Complete Prayers
Many Christians pray, but I am not sure how many of us realize how to pray as the Lord desires for us to pray. Yes, it is as simple as talking with the Lord about everything. However, it is much more than that. As we read the Bible, we see many aspects of prayer that we need to learn and to put into practice to really pray as we should. Let's make sure that we do not get stuck in a rut and pray only one or two of the ways we should pray. Paul gave us a good lesson on prayer in his letter to Timothy, his son in the ministry. (I Timothy 2:1) Paul's priority was to urge Christians to offer petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings for everyone or all people. I wonder how many of us are praying like this? Let's digest this a little today.
We can tell from Paul's letters in the New Testament that prayer was a priority for him. In fact, he even recorded prayers for the churches and individuals so we can see how he prayed for them. Here, he is very specific. When we pray, we should make petitions for ourselves and others. In other words, we ask for things that we need or things that others need. We call out to God to meet those needs according to His will. Then, we say prayers for ourselves and others by talking things over with God about what is going on in our life and in the lives of others. We simply pour out our heart to God, and see what He says to us. Then, we should make intercessions for others. This is when we plead with God on behalf of others that God would intervene in their lives in some way. We could be intervening for them to be saved and asking God to touch them based on our relationship with God, even if they don't care about God. Finally, we should offer thanksgivings we have about our family and friends. Of course, we should offer thanksgivings for all that God does to bless us and answer our prayers, too. These are the ways that we should pray for everyone for whom we pray. We must not just pray one dimensional prayers. There are other ways to pray, too, like praises and confessions, which are very important, too. Let's branch out and really become effective prayer warriors for everyone around us.
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Tomorrow, I intend to read I Timothy 4-6 and II Timothy 1.