Wednesday, October 6, 2021
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6
A Living Prayer
Prayer is conversation with God. It is our time of fellowship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. It is an open line of communication with our Heavenly Father. No appointment necessary. We have instant access to the creator of the universe. An audience with the King.
Although we have all been taught to pray like we are talking to our best friend, and that is what we should do, we still need to remember and acknowledge the honor His holiness. When Jesus modeled prayer for us in Matthew chapter 6, He started with Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…. To be hallowed is to be holy, separate, and sanctified. When we start our prayers by acknowleding that He is holy and set apart, we are asking that He listen and act in His soverignty and holiness in response to our prayers, and He will. We have to be willing to surrender to His soverignty and accept the answer He gives. We can trust that in His love for us, He will make the very best decisions in our lives.
Prayer acknowledges God’s presence in our lives and opens the door for fellowship with Him. A lot of times we approace prayer like it is a one-way street, instead of a conversation between two people. It is our opportunity to speak to God intimately, but it is also His time to speak to us intimately. When we pray, it is important for us to have open hearts and open minds.
Worship should also be a part of our prayer time – worshipping God’s glory and thanking Him for all He has done. We can get in the habit of thinking that there is nothing good in our lives, especially when we are in the middle of a trial. The hard can consume the good if we are not intentional about finding the things we need to be thankful for. They are there. God has been faithful and good and He deserves for us to remember that always.
In I Thessalonians 5:16-18, Paul tells us to Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. When we have true faith in God, it changes how we do everything. This advice from Paul is a living prayer – a way we can keep our hearts and minds focused on God always, and in everything we do.
Rejoice always… Rejoice always because of salvation. Rejoice always because of God’s promises. Rejoice always because He is our strength. Rejoice always because He works all things for our good. We rejoice always because of what He has done, is doing, and will continue to do, no matter what is happening around us. Rejoice always because one day…we will see Him face to face.
Pray without ceasing… We can keep the line of communication between us and God open all the time and about everything. He cares about it all – big and small.
Give thanks in all circumstances… Good and bad, as hard as it sounds, we are to give thanks for everything. It may not feel like something we should be thankful for, but God uses everything in our lives for His glory – and that is something to be thankful for.
For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you…He always, always, always has our best interest at heart. This attitude and rule of living is how we should conduct ourselves day to day.
He is faithful, trustworthy, and true. He loves us and loves it when we give Him our attention and praise. He also loves it when we lay our burdens down before Him. It gives Him pleasure to carry our burdens and trade our anxiety, fear, and worry with peace. Open those lines of communication, the God of all creation wants to speak with you.
