How real prayer always works …
We hear a lot about people waiting on God, wondering if He will answer their prayers the way they would like Him to … or at all!
Here’s how prayer can work 100 percent of the time, every time:
1. Pray.
Viola!
Prayer worked!
Huh?
To pray is to converse with God. When you do that, prayer has worked!
“Come close to God, and God will come close to you …” James 4:8a.
Now, if you gauge prayer as having “worked” or not by whether God either does something, or does what you may have asked of Him, then your idea of prayer isn’t about conversing and communing with God; rather, it’s about you making demands of God, and God responding in a manner acceptable to you.
It isn’t God alone that we treat this way. We often approach others with the intent of sharing something, with a pre-determined response expected from those we communicate with.
That kind of communication isn’t acting in relationship, whether it’s with other people or with God. It’s you having your mind set on what you want from others, and being disappointed with anything less.
That is a one-way interaction, not a relationship.
Prayer always works simply by bringing us into connection with God. In fact, just the humbling of ourselves to come before our Creator can have a refining affect on us. The need to come to God in prayer reminds us of who He is, and sharpens our reliance on Him. The desire to come to God deepens our affection for Him and heightens our praise of Him.
Prayer works by connecting you to God. What flows from that connection is the outcome of you and God being in relationship with each other.
Scotty
September 22, 2012 at 11:12 am
Oh, I couldn't make it a day without talking with my Father. Sometimes I can't make the hour.
September 22, 2012 at 12:18 pm
It is a disconcerting thing as to what we have made prayer into, and church leaders — sometimes unwittingly — have contributed to this. Prayer by many Christians is thought of as making requests of God with specific expectations of what we want from Him, then being impatient for God to make it happen, or angry and unfaithful if He performs in a manner we dislike. Prayer works simply by connecting us with God, and with that connection, we can relate and commune with Him. The impact on our lives with a solid connection of prayer cannot be overstated, it is priceless!