Lord, Answer My Prayer. 365 Reflections on Prayer LARGE PRINT

Transcription

1 Lord, Answer My Prayer 365 Reflections on Prayer LARGE PRINT

2 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Psalm 145:18

3 Contents preface january Our Father february How to Worship God march The Holy Spirit and Prayer april God Is There Whenever You Call to Him may Prayer in Times of Trouble june Jesus and Prayer july Obstacles to Prayer august Praying for Others september Prayers from the Bible october Prayer Is a Joy november Answers to Prayer december The Power of Prayer bibliography

4 Preface According to Henri Nouwen, it is extremely difficult to write about prayer because, as soon as you do, you become aware of how far away you are from the ideal you are writing about (Circles of Love). This is only too true! However, should we truly wish to learn how to pray, we would have to pay attention to what the Bible teaches us about prayer because, without prayer, we can never reach God and communicate with Him in a meaningful way. It is true that you can learn to pray only by praying. When you really become involved with God, you discover that He Himself teaches you how to communicate with Him. In these daily readings we will learn about prayer, and discover how to pray. We will study Bible lessons on prayer, look at how various characters in the Bible prayed, and also look at the prayers of Jesus Himself. It is my prayer that your personal prayer life will be more intimate and fervent once you have completed this book. Nina Smit

5 JANUARY Our Father If we want God s will for our lives, we need to be willing to surrender our whole life to His sovereignty, offering ourselves to Him as a living sacri fice. Such surrender always leads to a wonderful sense of release we are now no longer responsible for making everything run smoothly we can commit everything to God and know this: He is in control and will provide for us now and forever!

6 1 January Luke 11:1 4 Lord, teach us to pray One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples. Luke 11:1, NIV J esus disciples noticed that no matter how busy He was, He always made time to communicate with His heavenly Father in prayer. His disciples envied this ease with which Jesus prayed and one of them requested Him to teach them to pray the way John had also taught his disciples. Jesus taught them His model prayer, the Lord s Prayer, added a parable on the value of prayer (Luke 11:5 12), and appealed to them to pray (Luke 11:13). Like Jesus disciples, many Christians have a problem with prayer. We would like to learn how to pray, yet our personal prayer life remains feeble and disappointing. Jesus wants to teach you to pray correctly just ask Him and then use the prayer He taught His disciples when you want to talk to Him. Lord, please teach me to pray, just as You taught your disciples to pray long ago. Thank You for the promise that You give Your children good gifts when we ask You. Amen.

7 2 January Matthew 6:5 8 Go into your room... When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6:6, NIV W e read that Jesus often sent away the people who flocked to Him and then went to an isolated place when He wanted to communicate with His Father. When He taught His disciples how to pray, He told them not to pray standing on the street corners like the hypocrites, but rather to go into their rooms, and pray to God alone, behind locked doors. The Authorized King James Version of this passage reads, But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret... When you want to pray, you also need a room, a place where you can communicate with God alone, without anybody disturbing you. Prayer always involves personal, individual contact with God and you should therefore set aside a specific time and place for it for yourself. Prayer is an intimate conversation with God, and the privacy of your room is therefore the proper place, we read in Die Bybellennium. Find yourself such a private place and set aside a specific time where you can communicate with God daily. Father, thank You for the privilege of being able to communicate with You when I pray. Help me to set aside enough time for this daily communication with You. Amen.

8 3 January Matthew 6:5 8 Your Father knows what you need And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words... For your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Matthew 6:7 8, NIV S ome Jews in Jesus time (particularly the Pharisees) tried to draw God s attention by their lengthy, frequent prayers and tried to impress others who were listening to these prayers. Jesus warned His disciples against prayers which were a mere torrent of empty words. The vast majority of Christians have a meagre prayer life. Some find it difficult to pray because they do not know how to pray eloquently. Fortunately, eloquence is not necessary as God knows you inside out and He knows exactly what you want to ask Him even before you start praying. Merely tell God exactly what you have on your mind. This is more than enough and is so simple that even a young child can do it. When you pray, never think about how little you have to give God, but about how much God wants to give you, says Andrew Murray (With Christ in the School of Prayer). Heavenly Father, how wonderful that I do not have to use flowery speech to be able to pray. Thank You that You have so much to give me when I speak to You. Amen.

