What is prayer?
Prayer
Prayer is a two-way conversation between God and Jesus’ followers.To be specific, it is the bridge of connection between the earthly place and heavenly place.
God speaks to believers through the Bible as it is entirely packed with His word. Therefore, the Bible can be a prayer book (2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 16-17).
God also sometimes talks to believers through the Holy Spirit by sendingpromptings or convictions (John chapter 16, verses 12-15).The Holy Spirit is the gateway of God’s Spirit and ours (1 Corinthians chapter 2).
Although Jesus’ followers cannot see God in reality until theygo to heaven at the end of their physical lives,God longs to communicate with them as they automatically become His children through faith in Jesus.
Prayer sounds as spiritually refreshing as it is, but we often forget since we live in a culture of busyness.Some of us may think that God completely understands how we live to glorify Him in everything we do.
Although God completely understands how we are living, prayer should be one of the main priorities because communication leads to a relationship.
Application
What helps me to pray is the ‘Sacred Space Daily Prayer’ Application on my iPad since it tells us what to pray.
However, since the main point of prayer is a heartfelt and Spirit-led conversation with God, our heavenly Father, I also usually pray what my heart and spirit follow (Romans chapter 8, verses 26-27).
Therefore, it does not matter how we pray as long as we connectwith our heavenly Father through faith in Jesus. This means we need to have hope in what we are praying for until the end (James chapter 1, verses 6-8).
Nevertheless, since prayer sometimes go unanswered, we need to ask ourselves: “Is what I am praying for according to God’s will?”
“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 chapter 5, verses 14-15)
As long as we ask ourselves this question, especially when we are unsure, faithful prayer will be answered unless God has better plans(Proverbs chapter 16, verse 9).
“The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.” (Psalm chapter 37, verses 23-24)
Unanswered prayers seem frustrating at times when we put so much hope into them, but they actually make life beautiful.
If everything falls into place and prayers are being answered as we expect them to be, then why do we need God and what is the point of the Christian life?
“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” (Ecclesiastes chapter 3, verse 11)
An answer to the second question is knowing God through faith in Christ!
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John chapter 3, verses 16-18)
“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John chapter 17, verse 3)