The Joy of Meaningful and Effective Praying

<p>Read it to learn what God thinks about praying.</p><p>God welcomes our praying to Him! He enjoys our praying with Him. Those who expect to receive comforts from God must call upon Him. Promises are given not to do away but to quicken and encourage prayer. God said to the prophet Jeremiah “Call to Me and I will answer you and I will tell you great and mighty things which you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3). Call - This is not a suggestion but a command to Jeremiah. By way of application it is a command to all believers. Call out to Him in your time of need which is ALL the time! And you can do so confident that He will answer for John writes “And this is the confidence which we have before Him that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him” (1John 5:14-15). Prayer is relational in nature. For the Christ follower prayer is “communion with God.” Through prayer we actually experience relationship with God. Because of this the quality of our prayer life then determines the quality of our relationship with God. Prayer is talking with God. Prayer is listening to God. Prayer is enjoying the presence of God. Prayer is not simply saying words. It is not repeating formulas. God is looking for heartfelt relationship.</p><p>Read it to learn about what prayer is and is not.</p><p>Praying to God is not something to be done without much interest or thought. Praying to God is not something we do by going through the motions. According to the prophet Isaiah praying to God can be something that is done completely wrong! He reminds us that empty ritualism before God is not the desired closeness and fellowship that’s flavored with honor and reverence for God. Isaiah reminds us that honor and reverence for God are needed components for intimacy and closeness with God and that praying to God is an affair of the heart. Praying is a passion to seek God with all your heart.</p><p>Read it to learn about why it is important to pray.</p><p>Most Christ followers recognize and accept at least intellectually the need to pray as well as the importance of praying. We read books about praying we discuss praying we go to seminars about praying we even ask for prayers from time to time. But somehow there are many who are not experiencing the joy of meaningful and effective praying. Perhaps we may come across a few real “prayer warriors” but I sincerely believe meaningful and effective praying as committed disciples of Jesus has somehow escaped the church. We talk of its necessity but too often we fail to accomplish its reality. This book puts forward that praying has its reasons and purposes as to why it is important to pray. Praying—communicating with God—helps us grow closer and more intimately connected with God. Scripture views prayer as a way in which we become aware of and experience God’s presence and character. This book demonstrates the reasons we are to pray are just as important as praying itself.</p><p>Read it to learn how to pray.</p><p>Jesus gives a template to guide us in how we are to pray and what topics to cover. He teaches us to pray to align our heart with God’s. Then the Lord teaches us to pray for our needs.</p><p>Read it to learn how prayer changes things and more importantly how it changes you.</p><p>It is often said that “Prayer changes things!” We should also add “Prayer changes us!” It is true that our prayers will change things around us but sometimes our prayers change us. At times our situation even remains the same; but because of our encounters with the presence of God we are changed. It is very hard to spend time with God and not be changed!</p>