9 4 January Matthew 6:9 13 A Father s blessing This, then, is how you should pray... Matthew 6:9, NIV The Lord remembers us and will bless us: He will bless those who fear the Lord, the psalmist wrote (Ps. 115:12 13). Teachers are aware of the importance of not only telling the pupils what to do, but also of showing them how to do it. Jesus followed this principle when He taught His disciples the Lord s Prayer. Through this prayer, God enables His children to pray, to talk to Him with childlike faith, to share their needs with Him the way a child would confide in their human father. When you pray to God, you experience His blessings firsthand. This does not depend on the feeling you experience when you pray, but rather on the unconditional love and miracle-working power of the Father in whom you are confiding. Do not wait until you feel like communicating with God. Make a regular appointment with Him so that you can experience His lasting blessing every day. Heavenly Father, forgive me for not always feeling like praying. Thank You for the assurance that You will pour out Your blessing upon me when I talk to You. Amen.

10 5 January Matthew 6:9 13 Our Father in heaven... This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven... Matthew 6:9, NIV J esus telling His disciples that they could address God as their Father was something they had never known before: that their relationship to God was one of the most intimate relationships ever, of a child to their father. To the Jews, God was so holy that they would not even write His Name, yet they could now address Him as Dad! However, Jesus stressed the fact that this Father is in Heaven; He is still a holy God. God wants to be a Father to you and you may call Him Father in your prayers. You are also entitled to the love and care of your heavenly Father. He knows you personally, as a father knows his child. You are infinitely precious to Him and He wants to care for you. Should you ever doubt God s fatherly love for you, underline the promise in 2 Corinthians 6:18, I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty... Heavenly Father, it is incredible that You are my Father, that You love me unconditionally and that You want to care for me every day. I praise You for this! Amen.

11 6 January Matthew 6:9 13 Hallowed be Your Name This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name... Matthew 6:9, NIV G od s Name and His Person are inseparable. The Name of God is much more than the name of Father used by His children to address Him in prayer. God s Name also tells us that He is holy. When we pray that His Name be hallowed, we therefore mean that we will give Him the honor and the place in our hearts and lives He is entitled to. We also mean that He will be the most important Person in our life, and we commit ourselves to honoring His Name in everything we say and do. If you pray this part of the Lord s Prayer, you have to be quite sure that you will glorify God s Name in everything you do and say. See to it that the One who bears this Name reigns in your life. You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing, the psalmist confessed in Psalm 16:2. This should be the confession of everyone who prays that the Name of God be hallowed in his or her life. Father, please enable me to glorify Your Name in everything I do and say so that others will be able to see by my life that nothing is more important to me than You. Amen.

12 7 January Matthew 6:9 13 Your kingdom come... Our Father in heaven... your kingdom come... Matthew 6:9 10, NIV W hen Jesus therefore taught His disciples to ask that God s Kingdom come, He was simultaneously telling them that their heavenly Father rules over the whole of creation and that He should also rule their lives. Subjects obey their king and likewise God expects His children to obey His word and law, and He expects us to proclaim His kingdom here on earth. This part of the Lord s Prayer wants to teach you to acknowledge and obey God as King in every aspect of your life. As your Father is the King, you are the daughter of a King, and you can live like one every day even if it means that pain and suffering await you here on earth, which we unfortunately cannot escape. However, this heavenly King promises you that if you seek His Kingdom and will on earth, He will give you everything else (Matt. 6:33). What are you doing to spread this Kingdom? Lord, I worship You as the King of my life. I pray that Your kingdom will come. Help me sacrifice everything for Your kingdom and to obey Your instructions unconditionally. Amen.