Prayer

Good Morning,

Matthew 6:5-8 (NKJV)
“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words."
“Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
Luke 18:1-7 (NKJV)
Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’” Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?"
Matthew 26:36-39 (NKJV)
Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”
He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

One of the things, I think, that we do much too little of is to pray. Yes, we do pray when things go badly in our lives. And we do tend to pray when others ask us to. Occasionally we pray for things like "world peace" and the like.

But, not often enough to we simply go to the Lord in prayer and just talk to Him.

So, today I've just sent along a couple of sections of Scripture for us to read what Jesus had to say about praying; about praying in different situations; and about prayer in general.

I guess what God wants us to know today, and what He wants us to put into practice, is that He wants to hear from us. He wants us to get into the habit of prayer. Prayer at any time of the day or night. Prayer at all times of the day or night. He wants us to communicate with Him and then, as a huge part of our prayer times, to listen quietly form Him to answer us.

So, no long drawn out message about the how's or why's or when's of prayer. Just a reminder to us all that we should be praying more.

Love, peace, and blessings,

David