Prayer Thoughts

Have you ever thought about your prayer language? No, I am not talking about speaking English or some other language, I am talking about how we bring our requests before God. Is your prayer a shopping list of requests, are you saying Dear Lord, I pray that you will help me to walk according to Your word, I ask that you will... I request... I ... Do you get where I am going with this?

How are we to approach God, with praise and thanksgiving. It is easy to pray with all our requests, but what is the answer to those requests. It is very hard to do, I have prayed more times then I can count and it becomes like a habit to pray with the question and not the answer. Change comes hard, but pray with the answer and allow God to do the rest. Let me explain a little more on that, because I can see that it could be taken like I am telling God what to do and that is not what I am saying.

Dear Lord, I thank you for today, I thank you for the life you have given me, I thank you for loving me even when I do not feel like I can love myself, thank you for showing me through your grace that I can except me right where you have me, I praise your name oh Lord and I thank you for giving me the wisdom to handle my son today and even when I want to not respond because I feel like he is rejecting me out, thank you that I am reminded about your Grace father and I thank you for that. Thank you for providing a girlfriend that loves You and I thank you for continuing to establish yourself in her life, thank you that she loves me Lord, thank you for bringing her into my life to help me walk closer to you. Thank you for giving me peace Lord to handle the hard places that I come to, thank you for continuing to show me your love and faithfulness. Lord I failed to stand tall, but I thank you for the hard place that you brought me to and showed me how I need to just trust in you even in my weakness you remind me that You Oh Lord are strong. Thank you for never leaving me and being with me even when I was struggling to focus on you, You are right there, thank you for the storms because I am able to sink my roots into you, into your word deeper despite the weather...

It no longer is a prayer of a list of requests, but a prayer thanking Him for even the areas in which it is easy to ask for, but much harder to say thank you Lord for His grace. In all circumstances give thanks. It is changing how you approach the Thrown of God that could make the change that you are looking for. God is faithful and His way is better then our ways.

We are to trust and believe, have faith even in the uncertainty of life, that God will provide a way. How are you praying? Are you asking God for a way, or thanking Him for the way He is providing? He is faithful to provide, what if instead of asking Him to provide, you thank Him for the provisions He has brought you, thank Him for what He has given you and just be thankful in all things. Do you think that your views will change? I believe they will, because I know that I still struggle in not asking, but thanking God. Be thankful doesn't always come easy, but being thankful helps me to focus on what God is doing and less on what I want Him to do.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Psalm 107:1 "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."

Psalm 118:1 "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever."

Colossians 1:3 "We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,"

1 Timothy 4:4-5 "For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer."

1 Chronicles 16:34 "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."

Reflections

I was thinking about how we reflect other people and how it comes so naturally to us. We drive down the road and I want to switch lanes. The person speeds up and doesn't allow me to get into that lane, I have a choice to either get mad or to love them even though they did that. Oh you are so right, I get mad and we pull up to the next light and I cut them off as quick as I can. I drive into work and that person is someone I work with, what kind of influence was I? Here I talk a good talk, but I reflected there selfish attitude, I wanted to be in control, I wanted it my way and so on.

The choice for the above scenario was mine, yes I can say if they didn't cut me off, it was because of them, but the truth of the matter was it was my choice to follow in there attitude. I can see how this is a crossed the board, someone at works gives me attitude and what is my reaction. See I can react like they do or I can take the higher ground and reflect the love of Jesus in my reactions.

We are responsible not for there reaction when we reflect the love of Jesus. I took it on myself for a while and thought if I would do this differently they will react differently, but when someone approaches me and gives me attitude, that is not my issue, but when it becomes my issue is how I respond. Jesus calls us to love and reflecting the love of God we can do that. There reaction isn't about me until I make it about reflecting there attitude back. When I reflect the love of Jesus, there reaction is just that, there own. When we react to them, we only create issues and we do not do anything other then create a problem. How can we reflect God's love if we are reacting to them. Isn't it time to react the way God calls us to? I have done it the wrong way and now it is time to do it the right way, God's way.

God calls us to love even the most unlovable, it is our choice to do that. Somethings do not always come easy, especially when we try and do them in our own strength. Take the sun and the moon for example. The moon is a huge star, or something and without the sun it is void, not much to the moon. But when you add the sun, it becomes a beautiful light in the sky in the darkness. The Son of man came to the world to die and rise again. He has brought us hope, peace, joy, patience and more, without Him we are like the moon, void and without meaning, but with Him we are a bright shining star. It isn't our light we shine, we shine the Light of Jesus through us.

Today don't reflect others, reflect the love of God and see the difference God can make. Let the attitudes be there own and your attitude be what God calls you to.