craigmanderson

FAITH PRAYS  When I first became a Christian I was 20, single, living at home and each night before bed I would talk to God for a while as I looked out my bedroom window over the lights of the neighbourhood. I think I got involved in prayer early in my walk with God simply because I was thankful that Jesus had saved me. Soon I prayed more because I began to imagine talking to people about Jesus and what I would say and what I imagined they might say in response. It was imagining how I might preach to an individual or a small group of people. From this scenario I would pray and talk to God about my day and my world and it wasn’t hard to let 30 minutes or even an hour slip by. Question: What motivates you to pray and talk to God? Prayer is a product of relationship. Maybe for some it begins with need. You may feel helpless and so you reach out to God for help and you begin to talk to Him. However, what truly motivates us is love, we pray because we love Jesus. When you have faith, you pray! When you have faith you know and understand the realities of your spiritual life. You fully understand that you were lost and now you are heaven bound. The realisation of that causes you to feel the great sense of gratitude for Jesus and what He has done for you. Faith enables you to know and trust that God loves you and wants to heal you and provide for you. Faith is the belief that God exists and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Heb 11:6)  So prayer begins with praise and thanks. It flows into asking and believing for those things you need God to do for you. It deepens with meditating on God’s word and seeking His presence and power. It closes with thanks and commitment, yet it never truly closes because our whole day can be filled with prayer. When the disciples asked Jesus to show them how to pray He responded with what we call the Lord’s Prayer, which is really the disciple’s prayer. Matt 6:9-13. You see and understand that your life is so small compared to the world and the Kingdom and yet being linked up to God makes you a key player in the purposes and plans of God that He has ordained. When Peter James and John left their nets to follow Jesus, they left behind a small world of fishing and selling their catch to a whole new world of impacting the entire planet with God’s plan of love and the preaching of the gospel. Today 2000 years later we are still talking about them and learning life lessons from them through the scriptures.  Luke 5:1-10 David was an amazing pray-er. As we read the Psalms we see a man of relationship, a man who talked much to God and thankfully he wrote many of his prayers down as the Psalms. Psalm 27:8 You have said, Seek My face [inquire for and require My presence as your vital need]. My heart says to You, Your face (Your presence), Lord, will I seek, inquire for, and require [of necessity and on the authority of Your Word]. (AMP) Perhaps you feel your vital need is something to eat or the next episode of your favourite mini-series, but your vital need is what you have been mediating on – what you have been thinking a lot about. If you have not felt a desire to pray, then simply take some time to think. There’s plenty of time if you decide to turn off screens. Think deeply, it’s called reflective thinking, about what Jesus has done for you. Imagine sitting down with Him sitting opposite you and thinking about what you might say to Him and what He might say back. Question. Estimate the average time each day that you watching a screen, other than for work. Faith Prays. There’s the natural dimension of your life. And there’s the spiritual dimension. The spiritual dimension is by far the largest. It’s the part of your life focussed on eternity. You can focus on the natural world 100%, but the natural world is influenced by the spiritual world.  You can live a bigger life when you focus on the spiritual world all around you. You can live with God, work with Him and see changes take place in the natural world because you apply faith. Will you decide you’re going to live a bigger life? Will you switch of the screens sometimes and just interact with God, give Him your undivided attention? Make prayer a vital part of your day and your life. CHECK OUT THIS ARTICLE ABOUT SCREEN TIME… http://www.mychristiandaily.com/index.php/fp-left-menu/14250-jesus-vs-netflix DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Is prayer a vital part of a Christian’s life? 2. How much time do Christians pray nowadays compared to say bible times in the new testament? 3. Estimate the amount of screen time each day apart for work related. 4. Is there value in limiting screen time so that you can focus on prayer? 5. What would you like to pray about today?