Skip to main content

Prayer - FBI

I often ask myself if I'm praying as well as I should.  I feel that prayer is both a simple and complex practice for Christians.  A message I heard the other day gave me the inspiration for this post about prayer and its importance and effectiveness in our life.

One way to focus on our prayer should be F.B.I.

Frequent:
We should pray frequently.  1 Thessalonians 5:17 simply tells us to "Pray continually".  Ephesians 6:18 says "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.  With this is mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people."  We can say a quick one sentence prayers as we head into a meeting, or between tasks.  We should keep our minds and hearts focused on Christ at all times.  Pray at work before you open and start the day, pray between clients, pray with clients if the opportunity presents itself. 

Brief:
We can pray briefly.  We are not required to recite long repetitive prayers to God.  Matthew 6:7-8 tells us "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."  Praying to God is not like telling our kids something where we have to repeat it and tell them over and over.  He already knows our desires and prayers before we even ask.  It's not necessary to carry on a long list of babble, just tell God how great he is, tell him thank you, confess yours mistakes, and ask for what you need in his will.

Intense:
We are to pray with intensity.  Luke 22:44 says "And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground".  Jesus was praying so intensely that his sweat became blood.  I've done some pretty tough workouts in my life but I have never had my sweat turn into blood.  When we pray, we are talking to  God, the creator of the universe.  We should be so excited that he's willing to listen to us that we pray with passion. 

Prayer is different for everyone, and different for individuals at different times.  Sometimes we need to ask God something, other times we just want to praise Him, sometimes submit to Him, and other times we just need to be still and listen to Him.  No matter what technique works best for your prayer life, the most important part is that you have one.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2020 is Hindsight...Finally!

Wow, what a year! 2020 could literally be an entire decade, maybe more, of history, change, and lessons rolled up into these twelve months. While many aspects of 2020 were kind of sucky and we would like to forget them, it will certainly be a year to remember. And it will be enlightening when this year is looked back on in 10, 25, or 50 years to be discussed. I wonder if we'll seem like geniuses or idiots? Probably both to some extent! While there is so much that I could consider and analyze about this year, I'll try to break some of it down into four dimensions - Physical, Spiritual, Mental, and Social/Emotional. These are events and happenings from my world and perspective and I'm trying to be open in sharing and would love to hear from others on events you found most transforming. Physical When COVID cause gyms to close, that messed me up. Our town and state were late to be hit with severe cases and therefore later than many across the country to close up shop. I'm n...
Post a Comment
Read more

Planes Fly in the Sky

Let me be very honest and candid about this - when I first read about the proposed airplane tax cut, I was not happy (just say it, I was mad!).  I thought that it was ludicrous to consider cutting tax revenue while counties are already struggling due to decreased sales and collections of local taxes.   However, unlike many people in today's culture, I didn't take to social media to start talking about how stupid the idea was and how much I disagreed with.  Instead, I started doing some research.  I looked up some information, asked some questions, had some conversations, and I learned some things. This was important for me to understand because I own a boat (I consider planes and boats luxury items) and pay Union County property taxes.  However, that boat hasn't been in Union for years.  It's housed and operated in a neighboring county.  There's not even anywhere that I can safely and legally operate my boat on public property in Union, yet I stil...
Post a Comment
Read more

The New Normal

When all of this COVID, Coronavirus, and pandemic talk first started, I literally got sick of hearing the phrase, "the new normal."  I heard sermons preached talking about what is normal.  I even preached one that I titled, "The Next Normal."  But what if these "new normal" people are actually onto something? When I was growing up, a normal summer consisted of a lot of time with Mom.  She was a school teacher so we were all out for several (probably stressful) months together.  She, my brother, and sister would spent countless hours at the pool and make several trips each year to stay at my aunt's house in the lower part of the state, about 30 minutes from the beach.  That was normal for me. But now, 30ish years or so later, life for my children (and their precious little grandchildren) looks very different - almost like there's a new normal in town.   My parents worked hard, sacrificed, and saved for years before purchasing a lake house in 2010 - ...
Post a Comment
Read more