What is Prayer?

What is prayer?  

Is it something to do when we have a need? 

Is it a mantra or a religious repetitious saying?

Do we need to bow down to a statue or a picture of  Saints of old?

Is it lighting candles or giving offerings?

What is Prayer?

Most people make prayer into "works".  It is something they "have to do", not something they enjoy doing.  Most of their prayer time is spent repenting, praying for needs, and then if they have time, intercession.  


Prayer should not be self-focused, asking for forgiveness by beating ourselves up.  It should not be with complaining of others and how they need to be changed and saved.  Many approach prayer as part of getting God to do something for us (healing, provide our needs, etc...)


We can get so caught up in making prayer time with the Lord as a mundane task.  Prayer should never be work.  It shouldn't be about using prayer beads, lighting candles, or saying three Hail Mary's.   


Prayer is about a relationship with the Living God.  It should be about being intimate with the Lord. Communicating with Him like you would with any of your relationships.  You talk, He listens.  He talks, you listen.  He talks to us in the middle of our day when we are doing our business.  He is with us ALWAYS.  He never leaves us nor forsakes us.  We abide in Him and He abides in us.  It should be something we want to do 24 hours a day.  Yes, the Lord is quiet at times and not talking.  There are times when communication with a spouse or friend is just the same.  There is quiet even if they are in the same room with us.  


Praising the Lord, thanking Him and just listening should be our way of approaching His throne.  When we seek His kingdom through a relationship we would most likely not have most stresses we deal with on a daily basis.  He has overcome the world!


John 17:3 says "knowing God" is eternal life. 

 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.


Salvation is not just about getting to heaven.  It is about a living relationship with the Living God.  This needs to be our goal when we receive the gift of salvation-- to know the Living god as a person.  


Revelation 4:11 says He created us for His pleasure.

 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.


Pleasure is a good thing.  He is a good God!  


When we come to know the Lord in His fullness, our trust in His love and goodness grows our faith in Him.  This is what He wants.  He wants us to know Him in His goodness and fullness. 


We should approach the Lord as we would a loved one.  Coming to Him with love and gratitude and just wanting to commune with Him in His glory, we will then experience and understand who He really is.  When we understand who He really is, our lives would then change without even asking.  It will change in supernatural ways!!  


This is freedom!  This is life!  This is love!!  


It says in Galatians 5:6

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.


If you have never encountered the love of God in its fullness.  I am encouraging you today to go and ask Him to reveal this goodness in your life.  Talk to Him like you would your best friend. 


Bless You!!

FREE IN CHRIST

God and Unanswered Prayers

Why do we pray, if we think God is going to do what He chooses to anyway?  

Are we praying in hopes God MIGHT answer our prayers?

When we pray, are we praying without faith?

Do we really believe God will answer?

Why doesn't God answer some of our Prayers?

These are some of the many questions that cross our minds when we pray.  

Jesus said in Matthew 7:7 


“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 


In Mark 11:22-24 Jesus says: 


²² So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. ²³ For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. ²⁴ Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, BELIEVE THAT YOU RECEIVE THEM, and you will have them.

In a nutshell, YES , Jesus wants us to ask for all good things.  Those things that are obviously His will, His goodness, His benefits.  What are some of His benefits: Not lacking any good thing. 


3 John 1:2 says, 


² Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

We need to believe when we pray, God has answered our prayers!  Be it prayer for healing, or any need you may have.  We should always believe He has heard and yes He will answer. 

So why does it seem like sometimes He doesn't answer?  

In the book of Daniel it clearly points out that there are other factors that hinder our prayers. 

In Daniel 9:3, Daniel begins to pray, fast, and intercede for Jerusalem:

³And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
 ⁴And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;


This is about a 3 minute prayer, it reads from verse 3 to verse 21, then the Angel Gabriel interrupts in verse 23 and makes an interesting statement that many might miss:



³At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.

This reveals God answered Daniel when he began his prayer.  It took about 3 minutes from the time the command went forth to the word of the Lord to manifest unto Daniel.  It doesn't say why it took only 3 minutes for Daniel to see an answer to prayer.  

Now if you read in Daniel 10:2-3, he's praying and fasting for three full weeks.  We might ask, "Why did God take so long to answer Daniel this time?"

If you look further down in Daniel and read verse 12-13 it gives an explanation why the Angel took three weeks to arrive with the message:

²Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
 ¹³But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.


This clearly states that there was a huge hindrance on the prayers Daniel spoke forth.  It shows that the principalities and powers of darkness were hindering Gabriel from getting the message to Daniel.  


It was not that God didn't answer or waited to answer, God answered Daniel as soon as he started praying and fasting.  This brings such understanding to prayer.  To know God answers our prayers from the beginning brings such peace and understanding. 


God does love each one of us and answers our prayers.  We need to understand there are hindrances that are stopping the prayer from manisfesting in our lives.  Whether it be sin in our lives, which opens a door to fellowship with Satan or powers of darkness are trying to stop the prayer from reaching us. 


Satan doesn't know everything God has planned.  He doesn't know anything at all.  He tries to mess up our lives and then blame it all on the Lord.  When we loose faith in God and don't believe He has answered, we then are believing satan, the enemy, more than believing the goodness of God.  This then means WE not God are allowing Satan to rule over us.


We in our own foolishness and ignorance are stopping the prayers of God from reaching our lives.  

Remember this: 

 GOD DOES ANSWER YOUR PRAYERS, AS SOON AS YOU SPEAK THEM FORTH!! 


Proverbs 18:21 says: 


Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
      And those who love it will eat its fruit. 


ARe you Free In Christ today? If not, allow Jesus the Saviour of the world to come  and reveal His goodness and His unconditional love to you!!