Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be open to you. – Matthew 7:7
Have you ever asked the Lord what you should wear for the day? Have you ever just sat and talked with the Lord, just to see how His day is going and what’s on His mind? Have you ever asked Him to tuck you in at night? Have you asked Him for courage, bravery, or boldness to talk to people about your faith? Or is it more like you only ask Him to bless your meal and the hands that prepared it? Or, more often, “I really need this right now, will you give it to me?” Or, “I’m in over my head I need help.” From my view point, American society has a ‘Give Me Now’ mindset. What I’ve been learning is to shift the Give Me mindset to a Make Me Like Jesus mindset. However, this can only be done through prayer and communication with God.
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. – Matthew 21:22
There are three types of people when it comes to prayer. The one who is praying, the intercessor, and the receiver. The people praying are you and I, people all over the world. Brothers and sisters in Christ lifting up our requests and thanks to God. Then there is the intercessor, the Holy Spirit and Jesus.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. – Romans 8:26
They bridge the gap, created by sin, from us to God. Finally, there is the receiver. God, the one who hears our prayers and listens to them. No matter where we are, what time it is, or if we are alone or not.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. – Romans 12:12
Talking with God is something every Christian should do on a daily basis, not just at meals, but throughout the entirety of the day. We need to lean on Him for guidance and support. If Jesus thought prayer was important, we also need prayer be apart of everything we do.
But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. – Luke 5:16
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountain side to pray, and spent the night praying to God. – Luke 6:12
Whether it be driving to work or school, dealing with difficult people, hearing bad news from a doctor, talking with a friends, cleaning your house or doing the dishes, we should constantly be talking to Jesus.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. – Philippians 4:6
It can be the littlest things, even brushing your teeth, yet our goal as Christians is to be more like Jesus and know the heart of the Father.
How can we get to know who God is if we don’t talk to Him every day? It’s so easy! Essentially, its just like getting to know a friend. To get to know a person, you talk to them, you hang out with them, and you set aside time to purposefully see them and get to know them. God doesn’t just want a friendship with us though; He wants an intimate relationship with each of us.
Prayer is one of the most intimate ways we can connect with our Heavenly Father. Now, I am no expert, but I don’t think people who get married have stories that go: “We met each other, and got married the next day.” That’s just not how it works. You have to actually get to know the person, not just who they are but their heart and soul, their likes and dislikes, and who God is making them to be. Prayer is our connection to God.
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father who sees what is done in secret, will reward you…This then is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. – Matthew 6:6, 9-12
We have a direct line to the King of Kings, where we can take our thoughts, ideas, worries, praises, and hearts.
…but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. – Psalms 66:19
And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. – Revelation 5:8
Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. – Revelation 8:3-5
God receives those prayers and holds them in golden bowls?! Our prayers are precious to our Father. He loves talking to us and hearing from us.
There are so many different ways to pray. One of the ways I learned to do growing up was from my mom. It’s an acronym, ACTS: Adoration, Confession, Thankfulness, Supplication. Another one I have been trying out is PRAYER; Praise, Reverence, Adoration, Yielding, Edification, Results.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep praying for the Lord’s people. – Ephesians 6:18
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Prayers move heaven.
Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.” – Daniel 10:12-14
Your prayers may go unanswered but God hears them. Prayer is powerful, a prayer-less Christian is a powerless Christian.
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. – John 14:12
To be more like Jesus, and in order to let God make us like Jesus, we have to know 1. Who God is; 2. What His heart for others is; and 3. we have to constantly be in communication with God. That’s how we become more like Jesus. That way, it can be “On earth as it is in Heaven”.
