How to pray!

"And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done." Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him." (Luke 22:41-43 NASB)

For the believer, prayer should be the simplest thing we do in life.  Yet, we can easily make prayer more complicated than it should be.

Prayer is necessary for our lives and yet it gets pushed to the bottom of the list, left for the end of the day and many times forgotten altogether until necessity demands otherwise.

Prayer is one of the most important ways we communicate with God and so it's necessary for our lives that we pray often and we pray without hesitation.

The often repeated quote by a great man of God, Smith Wigglesworth has been a favorite of mine when he said, “Most days I never pray more than 10 minutes but I also rarely go 10 minutes without praying!” 

I have always liked that quote because it paints a picture of his prayer life which was more connected and ever-aware of God with him and in him wherever he was and whatever he was doing.

Prayer is active communication with God more than it is a compartmentalized amount of time set in our scheduled day.  I will say it’s important to have both active in our life.  Make sure you set a specific time each day to spend in prayer with God and also keep yourself open to be actively speaking with Him throughout your day.

There is a passage in Luke which is so simple and when we consider the revelation available from the verses we see a brilliant picture of how Jesus communicated with God while He was on earth.

The first part of the verses says "And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began to pray...” Notice Jesus withdrew about a "stone's throw away...” It's important that we get away from the noise and busyness of life when we pray; we need to quiet ourselves and settle down when we pray.  However, notice Jesus was only a stone's throw away.  We aren't supposed to remove ourselves from the situation we're praying over or remove ourselves from life completely.  We are simply supposed to step aside for a moment while we get clarity and strength from Heaven.  Is there a specific issue you're praying about?  Don't walk away from the situation, don't retreat in defeat.  No, step aside for a moment while you receive wisdom and the answers you need from God through prayer.

No matter what situations or circumstances may look like God has the best for the situation and He knows your way forward. This is how we should approach God when we pray.  We know He has the best for our lives, we know from His word that He has pre-ordained good things for you and I to live out.  So when we pray we should be seeking His will and His plans above what we think is best.

Finally we see the immediate response to Jesus’ prayer from Heaven.   "...Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him."  Because Jesus got quiet before Heaven, He humbled Himself before God and gave God control over the situation; God honored Him and sent His angel to strengthen Jesus for what was going to happen next.

Keep In Mind These 3 Simple Keys to Prayer

           

            1.) Go get still and quiet before God but don’t forget He is with you everywhere and you can talk to him wherever you are, sharing your day with Him.

            2.) Don’t try and force an answer you want or think is best. Listen for His plan and look for his wisdom to come to your heart about those things that are happening around you.

            3.) Take your strength from His presence for the situation at hand. Jesus came that you might have life and that more abundantly. Take and receive plenty of help, strength and peace in the presence of the one who is more than enough and supplies your every need!

I call you blessed,

            ~ Jen