Pastor Caroline - When You Pray

 

When You Pray

 

Matthew Chapter 6 verse 6 in the Good News Bible says;

(6) But when you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.

 

Here in the book of Matthew we read about Jesus and His ministry. Today I’d like to focus on His teaching about prayer found in Matthew Chapter 6 verses 5 to 14. You may wish to read all these verses. I want to use verse 6 as my point of writing today.

 

Jesus said, when you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.

 

When we think about prayer many of us see it in different ways according to our religious background, culture and upbringing. I personally like to pray before I get out of bed in the morning, and many times all day long, and before I close my eyes and sleep. I like to give thanks for my meals, a special visit with someone, a blessing from the Lord, in agreement with someone for prayer and / or in intercession for another.

 

Our instruction here from Jesus is to find a private place. We don’t have perhaps a special room to close ourselves into but we can find a place where we can be alone with God.

Perhaps you have a favourite chair you like to sit in when you pray, or out on your back deck under the stars, perhaps a drive in the car, (don’t close your eyes), or in front of the fireplace, a park bench or stroll in the woods. Maybe a walk by the river, brook or lake brings you close to God. You see what I mean – your chosen private place. A place without distraction or disturbance.

Just breath. Just sit.  Close your eyes and enjoy this special quite time with the Lord. Appreciate His presence around you. Remind yourself of the greatness of our Lord and all that He created, including you.

 

Lift your prayers, thoughts and petitions to the Lord. Start your conversation, (prayer), with however you feel comfortable addressing the Lord of all creation. Perhaps using the Psalms to start you in prayer is a good place to begin. Or maybe you have a favourite prayer book with prayers for every occasion and you like to use that to talk to God. Just starting a conversation with, “Hello Lord, I’ve come to spend some time with you”, brings you into His presence. However you begin, God is listening and loves to hear from you.

 

Prayer does not need to be long and drawn out, but rather personal and genuine. It should be from the heart in thanks and praise to Father God who created you. A single word, Abba, meaning Father, somehow draws us close to His heart. When I say, Abba, Abba, I immediately stop whatever I’m doing and take a posture of prayer. I am so thankful He is my Heavenly Father.

 

In our personal prayer time we recognize and acknowledge our relationship with the Lord. We appreciate being in the family of God and we should tell others of the benefits and fulfilment we have in Christ. Some of us will pray out loud, others quietly, some in song or just sitting with an instrument giving praise to the Lord. Each one of our individual ways of prayer are totally acceptable to the Lord. Our prayer life will mold and shape our spiritual walk with the Lord. There is no limit to our prayer time and no certain way to pray. Prayer is our love language with the Lord and comes from our heart. When we love God we want to spend time with Him, in His presence. And we pray because we know God loves to hear from us. We are His children and like any parent we love to hear from the kids. There is so much to say about prayer but today I just wanted to bring your attention to the scripture I opened with. It is the assurance to us that God is listening; for His word says: And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.

 

Our reward, or at least mine as I speak for myself, is the comfort and peace I sense around me when I am in prayer. I feel as if God is giving me a wonderful hug that expresses His love to me. This closes the distance between Him and I as He gathers me up in His arms. I am blessed beyond measure, and I pray you are as well. Take time to pray, for it will be the most precious time you ever spend.

 

Next Wednesday, August 17, I will be on vacation so there will not be a writing. There will be a writing on August 24.

 

Enjoy your time with the Lord.