Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Thoughts on Prayer

When I was little, I pretty much said the same, memorized prayers over and over.
There was a time when each day I would pray, "Lord Jesus, come into my heart, and come into Natalie's heart too. Amen."

Later my prayers progressed to, "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day and thank you for this food. In Jesus' Name, Amen."

One day I even answered the phone and started rattling off this memorized prayer. (I got confused since the way we answered the phone was also memorized, "Hello, Faull residence, who is this please?")

Over the years it has been so wonderful for me to learn to talk with God from my heart in any and every situation and to know that He hears me and responds to my prayers.

In one of my classes we have been talking a lot about prayer and I have been encouraged to intercede more for other believers. In Ephesians 6:18, Paul tells us to pray at all times, with all kinds of petitions, always persevering and praying for all the saints. (a little paraphrased since I'm translating it from Spanish)

My classmates and I were given a list of things that we can intercede for other believers. I'm getting together with my Bolivian friend, Martha, and I'm excited to pray over these things with her.

1. that our faith won't waver but be strengthened (Luke 22:32)
2. that we live in unity with other believers (John 17:11, 21-23) - we all know that we should do this but i realized today how important it is to pray for this because it really is hard to avoid other believers that we don't quite click with or agree with on things
3. that God protects us from evil (John 17:15)
4. that we grow in holiness according to God's word (John 17:17;19)
5. that we reflect to everyone the perfect love of God (John 17:26)
6. that we know God's will for our lives and for different circumstances (Col. 1:9)
7. that our lives be an irreproachable testimony for our Lord (Col. 1:10)
8. that our ministries bear fruit (Col. 1:10)
9. that we have patience in all trials (Col. 1:11)
10. that we are filled with joy and thankfulness (Col. 1:12)
11. that we grow in knowledge of God (Ephesians 1:17)

It might seem a little overwhelming to take the time to pray through all of these. But I encourage everyone to take one or two this week and pray them over different people that come to mind. Prayer really is powerful.

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