Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Prayer

Well, we've been talking about prayer at church in my girls' class. They are sooo cute and I just love to hear them and discuss these things with them. I just thought I'd share what we have learned so far.

What is prayer? Talking to God and listening to Him talk to us. It is easy for prayer to be a one-sided conversation if we're not careful. It's soooo easy to get into the habit of rattling off our needs to Him and then abruptly ending the conversation with an AMEN. I dare say most of the time we don't expect a response and certainly don't wait for one (I'm GUILTY of this!).

So how does God talk to us? Well, He can do it however He wants. I've never heard Him audibly, but He can do it that way. Most of the time for me He speaks to me through the Bible or in my heart (you could call it His "still small voice", sometimes it's a strong feeling about what I should or should not do, or a thought about something good to do for others). Sometimes He speaks through other christian friends or through a song. I think He probably speaks a lot more often than we notice because these days we are all so busy and distracted.

Tonight's lesson was about the 4 kinds of prayer.

Adoration - praising God for who He is in general.
Who doesn't like to hear the good things about himself? God likes to hear it and I think when we talk about how He is faithful, trustworthy, loving, caring, kind, awesome, all powerful, etc. it reminds us too and builds our faith.

Confession - telling Him what you have done wrong or didn't do that you should have done, telling Him you're sorry and asking Him to forgive you and help you change.
Think about when you know you've done something wrong. It feels like such a heavy weight until you "get it off your chest". This part of prayer leaves you feeling lighter and totally clean! It's so good to know that once He's forgiven you He forgets that you ever did wrong! WOW!

Thanksgiving - praising and thanking God for the things He's done for you
Coming to God with a grateful heart is something we all can do! He does so much for us everyday! He provides, protects, heals, encourages us, ETC! This is a good time to recall your blessings and the ways God has answered you already! What has He done for you that you can thank Him for? Even on your worst day, I PROMISE you, you can still find something to be thankful for!

Supplication - telling God what you need and want
If you have already done the first 3 parts of prayer, by the time you get to this part you have already been reminded of who God is, you've gotten rid the sin that was weighing you down, you've also been reminded of how has God answered your prayers before...by the time you get here, your heart is full of faith and feeling light and free, what a great time to ask God for what you need and know that you have His full attention!

Hebrews 4:14-16 - Inasmuch then as we have a great High Priest Who has [already] ascended and passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith in Him].

For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning.

Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].


Well, just had this to share, I hope you will enjoy it! Have a great week!

Dina