Unceasing

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.

Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. Colossians 4:2-6


Dear Father, who answers our prayers,

Help me to be steadfast in my praying to you, even to stay awake
that I may pray!

Fill my life with thanksgiving to you.

O God, I pray for all your servants everywhere that you may open a
door for us to proclaim your Word. In the name of Jesus I ask you to fill our lives with your holy life and to claim all our motives and deeds as your own. Amen.

Friendship

I have come to see prayer as a privilege, not a duty. Like all
good things, prayer requires some discipline. Yet I believe that life
with God should seem more like friendship than duty. Prayer includes
moments of ecstasy and also dullness, mindless distraction and acute
concentration, flashes of joy and bouts of irritation. In other words,
prayer has features in common with all relationships that matter.

-Philip Yancey in PRAYER Does It Make Any Difference

What Jesus Did

I pray for these men. But I am also praying for all people that will believe in me because of the teaching of these men. Father, I pray that all people that believe in me can be one. You are in me and I am in you. I pray that these people can also be one in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me. John 17:20-21

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God has great mercy, and because of his mercy he gave us a new life. This new life brings us a living hope through Jesus Christ's rising from death. Now we wait to get the blessings God has for his children. Those blessings are kept for you in heaven. Those blessings cannot ruin or be destroyed or lose their beauty. God's power protects you through your faith, and it keeps you safe until your salvation comes. That salvation is ready to be given to you at the end of time. You have not seen Christ, but still you love him. You can't see him now, but you believe in him. You are filled with a joy that cannot be explained. And that joy is full of glory. Your faith has a goal. And you are receiving that goal--your salvation.
1 Peter 1:3-5,8-9

I praise you for your love, mercy, power, and grace. I bow down before you and offer you my life, my future, and my time to your glory.
Amen.

Hope

For I know the plans to give you hope and a future, 'declares the Lord,"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord. Jeremiah 29:11-13


We all are encouraged by a leader who stirs us to move ahead, someone who believes we can do the task he has given and who will be with us all the way. God is that kind of leader. He knows the future, and his plans for us are good and full of hope. As long as God, who knows the future, provides our agenda and goes with us as we fulfill his mission, we can have boundless hope. This does not mean that we will be spared pain, suffering, or hardship, but that God will see us through to a glorious conclusion.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Roman 12:12-13

Put your hope in God, for I will praise Him, my savior and my God. Psalm 42:5

Prayer Reminds Us

Prayer is the recognition that if God had not engaged himself in our
problems, we would still be lost in blackness. It is by his mercy that
we have been lifted up. Prayer is that whole process that reminds us
of who God is and who we are.

I believe there's great power in prayer. I believe God heals the
wounded, and that he can raise the dead. But I don't believe we tell
God what to do and when to do it.

God knows that we, with our limited vision, don't even know that for
which we should pray. When we entrust our requests to him, we trust
him to honor our prayers with holy judgment.

Max Lucado in Walking With The Savior

His Prayer Is Answered

He asked for strength that he might achieve;
he was made weak that he might obey.

He asked for health that he might do greater things;
he was given infirmity that he might do better things.

He asked for riches that he might be happy;
he was given poverty that he might be wise.

He asked for power that he might have the praise if men;
he was given weakness that he might feel the need of God.

He asked for all things that he might enjoy life;
he was given life that he might enjoy all things.

He has received nothing that he asked for, all that he hoped for.
His prayer is answered.

-Its origin is unknown, though it is often attributed to a Confederate
soldier in the Civil War.

If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found
out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in
the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should
never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.

-- C. S. Lewis

Fellowship With Him

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” Revelation 3:20

Prayer is opening your life to Jesus. He is at the door, knocking. In prayer, you are simply responding to His love that seeks you out.

Times of prayer are times of fellowship with Him, as if He were in your home sharing a meal with you.

This week, during your prayer time, let your mind’s eye see Him as He sits just across from you. Talk right to Him and let Him talk to you.

Jennifer Kennedy Dean
The Praying Life Foundation

Do for others what you would like them to do for you. Matthew 7:12