“Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!” (Acts 16:25, 26 NLT). Acts 12:1-17 tells us how prayer freed Peter from prison. That’s the power of prayer.
Prayer is not complicated and can take place anywhere—in church, in the shower, in the car on the way to work. Prayer is conversation with God. In Matthew 6:5-13, Jesus teaches about prayer. Prayer asks God to take action on our behalf for the sake of Christ. “You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father” (John 14:13, NLT). A prayer can be one sentence and last 5 seconds, or you can have a long conversation for more than an hour. God answers prayer because of what Christ has done, not what we’ve done.
Why pray?
• We grow in our relationship with God.
• Jesus instructed us to pray. (Matthew 26:41)
• Prayer allows God to get involved in our lives and the lives of others. (Genesis 20:7, Numbers 11:2, 12:13, 21:7; 1 Samuel 2:1 for a few examples.)
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done” (Philippians 4:6, NLT). Debra L. Butterfield © 2010
Warning it is not a good idea to close your eyes while driving. He seems to listen fine with my eyes open :-)
ReplyDelete