Praying to God
Do you have a decision to make but don't know how to proceed?
Are you faced with a trial or tribulation that seems to be overwhelming and unsolvable?
Do you find yourself drowning in a problem with no way out?
Is there a conflict in your life that seems to be smothering you?
Are you faced with the prospect of several different roads laying in front of you, but you have no idea which one to take?
The above examples of human suffering and difficult times show just why prayer is so very important. And this is because when you are praying, you are talking to God himself. You have a direct line to the creator of the entire universe and he is there listening to you. He created you, he loves you, he hears you, and he wants to help you.
When you pray you are using your God given gift of free will and you are making the effort to ask God to help you. This allows God to respond, and he responds by guiding and directing you. He will do things in your life that will show you how to proceed. He will talk to you heart and mind. This two way communication with God will also allow him to calm your mind, ease your heart, and remove much of the tension that exists. Prayer with God will also strengthen you and build up your courage. And through prayer God will also give you the much needed patience you need so that you don't rush ahead of God and do things on your own.
When you are praying about something, don't pray for it one time and then stop and not pray about it again.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 "Pray without ceasing."
This verse doesn't mean that you pray nonstop, 24 hours a day. Rather it means that if you are going to pray about something, then pray for it frequently. Not just one time and no more. So if your are praying for a loved one who is in ill health, or your praying for injustices that are occurring in the world, or your praying for something personal for yourself, then pray for it often. Let God really know that you need his help, and you tell God just that when you pray for something frequently. God wants to see if you are really sincere in asking for his help, and he wants to see if you truly realize that only he can help you.
There are two very important things to tell God whenever you pray.
1) Tell him that you love him
2) Praise him
Loving God
If you want to really please God then tell God that you love him, and get into the habit of doing this every time you pray. God sees that you love him when you attempt to lead a Godly lifestyle, but nothing will be greater than when you actually take the time to tell him personally that you love him. When you tell God that you love him, you become much more than just a child of God. For those expressions of love will make you an intimate of God. And this is understandable because aren't you filled with great joy every time another person tells you that they love you?
Love is extremely important to God because God is a God of love. In fact God told us that the most important commandment was to love God.
Mark 12:28-31 "Then one of the scribes came near and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, Which commandment is the foremost of all? Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these."
And we see this command to love God in every single book of the Bible. Below are just a few of those verses telling us how important loving God is.
Deuteronomy 11:1 "Therefore you shall love the Lord your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always."
Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."
Jude 1:21 "Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."
Nehemiah 1:5 "I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love you and observe Your commandments."
Deuteronomy 7:9 "Therefore know that the Lord your God is the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and who keep His commandments."
Mark 12:30 "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength."
Think of how this God of love will feel if he sees one of his children telling him that he loves him and doing this every single day of the week. How pleased and proud God will be, and how he will watch over you and bless you. I cannot think of a better way of getting constant blessings and having your prayer requests answered than by telling God you love him.
Praising God
All of nature was created for the purpose of praising God. It tells us this throughout the entire Bible, and the following verse is just one of hundreds of verses that tell us to praise God.
Psalm 34:1 "His praise shall continually be in my mouth."
Praising God reminds us of God's identity and reinforces our understanding of who He is. As we praise Him we become more aware of his presence and power in the world and in our lives. When we praise God we are not only glorifying God but we are also showing our appreciation for all that he has done for us, for others, and for the world. Like prayer, every time we praise God we grow stronger as believers. When we praise God we are acknowledging his strength, power, and wisdom. We are honoring him in all his glory when we praise him. In fact if you really think about it, the closer we get to Jesus, the more we will want to praise him, for both who he is and what he has done.
When we praise God we remind ourselves of what He has done, is doing, and has promised to do. We can give thanks to him and talk of his wondrous works. "Lord, You are all powerful. You have the power to keep the universe in order, the power to move mountains, the power to change lives, the power to keep all your promises and remain faithful to your Word. And if he has all that power, then he certainly has the power to help you, change you, and bless you!"
So each of us was created to praise God, and praising God is another wonderful activity that causes blessings to flow and prayers to be answered. Praise God before you pray and talk to him, and then praise him again after you pray and talk to him.
Every single book of the Bible tells us over and over to praise God and below are just a few of the incredible number of verses that talk about praising Almighty God.
Psalms113:3 "From the rising of the sun to its going down, The Lord's name is to be praised."
1Chronicles 23:30 "To stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord , and likewise at evening."
Psalms 145:21 "My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, And all flesh shall bless His holy name Forever and ever."
Revelation 19:5 "Then a voice came from the throne, saying, Praise our God, all you his servants and those who fear Him."
Revelation 7:10-12 "And crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne praising God, saying: "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen."
Psalms 63:3 "Because Your loving kindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You."
Psalms 111:1-2 "Praise the Lord! I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. The works of the Lord are great ."
Psalms 63:4 "Thus I will praise You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name."
Psalms 86:12 "I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forevermore."
Isaiah 25:1 "O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, For You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth."
Hebrews 13:15 "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name."
We can tell God that we know of his deeds and all the loving things he has done for mankind. We can use his very own characteristics to do this, and some of his characteristics are listed below.
All creation praises God
Psalms 148:7-13 "Praise the Lord from the earth, You great sea creatures and all the depths;
Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;
Mountains and all hills; Fruitful trees and all cedars;
Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and flying fowl;
Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the earth;
Both young men and maidens; Old men and children.
Let them praise the name of the Lord, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven."
God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving
Psalms 147:5 "Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite."
God is the builder of everything
Hebrews 3:4 "For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God."
God is caring and compassionate
Psalms 145:9 "The Lord is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works."
God does not change
Hebrews 1:12 "Like a cloak you will roll them up, and like clothing they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will never end."
God is a defender of widows and the fatherless
Psalms 68:5 "A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation."
God is eternal
Deuteronomy 33:27 "The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath you are his everlasting arms."
God is everlasting and will never cease to exist
Isaiah 40:28 "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable."
We can praise his very Name
Romans 8:15 "For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."
God is always with us and is our refuge
Psalms 46:7 "The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge."
Jesus Christ is the very Word of God
Revelation 19:13 "He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God."
Jesus is the promised Messiah
John 1:41 "We have found the Messiah."
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He is our Lord and our Savior
2 Peter 3:18 "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to Him be the glory both now and forever."