As I mentioned in our last radio segment, I just wanted to talk a little bit more about prayer. The dictionary definition of prayer is: an address (as a petition) to God in word or thought or an earnest request/wish. Like in my devotional, I will stress again that it is so important to pray for others. To [i]petition God for their souls, for their health, and any other issue in their life. Prayer is a powerful, effective, sure thing. "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him" (1 John 5:14-15). God wants to hear from us and He wants us to turn to Him in all things. He really should be the One that we tell all things to (not that He doesn't already know them, but I'm sure it's nice to hear it from us. :P) We can lament about our circumstances, we can tell God about our daily temptations and struggles, etc.

 

There are 5 different kinds of prayer in the Bible.

1.      Praise/Adoration

2.      Giving Thanks

3.      Confessing

4.      Asking for things for ourselves and others (Supplication)

5.      Meditation

 

Some of these are extremely self explanatory. You praise God because He is the Almighty and Jesus Christ is our Savior. He is worthy of that praise. We give thanks for all of the things that God has provided us with and done for us. We confess our sins and ask forgiveness, turning on it forever. We ask God to help us and others. Supplication is the most common type of prayer. The most baffling on this list is meditation. What the heck is that? Well, the simple answer is that it's just you and God. You rest in His presence. It's in these times that God speaks to your heart and reveals new ideas to you.

I recently discovered a way of praying that has extremely blessed me. Devotional prayer. You start out by reading a passage or verse out of the Bible, then praying about it and its application to your life for the rest of the day. It really opens the door for immense spiritual growth.

Another method of praying that I thought was interesting and that I try is prayer walking. Like, walking through a place while you pray for it and the people that inhabit it. If you've seen Facing the Giants (a wonderful Christian movie about a football coach who cries out to God), then the guy who goes through the school touching lockers and praying for the students is an example of prayer walking.

Pray spontaneously. In fact, try to pray without ceasing. It's harder than it sounds. I suggest attempting to pray hourly or every half hour. Ideally, you can keep a running monologue in your head, but that's pretty much impossible. You can try, though. This is my challenge to you: attempt to pray hourly every day for a month. Pray for people around you, pray for things you see, pray for the world.

 

Keep praying,

Bre

 

 

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