Prayer ... Whoa ... What is it good for ... Absolutely Everything!!!!

I would like to discuss the topic of prayer today.  This is a topic that I often get questions from the youth about what is confusing or has them grappling with in their mind.  One question I often get is:  what is the correct way to pray?  My quick response is that there is no one proper and "correct way to pray" - but there are many different ways to pray and even the Scriptures cite praying while kneeling, sitting, standing, facing the skies, etc.  I tell them that I often pray while I am driving in the car (with my eyes open of course) and just have a conversation with God, like I would have with any "earthly" friend - I learned that one from my wife.  Some people pray while they are in the shower, or during their morning exercises.  It is a personal choice and develops over time as you develop your personal relationship with God.

I like to give resources on this blog to help you research and continue to read and learn about your spiritual development, so here is a great website about prayer http://christianity.about.com/od/prayersverses/a/basicstoprayer.htm  and it tackles the many questions that may be on your mind or you may even have been asked by others, bt were not quite sure how to answer (there are three pages to look at - so don't miss the robust information on pages 2 & 3).  I want to give credit to May Fairchild on About.com, because she does a very in-depth discussion on prayer and provides plenty of Scripture for you to research, reinforcing the need for daily prayer to supplement everything else you are doing to grow your spiritual formation.

If you are looking for someone to model your prayer life after, look no farther than Jesus.  Although the New Testament does not give an actual number count of how many times Jesus prayed, it does describe the frequency of His prayer life. According the Nelson Study Bible, Jesus prayed day and night and throughout the day. The New Testament also gives numerous accounts when Jesus prayed, such as on the mountain, in the Garden of Gethsemane, in the wilderness, the Lord's Prayer, in distress, for comfort, after the Lord's Supper and at the crucifixion. Jesus prayed endlessly, as noted throughout the New Testament.

Have you ever been in a situation where you have either said or have had someone say to you, "I will pray for you?"  If you are anything like me, you are more likely to forget unless you pray with that person right then - on the spot.  It also shows the intentionality of you on behalf on the person.  What I mean by that is sometimes people may feel like you are offering them a platitude by saying you will pray for them, when they know that you probably won't.  I had a professor at seminary who was in charge of our spiritual formation group that once shared with us a story about how he had been praying for each student in his formation groups, as well as for various friends and family members for decades and used to keep the prayer journal manually, but now has it on his PC.  He will often update the prayer journal, when he is given an update about an answered prayer or a change in an individual's status to a new or different prayer need.  This level of devotion and dedication to prayer and worshiping the Lord showed me how powerful prayer can be and also how dedicated we demonstrate to God we are in our spiritual formation and the formation of others in their journey.

Have you gone to the Lord in prayer today?  If the answer is no, consider starting by saying the Lord's prayer aloud right now.  Matthew 6:9-13 states,

"⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

¹⁰ 

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

    on earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹ 

Give us today our daily bread.

¹² 

And forgive us our debts,

    as we also have forgiven our debtors.

¹³ 

And lead us not into temptation,^[a]

    but deliver us from the evil one.^[b]’"

I just returned from a men's bible study group where about fifty or so men are involved in the study of Scripture and daily devotion to God's Word, which involves Scripture memory each week, time together discussing how things went each week (accountability) and prayer together as a group (Mtw. 18:19) "

¹⁹ “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven."

If you begin to see a pattern here, that is a good thing.  The overlapping of spiritual practices will start to happen without you even trying to make them happen.  You will find yourself involved in doing things that stretch you beyond your normal comfort zone and nudge you into volunteering or going on missions trips in foreign countries, finding more time in each day to build upon your relationship with your heavenly Father and preparing a way for you to share the joy that resides within you to everyone around you.

As always, I welcome any thoughts or feedback you may have on this entry and would love to hear any personal testimony about you spiritual formation journey so that others may prosper from reading it.

Recharging my Spirit daily,

Pastor Bill Blanck