Dear Precious Friends,
On this beautiful new day, this gift from God, I pray you are embracing the truth of God's word in each Chapter of Luke through our read a chapter of Luke each day challenge.
Once again the challenge of choosing one of the gems in Chapter 11 is almost impossible.
I will focus on verses 5-13.
We are reminded of how God speaks to us. Of course reading our Bible is one way God speaks to us. (The word became flesh and dwelt among us. God's word is the absolute truth)
As Christians we can speak to God using prayer. Some interesting truths about praying can be learned from this chapter, particularly in Luke 11:5-13. In these verses, we see:
That prayer can be used to have God meet the needs of others, not just ourselves (vss. 5-8). Our prayers go to the God that created the universe and is currently keeping all within it in order; still, He offers us a way to communicate with Him. We should be honored that God even listens to us. With this avenue of being able to talk to Him, we should unselfishly seek to have Him help others also.
That we can ask (vs. 9) Him for help in this life. Although He is the mighty God, He wants us to rely on His hand of provision. Many do not have what they require because they never think to ask Him!
That we should look (vs. 9) for His answers to our petitions. Many times we pray, and because our answer does not fall out of Heaven with a big, blue ribbon and a card on it proclaiming it is from God, we do not see His answer. We must pray expecting an answer and look for His solution to our request.
That we should knock (vs. 9) on different doors of opportunity when seeking to see where and how God has met our needs. Knocking is putting some action and faith in seeking His solution.
That we should expect a good and proper solution to our prayer request (vs. 11-13). God is the best Father in the universe. God in
Heaven has raised billions upon billions of children. He knows how to meet our needs. He knows quite often our requests are not what’s best for us, if He were to answer them the way we would like them answered. Most of all, He loves us and only wants the best for us. He will provide the way He sees best if we ask Him.
Prayer is a wonderful way to talk to God. We can tell Him anything. He will never laugh at or be too busy to spend time listening to those born into His family.
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, he made forgiveness the cornerstone of their relationship with God. God has forgiven our sins... we must now forgive those who have wronged us. To remain unforgiving shows we have not understood deeply the we ourselves need to be forgiven. We pray this every time we say the Our Father
"Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who trespass against us.." We are asking God to forgive us the way He forgives us...The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18,19
Why is prayer important? Because it helps us grow closer to God. At its core, praying is simply a conversation. Think about our own earthly connections with family and friends. Great communication leads to strong relationships.
Imagine if our best friend called us just once a year or our significant other only communicated when we really needed something. How close would that relationship be? Not talking is a poor strategy for developing a close relationship for many reasons. Unfortunately, sometimes we can be that type of “best friend” or “significant other” to God.
If we want to talk to God we must Pray. Talk to Him.
Why is prayer important? Look at Jesus . He prayed often. It was because even He, in His earthly body, needed to be connected daily with the Father to stay strong enough to accomplish what He needed to do on this earth. You may not be called to be nailed to a cross, but you are made to do great things. That will require strength.
Just as Jesus drew strength from prayer to complete His mission on earth, so should you. Do we realize that we are here for a purpose? We are. Prayer is important because it is a source of strength, wisdom, and guidance. Jesus prayed and encouraged us to pray. For our lives to be effective as Christians we must start with prayer.
Scriptures to consider how Jesus showed us that prayer is important. Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
Luke 6:22
God hears us when we pray. Not only does He hear us, but from His infinite wisdom intercedes in our lives. We may not always understand what is going on right away, but God is faithful to answer, strengthen, and protect us. Trust Him. He promises to be attentive to our needs in His Word, most certainly to those who seek Him in prayer. When we start seeking God we understand that He will provide a way no matter how difficult the circumstance.
So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Luke 11:9-13
And if we know that he hears us–whatever we ask–we know that we have what we asked of him. Prayer is so important and effective for so many reasons. It's how we communicate with God. It is by praying that we petition God for ourselves and others. Know that when we pray, God is listening. We are not alone.
Have a blessed day knowing every prayer is heard by our Lord and answered in His timing.
Sending deep love to all!!
AMEN!
