Our Prayer Lives

When I was a little kid, before I even really knew who God was or what prayer was, I used to say prayers before I went to bed. I would kneel at my bedside and ask God to bless Mommy and Daddy and my sister and my grandparents and... so on and so forth. I asked for those blessings genuinely, so I think they counted they had some sense of legitimacy.

But I did not become a saved Christian until much later in life, just a few years ago in fact. And as I am still learning how to lead a life that serves God, I am constantly aware of the state of my prayer life, in that I know I do not pray nearly enough. Even for the saved Christian, sometimes our daily lives prevent us from praying even upon waking or before we go to sleep.

Three points that I want to share on prayer are these:

• When to pray: 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to "pray continually", so often and at all times of the day
• How to pray: In Matthew 6:5-15, Jesus instructs us how to prayer, including the Lord's Prayer
• What we can pray for: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." --Matthew 7:7-8

This entry is really for me: my prayer life is not where it should be, and I desire to improve it so that it is more consistent, not the ebb and flow it is now. Maybe you are in the same mode--praying on occasion, or only praying in times of difficulty. We are called to pray at all times, in times of prosperity and struggle, and if we look around, there is certainly no lack of things to pray for. I know that God is waiting to move each of our lives and that He longs to have fellowship with us.

Today's challenge: Say the Lord's Prayer from Matthew 6. Find someone to pray for at a random time of the day today. Take a moment to talk with the God that provides so much in our lives.