"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?"
~ Matthew 5: 44-47 ~
"Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. " ~ Luke 6:28-38 ~
Lately I have been really thinking about prayer, I think one reason is because I have just had so many people ask me to pray for them. I am not going to say much on prayer because I think the Scriptures above can speak for themselves, God doesn't need me to help Him explain them.
I think prayer is a weakness for most Christians, because they have to think about it. It's where satan get's his foot in the door, it's easy to tell someone you will pray for them but that usually means you might lift them up once in a whole week or less. I am one of those people, I do try to remember, but at times I get busy and forget. But God does not forget us, and prayer is our only way to communicate with Christ so don't let the demons get you to thinking that your daily prayers don't matter. We must communicate in any relationship, Christ Jesus should be the first and foremost in our lives and therefore He should have the utmost attention when it comes to communication.
What is prayer? Prayer is talking to God, just simply that. I have been accused of talking to myself, but sometimes I am just talking out loud to God...He doesn't mind. We can pray scripture verses or even whole passages. God loves hearing us speak His words back to Him. I love to pray Psalms, I think it is because there is a Psalm for every sigh of the heart.
I think prayer is a weakness for most Christians, because they have to think about it. It's where satan get's his foot in the door, it's easy to tell someone you will pray for them but that usually means you might lift them up once in a whole week or less. I am one of those people, I do try to remember, but at times I get busy and forget. But God does not forget us, and prayer is our only way to communicate with Christ so don't let the demons get you to thinking that your daily prayers don't matter. We must communicate in any relationship, Christ Jesus should be the first and foremost in our lives and therefore He should have the utmost attention when it comes to communication.
What is prayer? Prayer is talking to God, just simply that. I have been accused of talking to myself, but sometimes I am just talking out loud to God...He doesn't mind. We can pray scripture verses or even whole passages. God loves hearing us speak His words back to Him. I love to pray Psalms, I think it is because there is a Psalm for every sigh of the heart.
I want my prayer life to be like a constant conversation with Christ, He is there, He always listens, He always cares, He always knows, and He always understands. Think of it this way..."I know that my Dad loves me, he knows that I love Him. But knowing it is not enough, in a relationship things must be said.". Therefore prayer is a necessity, it is your phone line to God. Talk to Him, and He will answer (not verbally, but through His Word).
I want to always have God's attention, just as I crave my Dad's attention and one day (hopefully soon) I will crave my husbands attention. The only way that I will have that attention is through communication and/or prayer. I also need to be in His word so that I will know what to pray and how to pray. He will teach you how to pray. Jesus is my best friend and I want Him to always be number one in my life.
Another thing that the LORD has also been teaching me about prayer, that I need to pray for my family more than I have been, especially my Dad, he is the leader of our home and therefore is at the forefront of the battle against satan. Sometimes our family seems to be the farthest from our mind when we pray. I am not sure why that is, I mean we live and breathe with them why is it that they would not be the first people that I pray for? But I think that a lot of times we see all of their faults and try to solve them on our own. So, instead of praying for them as we should, we judge them and stay angry at them for being a sinner just like ourselves. I am the worst at this, you see I am a problem solver and a perfectionist. I am constantly trying to do things on my own without any human or spiritual intervention. God has to pull me aside and say once again "Elisha, you are only making it harder on yourself, give it to me and let me fix it." of course many times I buck up, but in the end I always give in to Him (as I should). So God has really been teaching me lately that my family needs to have my utmost attention during my prayer time. I think that if we do not pray for our family that we are really letting them down and setting them up for failure.
So with the new year upon us I am praying that God will help me to remember to keep my family as top priority in my prayer. I also want to have a closer and better relationship with Him, so I want to constantly be talking with Him...about everything! How about you? Any New Years Resolutions?
I want to always have God's attention, just as I crave my Dad's attention and one day (hopefully soon) I will crave my husbands attention. The only way that I will have that attention is through communication and/or prayer. I also need to be in His word so that I will know what to pray and how to pray. He will teach you how to pray. Jesus is my best friend and I want Him to always be number one in my life.
Another thing that the LORD has also been teaching me about prayer, that I need to pray for my family more than I have been, especially my Dad, he is the leader of our home and therefore is at the forefront of the battle against satan. Sometimes our family seems to be the farthest from our mind when we pray. I am not sure why that is, I mean we live and breathe with them why is it that they would not be the first people that I pray for? But I think that a lot of times we see all of their faults and try to solve them on our own. So, instead of praying for them as we should, we judge them and stay angry at them for being a sinner just like ourselves. I am the worst at this, you see I am a problem solver and a perfectionist. I am constantly trying to do things on my own without any human or spiritual intervention. God has to pull me aside and say once again "Elisha, you are only making it harder on yourself, give it to me and let me fix it." of course many times I buck up, but in the end I always give in to Him (as I should). So God has really been teaching me lately that my family needs to have my utmost attention during my prayer time. I think that if we do not pray for our family that we are really letting them down and setting them up for failure.
So with the new year upon us I am praying that God will help me to remember to keep my family as top priority in my prayer. I also want to have a closer and better relationship with Him, so I want to constantly be talking with Him...about everything! How about you? Any New Years Resolutions?
No comments:
Post a Comment