Have you ever thought about the fact that people - just regular, everyday people - have the privilege to speak to the Creator of the universe when we come to Him in prayer?! Even more incredible is that God hears us and acts on our behalf and answers our prayers. Please understand this, that our Savior Jesus Christ had to die on the cross to make it possible for us to even approach God in worship and in prayer !
John Bunyan says it best when he describes prayer: "Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and the assistance of the Spirit, for such things as God has promised."
You need to be born again and living a godly, righteous life for the Lord to hear and answer your prayers. Except for when a sinner for the first time repents and comes to God and Jesus the Savior in sincere belief and asks for forgiveness; God will answer that sinner's prayer and forgive him and welcome him as a child of God. Aside from that, consider the following Scriptures:
"For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." - James 3:12
"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." - James 5:16
"But the prayer of the upright is His (God's) delight." - Proverbs 15:8b
We must pray according to God's will and also in Jesus' name. One of our main jobs as believers is to pray for others. "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;" - Ephesians 6:18. We should also pray for those in authority over us and for the unsaved. (1 Timothy 2:1-3)
I would like you to listen to the following song by Celine Dion and Josh Groban titled, "The Prayer." I have posted it here before some time ago, but this time with different video images. It is the most beautiful duet that I have ever heard.
"Nowhere can we get to know the holiness of God, and come under His influence and power, except in the inner chamber. It has well been said, 'No man can expect to make progress in holiness who is not often and long alone with God.'" - Andrew Murray
"Prayer in the sense of petition, asking for things, is a small part of it; confession and penitence are its threshhold, adoration its sanctuary, the presence and vision and enjoyment of God its bread and wine." - C. S. Lewis
"If we are to pray aright, perhaps it is quite necessary that we pray contrary to our own heart. Not what we want to pray is important, but what God wants us to pray. The richness of the word of God ought to determine our prayer, not the poverty of our heart." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I confess that many years ago I went a long time without praying at all. I had been burned badly and was bitter and resentful. That in itself was enough reason to pray to God and ask for His forgiveness and help. But I didn't. That is, not until my world came crashing down, and God got my attention in a big way. I lost pretty much everything and had suffered a divorce. I spent a lot of time crying, but all the afflictions drove me to God in prayer. And one day I told God that I loved Him for the first time in my life, and I immediately knew what that meant in all this enormous understanding that came over me. Later I realized that I had never been truly born again until that turning point. I began to read the Bible and to pray.... as time went on those two things became my lifeline. I have since learned that prayerlessness is a sin. " A prayerless life is a Christless life." Someone famous said that; I may not have quoted it exactly right but that is the gist of it.
David Wilkerson said, "Prayer mixed with faith is the answer to absolutely everything."
In these perilous times in which we live right now, prayer is the best thing we can do to survive all the craziness in the world. Pray for the Lord's soon return to take us out of this wicked world and into heaven with Jesus. The way Bible prophecy is being fulfilled on a daily basis, Jesus' return will be soon. May He find you living a holy life, busy doing the Lord's will. Pray without ceasing and be in your Bible daily.
Charles Stanley has said, "For prayer to be effective it needs to be anchored in the Word of God."
Following is a sermon by Charles Stanley titled "Putting Prayer First". Excellent sermon !
"But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer." - 1 Peter 4:7
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