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What is Prayer to You? Part 1

by Dolly Holland
3/21/2012 / Prayers

As children of God, we learn that many things can change through prayer. But we must believe that they can change. It only works if we are able to wait for God to work as only He can.
In all of our lives, at one time or another, we have heard many different prayers. We were either impressed by those prayers, or they went in one ear and out the other.
As small children, we often remember the prayer that all children seem to say at bedtime:
"Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
If I should die before I wake
I pray the Lord my soul to take
God bless daddy, God bless mommy
And everybody in the whole wide world."

We, too, may have prayed that prayer. Perhaps we didn't really understand what we were saying, but repeating the same prayer every night gave us comfort. As children, I wonder if we ever truly thought about what we were praying? Or did it simply become a pattern to follow? As adults, do we still pray that way?
As we start on this journey, we will find out what prayer is and how it can work in our lives no matter what lies before us.
We often feel defeated when it comes to prayer, because we don't understand how it works for us. Maybe we have been disappointed with prayer when it didn't work for us.
Let's say you have a beautiful new car in your driveway, packed and ready for a trip. Excited, you get in the car, turn the key, andnothing happens. What would you do in this situation?
I'm sure you would find out what the problem is and try again. Why can't we be as sincere with our prayer life? Anything worth having is worth working for. We can learn much through prayer, if we are willing.
We get out of prayer what we put into it. If we can't come into the Father's presence, open to Him, and willing to wait upon Him, then what is the use of coming at all? I believe it's time for us to get serious about the things of God. Then we will see Him work for us as He has never done before.
Frequently, we become impatient while waiting for Him to answer our prayers. If He doesn't answer them as we feel He should, then we often give up and blame Him for things not working out like we thought they should.

I became a Christian when I was eight years old. Since then, I have prayed many prayers and seen God work in His time. It taught me that God is always in control. If my prayers weren't answered, it wasn't God's fault. He had a reason. I needed to have faith in Him, knowing it would turn out just fine.
With this in mind, let's look at five benefits of prayer:
1. When we pray what takes place? We communicate with God.
2. We receive comfort, strength, and peace through prayer.
3. When God answers our prayers, it teaches us that in what we attempt to do, we can experience Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." As a result, we gain confidence.
4. We can go to the Father and be as personal as we want to be. If we don't understand, we can tell our Father. Prayer becomes a channel through which we can communicate intimately with Him.
5. We should first concentrate on praying about smaller matters before we move onto large issues. The main point is: start, trust, believe, and expect. This can be a very important time in your life, if you allow it to be.
Many times prayer will sustain us through sickness, weakness, bad relationships, and spiritual struggles, etc. We can find hope when there seems to be no hope.
Without prayer in my life, I never would have made it as far as I have. I have learned to pray about all matters, big or small.
I have learned that if I abide in Him, and His word abides in me, I can ask through prayer and I will get an answer, sooner or later. (John 15:7) The article is taken from "Mountains are Moved by Prayer" by Dolly Holland

Dolly Holland is an ordained minister. She and her husband, Robert, who is also an ordained minister have been in the pastoral ministry since 1965. Dolly is the author of four nonfiction books and the author of a weekly blog. You can read other articles by Dolly at www.wisdompromise.com

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

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