John Mulligan continued his series on prayer with, “If God Already Knows, Why Pray?” Prayer influences God’s actions. Our prayers are truly powerful and effective, whether we understand His answe...
John Mulligan continued his series on prayer with, “If God Already Knows, Why Pray?” Prayer influences God’s actions. Our prayers are truly powerful and effective, whether we understand His answers or not. Here’s a bonus: we can’t sin while we are praying!
Praying is good for our peace (Phil. 4:6-7) “Do not be anxious about anything, but… present your request to God.” Certainly, you can think about situations, but don’t be consumed by things you can’t control. Prayer is a protective measure; it brings us peace when we turn things over to God. (An old adage: If you pray, why worry? If you worry, why pray?)
Praying is desired by God. As the passage in Luke 11:5-13 tells us, if you give even to those annoying, ‘audacious’ friends, “...how much more will your Father in heaven give?” God knows we have many distractions in life, so when we set aside our busy-ness to talk to Him from our hearts, He’s eager to listen.
Here are eight specific areas of prayer needs:
Praise: Give Him praise. Praise our King of kings, the Lord our God, all honor to Him, our Almighty Creator!
Thankfulness: Give thanks for the many daily necessities we have, that so many people throughout the world do not have.
Physical needs: Pray for our safety, health, stability, healthy aging. We can also pray for a peaceful soul.
Spiritual needs: Confess your sins and ask forgiveness for those sins you might not have recognized as such.
Spiritual growth: He will strengthen your spirit so that Christ may dwell in your heart. We can receive the fullness of God. Pray to know everything that He can do for us.
Guidance: Ask God! Guidance will come, generously, and without fault. Help me to receive wisdom for my problems.
Restoration: Pray to be restored, to be made well, to be forgiven. He will cleanse us.
Others: Be alert to the needs of all the Lord’s people. Pray for fellow believers and for all the world leaders.
Global: Step back and see the big picture of our whole world, the political strife, the natural disasters. Pray that all the peoples of the world may live in safety and peace. Pray that our world leaders will do the right things for all God’s children.
Let’s give ourselves fully to prayer, with no restrictions or limits. And as we live faithfully dedicated to God, let’s accept those opportunities for good that God will bring to us.
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