Category Archives: Prayer

When Gratitude Becomes Worship

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Giving thanks for who God is, what He has done, and what He will continue to do for us should be as natural as breathing. Yet, if we’re honest, we often need reminders.

Every book on prayer I’ve ever read encourages believers to include thanksgiving in every prayer. More importantly, Scripture does the same. Passages such as Philippians 4:6-7 and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 call us to live with grateful hearts and offer thanks in all circumstances.

During a past worship service, we shared what was called a “Wave of Thanks.” While it wasn’t the same kind of wave offering described in Exodus 29:24, the idea was similar. One by one, people offered words of gratitude before the Lord.

Many of the blessings mentioned were familiar and precious: family, new babies, new homes, faithful friends, our church family, and, of course, Jesus and the salvation He freely gives. Others spoke of God’s faithfulness through difficult seasons. We have witnessed cancer in some of its ugliest forms, yet we have also seen God intervene with His healing touch.

One expression of thanks, in particular, captured my attention: the miracle of life.

Within our church family, we have seen life-threatening traumatic brain injuries, including one that resulted in a coma. Humanly speaking, the outcomes could have been very different. Yet both men survived and are living life to the fullest today. What a testimony to God’s sustaining grace!

The words of an old hymn came to mind:

“Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving
To God the Creator triumphantly raise,
Who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us,
Who guideth us on to the end of our days.”

Even more amazing, our Creator has offered us more than physical life. Through Jesus Christ, He has made eternal life available to all who believe. The greatest miracle is not simply that we live today, but that we can live forever with Him.

Prayer

Lord God, Creator of Life, thank You for the gift of every breath and every day. Thank You for sustaining us through trials, healing us when we are broken, and reminding us of Your faithfulness. Most of all, thank You for the eternal life found in Jesus Christ.

Give us the desire and courage to live fully for You. Let us never lose our sense of wonder. Help us never to take Your blessings for granted, and never let us forget the greatest gift of all—the life we have through Your Son. Make it so in Jesus’ name!

The hymn “Let All Things Now Living” was written by Katherine K. Davis and set to the traditional Welsh melody “The Ash Grove.”

This is an edit of a post originally posted on 11.23.2011.

MEND


God wants to mend our hearts, minds, and souls. He wants to repair what’s broken in us. James 5:16 says we are to confess our sins and pray with one another. When we do this, we bring our deepest hurts into the light, and healing can begin. Praying then becomes an act of restoration that allows God to begin the mending process.

We are reminded in the same verse that healing doesn’t happen alone. As believers, we are to pray for one another. In doing so, God can use those prayers to heal any kind of brokenness, be that physical, emotional, or spiritual. Over time God renews and restores us fully.

Mended by Matthew West


Pray Always and Often!

What was the last prayer God answered for you? Do you remember? Are you listening for His voice during and after your prayers?

He hears us when we pray. He knows His plan for us but He wants us to talk with Him about it and listen for/to His answer. (1 John 5:14) He listens carefully when we call. (Jeremiah 29:12)

We are to pray fervently and often. Set aside a specific place and time to spend in prayer. (Matthew 6:6) Put it on your calendar. Tell anyone who is near not to bother you. Take Your Bible and pray back what you are reading. Intercede for all who need praises or problems taken to God.

Our words are very important to God. If we don’t know what to say or how to say it, He still hears us. Paul, in Romans 8:26, tells us the Spirit will help us. He, the Spirit in us, takes our prayers to the Throne with ‘wordless groans’. Jesus told the disciples to be careful and thoughtful with their words. Not to just babble on and on but to focus on what they are saying and asking. (Matthew 6:7-8) Then He gave them an example of how to pray:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name,
 Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
 Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.

Matthew 6:9-13

Friends, keep praying. It matters now, perhaps more than ever. Take every thought, plan, idea, problem, desire… to God. He wants to hear you. He wants you to hear Him!

Abba, Father, hear our prayer! You know all we need before we even ask. Guide, direct, provide, and protect us now and in the days ahead.

Click on the picture to hear Babbie Mason sing about prayer.

Never Alone

We live in a world of more than 8 billion people (7.87 billion in 2021). With that many people, why is it so common to feel alone at times?

God creates loneliness in us so we will seek Him. When we do this He gives us wisdom and understanding. (Proverbs 4:5) When we are troubled, stressed, and just plain tired He gives us strength. (1 Chronicles 16:11)

Merriam-Webster defines this feeling as being without company/cut off from others. In Hebrew, it can also mean solitude and desert.

Yet, this (God) was something Jesus sought often. In nine different passages of the Gospels, He goes to a solitary place to seek God. (I’m sure there were more!) Why? Because He needed to set apart alone time, to be away from other people and distractions, to seek His Father’s will. (Luke 9:18)

We are rewarded when we diligently seek God. (Hebrews 11:6) When we spend set apart time with Him what we ask we will receive, what we seek we will find, when we knock He will open the door. (Matthew 7:7-8)

Abba, Father, help us recognize that our feelings of aloneness are invitations from You to talk. Open our hearts to Your welcoming voice. Comfort us and give us the peace that comes from being in Your Presence.

Ask For Prayer

Never be ashamed or hesitant to ask another Christian to pray for you!

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16

Paul was a firm believer in the power of prayer for one another. In seven of his letters, he requested prayer from fellow believers. In Romans 15:30-32 he asked the church to join in his struggle and pray for protection from those who persecuted him. To the church at Ephesus, (Eph. 6:18-19) he asked them to pray that he would be given the right words to share so others would understand the Word. He asks other Believers to pray – for deliverance (Phil. 1:19), for open doors to share the Word (Col. 4:3), without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17), that God’s Word will be honored ( 2 Thess. 3:1), for safe travels (Philemon 22).

There are 650 prayers mentioned in the Bible and 450 recorded answers! That tells me that prayer is important to God. He wants us to talk to Him about every part of our lives. That includes all our joys, sorrows, successes, problems, people, requests, EVERYTHING!!!

Set aside a specific time to pray and do it every day. It will eventually become a habit and the day won’t be right without it.

Find 2 or 3 friends who will pray for and with you. Ask God who He wants to be your prayer partners. Build the kind of strong, trusting relationships where you can feel safe, be totally honest, and completely comfortable in your requests.

Abba, Father, hear our prayers, incline Your ear, and grant us Your peace. (Psalm 17:6)