Prayer - The Precious Gift of God
Prayer is simply talking to the Living God and listening to Him. If you can talk, you can pray. Talking to God does not require special religious words, just simple expressions of what is in your heart, offered in faith (Matthew 6:5-13).
Listening is also a part of prayer. In the Bible, Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me" (John 10:27). We hear God in our hearts, our conscience (the place where each one of us knows right & wrong) being the voice of our heart. We come to trust--not our hearts, but His Spirit speaking to us by the truth of His Word, the Bible--and the promise that when we give our lives to Jesus, He sends His Spirit to reside in our hearts (John 3:3-8; Acts 2:37-39; Ephesians 4:30).
Jesus invites us to come to Him. Again in the Bible, Jesus says "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). It is a love-call from God. Come Here! Come as you are, NOT as you ought to be! You do not have to clean up your act before you come to God. That's why we come to Him, so He can clean us up; all you need to do is come to Him by faith (Romans 10:8-11; Hebrews 11:6).
God promised the people of Israel in Jeremiah 29:12 "Then you will call to Me and come and pray to Me and I will listen to you." It's a promise we believe extends to all who prayerfully come to Him. Again in Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know."
An example of a starting prayer might be:
"Jesus, I believe You are the Christ, Son of the Living God. I realize I have sinned, so I ask your forgiveness, and l receive You as my Lord and Savior. I surrender my life to You to bring Your order to me."
Prayer is, in the first place, personal, but it can also be done with others. If you need prayer we invite you to come to one of our services; we have prayer available after each service. We can also set up a time for you to meet and pray with our shepherds.
Our desire is that you will surrender your life to the love of God through Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us "But as many as received Him (Jesus) to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name" (John 1:12). Thanks for listening. Keep listening!
And may you be blessed with a life-long journey in prayer.
Les Dams
Associate Pastor of Prayer and Care