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God's Words For US
by Cecelia Lester
As believers, we have a privilege to approach God with our needs and concerns and those of others. It is a special treat to pray for another person.
What is prayer?
Prayer is the way we present ourselves to God. We spend time in adoration of Who He is. We confess our sin and our needs to Him. Then, we spend a time of thanksgiving for all the deeds He has done for His people. Also, we include a time of supplication, a time of asking God to protect people, heal their hearts or bodies, or intervene in their need.
What does God give us through prayer?
When we pray, we receive strength. Several years ago, I oversaw a daycare center during a 10-day conference for the denomination I was in. I had to do a lot of advance work. I had times of frustration with this assignment. The day before the conference began; I received a phone call from a young woman who had spoken at our local church. This woman worked for the denomination headquarters. She told me she had been praying for me. I thanked her and told her I had times of doubt. She gave me a blessing by saying, “Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.” I never really figured out where that came from until recently.
A very special gift we receive through prayer is direction. All of us have had times when we haven’t known what to do about something. When we pray, we lay give our need to God and he guides or directs us to how He wants us to go. The way He leads us might not even be the way we have even thought of.
God, when we pray to Him, gives us patience to endure the stresses of life. I love the King James Version when I read of patience in the list of the Fruit of the Spirit; the word used is long-suffering. We have times when we need the patience of Job. Jesus demonstrated patience with his disciples several times in his three years of ministry.
Another result of prayer is realization. We learn that we need God in all areas of our lives. People have a habit of compartmentalizing their lives. We sometimes think that our work lives and our personal lives are separate and “never the twain shall meet.” I once had a co-worker who put into words the idea that what someone did on their time away from work was no one else’s concern. But each part of our lives affects the rest. And we need God to help us keep a control over these sections so that we can live for Him. When we turn our lives over to God, we have to give Him all.
We receive courage to look at the hard parts of life and continue on with no fear. As a part of our continuing on is that He reminds us that we are not in control of what happens to us beyond some very basic care issues.
One of the sweetest gifts we receive from prayer is the message of hope. God gives us word that we can conquer the day-to-day circumstances of life. He reminds us that He is there with us in times of emergency. And, God is present in the times of our joy. Our heavenly Father will bring us through every need we give to Him.
Prayer is our lifeline in these tenuous times.
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Cecelia Lester has been serious about her writing for over two decades..
She composes Christian essays and posts them to her blog quietspirit-followingmyking.blogspot.com/
She has served in a faith-based organization, Grace In Action by writing two newsletters and searching for possible grants.
In July 2017, she published her first book, 'Times of Trouble Bring Rays of Joy.'
She and her husband of 54 years live in central Indiana. They have one grown son.
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