayer as a chore, because to me, it isn't. It's more like a session talking to God and it's always a great feeling when someone listens to your problems and needs.
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2 comments:
Mark -- First, I wanted to thank you for the comments on my blog (Sandpiper's Thoughts). I've enjoyed reading them. Through your comments, I came to your blog.
As I was reading it, I looked at the post about transition in your church. I couldn't believe it! I know Bruce and his wife Lisa. They were both active members of our Emmaus Community in Ashland; this year he was the Spiritual Director for the community. I was so sorry to see them leave our area, but I know that he will be a wonderful pastor for your church.
Excellent thoughts. I like to think of prayer as something that we do to God, but for our own benefit. God does not benefit from our prayers. But prayers remind ourselves of who we are and who God is. Because without them, we naturally think of ourselves as either forsaken by God, or lacking any need for God. And we think of God as cruel or distant. Prayer is a time to state for ourselves who God is and who we are.
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