God gave us His Word, the Bible as an instruction manual for our life. A quick online search (www.biblegateway.com) gave me a word count that pray/prayer is mentioned over 600 times in the King James Bible. I did a search for "positive energy" and it's no surprise, that phrase is not in the Bible.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions
with all kinds of prayers and requests.
With this in mind, be alert and always
keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
Ephesians 6:18
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Have you ever thought - All I can do is pray!!
Billy Graham said that's the equivalent of offering a starving man food.
Meaning, it's the BEST we can offer someone.
He says, Praying unlocks the doors of Heaven and releases the power of God.
God wants us to pray for others, He uses our prayers to touch their lives.
I have a dear friend in a severe trial. When I saw her this past week, she said she was filled with so much anxiety that particular morning, she could hardly bear it. She prayed and asked the Lord to lift the oppressive burden from her and she immediately had a sense of peace wash over her. The trial didn't go away, but the Lord gave her the peace she needed for that day. It was evident on her face. There was a physical change I saw in her before she even told me.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
Elisabeth Elliot - What God gives in answer to our prayers will always be the thing we most urgently need, and it will always be sufficient.
Corrie Ten Boom – Sometimes I pray with an open Bible and say, “Father, You have promised us this, now I trust that You will do it.” I know God likes that for He has meant every promise and He is pleased when we believe His promises.
Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:12-13
My husband (and pastor) shares his thoughts on prayer:
Have you ever thought of all the people in the world, who are praying at the same time in hundreds, possibly thousands of languages and dialects? God hears every prayer. He not only hears the prayers, He remembers every word of each prayer. The number of prayers God has heard since Adam & Eve is as the number of the grains of sand by the sea. That in itself is remarkable, yet to further astound us is the fact He has remembered every word that has ever been spoken by anyone. He knows all the words we will ever speak. We serve an awesome, omniscient God with unlimited abilities.
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
Psalm 145:18
My stepson and his wife have a prayer jar with names of people or situations that need prayer. After dinner, each family member (children included) chooses a stone and prays. One of their prayers was answered today for someone they had been praying for five years.
Trust.... leave the details to God. He knows your future, He knows what is best for you. He knows you better than you know yourself. His thoughts toward you, outnumber the sand on the beach. That's Awesome!!
For other free printables on my blog, you can visit here: http://littlebirdieblessings.blogspot.com/p/freebies.html
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
Corrie Ten Boom – Sometimes I pray with an open Bible and say, “Father, You have promised us this, now I trust that You will do it.” I know God likes that for He has meant every promise and He is pleased when we believe His promises.
Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:12-13
My husband (and pastor) shares his thoughts on prayer:
Have you ever thought of all the people in the world, who are praying at the same time in hundreds, possibly thousands of languages and dialects? God hears every prayer. He not only hears the prayers, He remembers every word of each prayer. The number of prayers God has heard since Adam & Eve is as the number of the grains of sand by the sea. That in itself is remarkable, yet to further astound us is the fact He has remembered every word that has ever been spoken by anyone. He knows all the words we will ever speak. We serve an awesome, omniscient God with unlimited abilities.
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
Psalm 145:18
My stepson and his wife have a prayer jar with names of people or situations that need prayer. After dinner, each family member (children included) chooses a stone and prays. One of their prayers was answered today for someone they had been praying for five years.
Trust.... leave the details to God. He knows your future, He knows what is best for you. He knows you better than you know yourself. His thoughts toward you, outnumber the sand on the beach. That's Awesome!!
For other free printables on my blog, you can visit here: http://littlebirdieblessings.blogspot.com/p/freebies.html
Thank you for this encouragement Abby - it is timely as I have been praying for a friend going through a severe trial, and I will forward this to her to encourage her further.
ReplyDeleteBlessings
Maxine
I'm so glad this is an encouragement for you and your friend. Thanks Maxine.
DeleteWow! What Bill’s son and family do is such a faith builder, even for the children. Five years is a long time in the life of a child. Praise God for that answer.
ReplyDeleteYour dear friend has been very much on my mind. I am so thrilled for the answers she has had this week and more ongoing prayers for her situation.
I appreciate the word here regarding prayer vs good thoughts. Prayer is the only way to go.My neighbor who is being most helpful to me said that she and her husband would be thinking good thoughts...I thanked her for the good thoughts and prayers. It’s important, people. Anything to get folks thinking about the truly important things in this life.
(So here I am up bright and early. Between the street light installed on Laurel’s front lawn and the grandkitties checking me out all.night.long. and the steroids...ai yi yi! 😉)
Thank you dear Vee, you know about the power of prayer.
DeleteThank you so much for sharing these wise thoughts. When my son was near death, I had to surrender my will and trust that God knew the number of Caleb's days even before his conception. I love the E. Elliot quote: ...what God gives will always be sufficient.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the beautiful graphic and the reminder about our omniscient, omnipotent God!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post and great comments. Prayer, yes. Positive thoughts -- people mean well but that's not prayer.
ReplyDelete