This week is part three of my four-part series on prayer. How are you doing on your prayer life? Prayer is essential for our relationship with God. I have already said it is a conversation with God, so open up to Him about anything.
Last week, I talked about sin and confessing those sins to God. He is good and he hears what we have to say. If we are truly sorrowful, He will surely heal a contrite heart.
This week I want to talk about being thankful in your praying. So when you pray, you can also be intentional. Count your blessings to cultivate a grateful a heart. Some ways you can do that is to stop and smell the roses (thank God for creation), smile (thank God for what we have), don’t stop believing (remember what Jesus did for us, keep the faith).
Here’s a little exercise for you to do over the course of five days. In those five days, begin thanking God for your blessings. Do this by organizing circles of people to pray for. Divide them into three groups – Inner Circle, Middle Circle and Outer Circle.
Your Inner Circle should be your smallest circle and should consist of a close group of friends and family. Your next circle – the Middle – should be a little bigger and would consist of good friends, acquaintances and extended family. Your largest circle would be your Outer Circle. This circle is comprised of people we don’t know or have few interactions with. For example, these people could be a celebrity, delivery person, neighbor down the street, etc.
Spend time organizing your circles and make a plan to go to God on their behalf regularly. Once you make a plan to do this for five days, then make it part of your daily prayer routine. Keep this in mind as your are creating your circles and forming your daily prayer life, Philemon 1:4-6 says, “I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.“
Another note on prayer is that God answers our prayers. Sometimes, though, it may not seem like it. So the important thing is to remember to not be negative if it doesn’t appear your prayer was answered in the way you wanted. God has a plan. Change your “why” into “how.” Ask yourself, “How am I going to use this?” The objective, remember, is to have an intimate relationship with God. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
I will conclude this series next week. Be sure to follow my YouTube channel as I post a short video there on every topic that’s talked about here on my blog. I also post other short videos throughout the week and share a verse of the day. I usually post a new video on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Until next week, have a good week and may God bless you!
A Writer's Voice 