Prayer

[Orr v'emet]

I have thought all my life that when I pray for something (healing, material things etc) that I should pray "God if its your will". I was having a discussion with my sister, Called and her hubby this weekend about prayer and they said that they pray and just ask God for it without necessarily stating, "if it be your will". Her husband even said that he doesn't ask, he just thanks God for it in advance. Now this has gotten me thinking. I think I have been missing the power of prayer in my life for my whole life. I guess the key is being in tune with God's will for our lives so that we will know if what we are asking for is of God? Help me out with this folks. I am going to do a personal study on prayer but I just wonder what peoples thoughts are.

[ayin jade]

Im not an expert on prayer. I pray a lot, and have seen Him answer my prayers a lot. I have also seen the Lord speak to me in prayer.

Philippians 4:6-7 teaches us how to approach the Lord.

6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8: 26-27 teaches us that the Spirit intercedes and also makes our needs known. (I personally dont interpret this verse to mean praying in tongues, only that the Spirit is with us in prayer.)

26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

Matthew 6:9-13, the Lords prayer, can teach us a lot about prayer. Acknowledging the Lord first, asking for our needs, asking for forgiveness, and to keep from sin.

9"This, then, is how you should pray:

" 'Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

10your kingdom come,

your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

11Give us today our daily bread.

12Forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.

When I pray, I try to offer thanksgiving, or some acknowledgement to God. I try put Him first in my prayer. I try to pray within His will, within the Spirit. After all, God doesnt need this prayer, He knows my needs. I need the prayer. Prayer helps me to draw close to Him.

Really though, when all is said and done, it isnt the words, or the form of the prayer, it is the heart. Speak to the Lord from your heart, and you will have a good prayer life.

Just my opinion.

[Ovedya]

There is a group of people who believe that if you pray for something believing that you have already received it, then that thing will be granted to you by God. However, there is nothing granted by God that is not according to His own will. Therefore, if it is not God's will to grant you that thing, then you will not get it. It may be that God want you to have that thing, just not in the time frame that you expect it (Such is the way with many of our prayers).

There really is no wrong way to pray. There prayers that are self serving and self-centered, however. The purpose of prayer is not to focus on your problems, shortcomings, etc., but to focus on Him. God is not a rich grandfather who you can go to everytime your in a pinch. God's desire is mainly that you gain Him through prayer.

[Orr v'emet]

Ayin Jade, I appreciate your comments. I have followed the Lord's prayer so to speak in the format of my prayers. I guess I was just wondering about the area of asking God for things. For instance, I just interviewed for a new job that I want. Should I be just thanking God in advance for the job or praying if it's His will. Does anyone get what I'm saying? I don't know if I am verbalizing it well. Where is my sister when I need her....she knows what I'm talking about. (I find this difficult to put into words for some reason).

[Guest Called]

Ayin Jade, I appreciate your comments. I have followed the Lord's prayer so to speak in the format of my prayers. I guess I was just wondering about the area of asking God for things. For instance, I just interviewed for a new job that I want. Should I be just thanking God in advance for the job or praying if it's His will. Does anyone get what I'm saying? I don't know if I am verbalizing it well. Where is my sister when I need her....she knows what I'm talking about. (I find this difficult to put into words for some reason).

I am here... Brian thanks God in advance because he believes that God will answer his prayers. I pray and say Lord I want this or that and then I say, I want your will done... not IF it is your will... I believe that it is God's will that we have the desires of our heart.. however our desires should mirror what God wants for us. God's will, will be done no matter what. Just a disclaimer- this is not some Word of Faith "thing", I didn't even know what that was til I came on here..

Kris, I say you do what you feel is the right thing to do. But, I would say thank God for the job and believe that He will give it to you, if you don't get the job, there is something better for you.

[Orr v'emet]

Ayin Jade, I appreciate your comments.  I have followed the Lord's prayer so to speak in the format of my prayers.  I guess I was just wondering about the area of asking God for things.  For instance, I just interviewed for a new job that I want.  Should I be just thanking God in advance for the job or praying if it's His will.  Does anyone get what I'm saying?  I don't know if I am verbalizing it well.  Where is my sister when I need her....she knows what I'm talking about.  (I find this difficult to put into words for some reason).

I am here... Brian thanks God in advance because he believes that God will answer his prayers. I pray and say Lord I want this or that and then I say, I want your will done... not IF it is your will... I believe that it is God's will that we have the desires of our heart.. however our desires should mirror what God wants for us. God's will, will be done no matter what. Just a disclaimer- this is not some Word of Faith "thing", I didn't even know what that was til I came on here..

Kris, I say you do what you feel is the right thing to do. But, I would say thank God for the job and believe that He will give it to you, if you don't get the job, there is something better for you.

Thanks. I just wondered if I was leading a mediocre (sp?) prayer life and needed to step it up a bit. I guess part of me sometimes is afraid to believe so much because I don't want to be disappointed. That's something I need to work on obviously.

[Jacqueline]

I to have thought about praying. Not so much the contents of my prayers, but the form. At church we sometimes gather into little groups and pray for one another, but I'm yet to do it out loud because when they pray it's like listening to someone recite a beautiful poem and I can't do that. I basically just speak to Jesus. Even though their prays sound beautiful it seems so impersonal. I know that He's my Lord and Savior, but when I pray I address Him as Father. I don't know if thats wrong or right, but for me it just seems right.

God Bless You

Jacqueline

[Guest DivineLadyB]

As someone stated earlier, there is no right or wrong way to pray. Just be sincere with the Lord. Remember that God will give us the desires of our hearts if we delight ourselves in Him. Our desires might not necessarily be His desires for us, but because He loves us so much, He will grant us our prayer requests. There is always His perfect will and His permissive will for our lives. Sometimes He will say no, because we may not be ready for that particular request in our lives. The bottom line is this....just pray!!!!

Jeremiah 33:3 says

[Orr v'emet]

As someone stated earlier, there is no right or wrong way to pray. Just be sincere with the Lord. Remember that God will give us the desires of our hearts if we delight ourselves in Him. Our desires might not necessarily be His desires for us, but because He loves us so much, He will grant us our prayer requests. There is always His perfect will and His permissive will for our lives. Sometimes He will say no, because we may not be ready for that particular request in our lives. The bottom line is this....just pray!!!!

Jeremiah 33:3 says

[Guest Called]

Ayin Jade, I appreciate your comments.