Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened. Or what man is there among you, when his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or is he shall ask for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father, who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! (NAS, Matthew 7:7-11)
Do you believe in the power of prayer? If so, let me ask you a question. "Have you prayed about it?" Whatever it is that has you stressing out and worried. A negative report from the doctor. The threat of downsizing. A marriage at the end of its rope. A child that won't act right. Depressed? Disillusioned? Whatever the case may be, the Bible tells us that we can come boldly before the throne of grace that we may find mercy and grace to help us right when we need it. (Hebrews 4:16) So why do so many of us, including myself, not pray as often as we should. Instead we spend our time worrying, stressing, and complaining to people who can’t do anything about it. I can’t speak for for any of you, but after doing some soul searching, I discovered what my issue was... Trust. Maybe like me you sing the song "I will trust in the Lord. I will trust in the Lord. I will trust in the Lord...until I die, 'til I die." At the end of the day I had to ask myself do I really believe that God can do exceedingly, abundantly above all I could ever ask or imagine or are those just words that I just say because it sounds good.
I thought about the life of Jesus and how while He was here on earth He spent a lot of time praying. How many times He went off to a place alone and spent time communing with His Father, especially at the most difficult times of His life. And I just know that each time He went was with confidence, believing that His Father had the situation under control and was working it out on His behalf. I have decided that I want to get to that point in my relationship with God. Instead of always just saying that I believe that God can, knowing in my innermost being that GOD CAN and WILL! That's what it's all about. Some of the most recent circumstances in my life have left me wondering. I know what the Bible says and all the right things to do BUT. That little three letter conjunction causing my faith to waiver. I needed to be reminded that people on earth may let me down. They may not live up to my expectations but God is not like man. All of His promises are 'Yea and Amen'. Now that is something to shout about! As a parent I do whatever I can to give my children what they need and my resources are limited. However, my Heavenly Father's resources are limitless. He not only has whatever I need, He wants to freely give it to me. I learned a long time ago that everything I have comes from God and when my limited resources stop that is where God begins and because of this I never run out.
In the verses above we see three different ways we can go before the Father to get our needs met. We should be diligent in our prayers. We must seek Him with a proper spirit and with humility and sincerity. Ask with confidence and humility. Seek with care and application. Knock with earnestness and perseverance. A couple of years back I decided to lose some weight. While there were many crash diets out there I made the decision that I needed to change my lifestyle in order to achieve he results that I wanted. The most important thing to me was to have lasting results. So I did just that. I developed a healthy lifestyle. That is what prayer must become to the believer. We must develop a lifestyle of prayer. In the same way that we wash our face and brush our teeth everyday, we must pray. Pray without ceasing. (I Thess. 5:17) The Bible doesn't say, 'Pray just when times get hard'. God loves to hear from His children. What is it that you stand in need of? Whatever it is have you prayed about it?
Most Gracious Heavenly Father,
Looking back over my life I see your hand of mercy and your grace. I thank You for all the things You have done for me, many things that I didn't deserve. I am so grateful. Lord I come to you on this day making a commitment to pray more. Instead of taking things into my own hands I am going to give them to You. No more worrying or stressing out about things beyond my control. I'm placing it all in Your hands. Thank You Father for answering my prayers, for providing a calm in the midst of chaos, peace in the midst of a storm. In Jesus' Wonderful Name I pray Amen.
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