Prayer Changes

Bible Reading: Ephesians 6
Focus verse: "with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints" Ephesians 6:18

Do you ever wonder if prayer works?  Does it really make a difference?  Prayer is our connection to God!  God has planned for and ordained prayer and that He will work through our prayers.  The effective praying person will put on the armor of God before praying. (vs 10-17)  Another effective way to pray is to use scripture as you pray.  You can pray any time of day or night for as long or as short as you like.  Pray in all trials and joys of your life.  Pray for others.    An effective praying person knows how to pray in agreement with the scriptures, in the Spirit, watchful, alert, perseverant, devoted and by submitting their life to God.

Do you use all parts of prayer?  It is good in Kenya to start a conversation by a proper greeting of the other person and ask how is the day, the family, the parents and the cows.  In the same way, you begin the prayer with greeting the heavenly father with some words of adoration and praise.  Such as God's faithfulness, creation, power, love, forgiveness, holiness and more.
Second, you can confess humbly who we are in our failures to live up to God's standard.  We remember our weakness, our sin, and we agree with God about it.  We can not do this life without God and we acknowledge it.
Third, we are to remember our blessings and be thankful to God for them.  Even in our trials, there are things to be thankful for.  Can you be thankful for your salvation, your family, your friends, your church, your country, your relationship with God and even we can thank God for the trials in our lives because of the growth that it brings (James 1:2-4)
Fourth, we will be bringing our petitions, our requests, to God.  This is prayer for others and for yourself.  God has asked us to bring our requests to Him. (Philippians 4:6)  There are three ways God can answer.  God might say, "No" if it is not the best thing for us or if we didn't ask according to correct interpretation of scripture.  God may say "Yes" if our petition is based on God's principles and we are praying in the Spirit.  God may say, "Wait" when the timing isn't right.  We are always learning more of God's ways and the way He answers our prayers.  We can be sure that if we are in a right relationship with Him, that we are never alone and He always hears us.

Can you focus on prayer this week?  What part of prayer can you strengthen in your life?  Is it using all the parts?  Is it learning more of the scriptures?  Is it devoting more time to prayer?  Is it praying for others more often and faithfully?  Is it finding joy in your trials and having thankfulness?
"Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near."  Isaiah 55:6

~Page Johnson
Interlocking Ministries