A secret to getting personal results from prayer …

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Would you like to know a “secret” for getting results from prayer?

Are you ready?

Pray for yourself FIRST.

Huh?

A friend of mine highlighted this golden nugget about prayer a couple days ago when he told a story in his blog. From early morning, he had a headache; by afternoon, it was raging and causing him to feel sick.

His wife had prayed for him.

His colleagues had prayed for him.

Even several Facebook friends had prayed for him.

Then he realized something … he had not prayed for himself!

It wasn’t very long after personally spending some time in prayer that his headache subsided.

We often get so engaged in having others pray for us that we forget to start our need for prayer by being the first to pray.

For some, that comes from a misunderstanding of what prayer is. They see prayer itself as some kind of mystical power, and hope that if someone is praying for them some cosmic force will change their circumstances.

But prayer is talking to God. When we leave our needs, desires, etc., for others to communicate to God on our behalf, we lose out on the rich purpose of relationship with God.

By not praying first, we fail to commune with God about our lives, to place our trust in Him, or exercise our faith. We leave that to others when we have them do the praying for us as we place our hope in their prayers.

But when we start by praying first, we’re turning our face and hearts toward God and communing with Him; we’re personally sharing our need for Him, expressing our reliance on Him, and demonstrating our faith in Him. To have others join in that exercise can bring powerful results!

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus,” Philippians 4:6-7.

Are you the first to pray for yourself? Or are you farming out that personal responsibility to others?

Scotty