Praying to the Lord is the most important thing we can do. There is not a set time for prayer. You can pray as soon as you wake up until you are almost asleep! It does not matter when you pray but it does matter that you pray.
Philippians 4:5-7 reads, “ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.” So let’s break this down just a little bit. The first thing it says to do is not to be anxious. In a world that we know right now, there is so much worry. There’s so much going on that it can drive us crazy. But the Bible tells us to not worry, and here it says, do not be anxious. Worrying does nothing but cause heart ache and upset. Stomachs! It is no good for anyone.
The next section says in every situation. It does not matter if it is a good situation or a bad situation in your life. It does not matter if you are at your highest point in life and everything is going well versus a point in your life where you are at your lowest and so depressed and down, you pray. The most important thing that we need to realize is that God already knows what is in our heart, and He knows everything about us inside and out! He expects us to come to Him in our need and in our thanksgiving as the next phrase states!
Thanksgiving (and I don’t mean like what we just celebrated as a holiday) is a way to show our Lord that we are praising Him and thanking Him for everything. We may not like the bad situations that occur in our lifetime, but as we go through those situations, we learn from them. We have a tiff with someone or we go through bad situations such as an accident, death, and such, but we grow closer to the Lord and we learn from the situations when we reach out to Him. We can learn from so many people who have gone through so much because of that point in itself because they understand it. As we go through those situations, we can also help others because we know how.
In Matthew 6:8, it says that our Father knows what we need before we ask Him. He knows what we need, but He expects us to go to Him. We go to Him first in all things, and we also use our Christian family to help as well. For it also says where two or more are gathered He is with us. But the first thing that He wants to do is go to Him, seek Him, and love Him with all our heart, mind, and soul. We are a blessed nation, and we actually have so much to be thankful for.
And if you do not think that you know how to pray, you can rest assured that He knows and also the Spirit knows. Romans 8:26 says, “Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” At one time in my life, I didn’t pay attention to the Spirit and failed to recognize that the Lord left the Spirit with us so we wouldn’t be alone when He went to be with His Father in Heaven. He promised this to the disciples before He sacrificed Himself on that cross for us!
1 Corinthians 2:10-11 says, “ For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts, except the Spirit of that person, which is in him? So also, no one comprehends the thoughts of God, except the spirit of God.” Oh, how wonderful it is to know that there is such a great connection between us and our Lord that the Spirit knows our hearts and we are not alone!
We are all sinners, and no one is perfect. Only the Lord was perfect and He knows because He has been in our shoes as He walked this earth. If we really honestly think about Him, knowing our hearts and souls completely, then we should be convicted to do better. There is no hiding from the Lord no matter what we say, or do, He knows!
So not only do we give thanks to the Lord, but we also have to ask Him for His forgiveness! In Matthew 6:14-15 it says, “ If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” It is really hard to forgive those who have hurt us, and it is a struggle to get past some of those hurts, but God commands us to forgive and that is part of being humble like He told us to be. Plus, I know that I myself have done plenty in my days to where I need to be forgiven and I sure want to be forgiven when it’s my time to go.
He gave us many examples on how to pray and one included to go to our rooms and pray quietly (Matthew 6:5-8) because He didn’t want prayers that were showy or to be recognized in public. He wanted personal one on one prayer with Him. In one Thessalonians 5:16–18 he says to pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Continuous prayer and that we know it’s true, because sometimes situations can last a good while.
In Matthew 6:9-13 He gave us an example of how to pray. It says, “ Pray, then, like this, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. We have to remember that before this He said that He did not want repetitious prayers and prayers that went on and on and on because those people that did so would get there reward but that’s not what He wanted. He wanted more private prayers. He said to pray “like this” and if we use this example we will understand what He expects!
We are praying to recognize that His name is above all, and He is holy. One day this earth will be done in His kingdom that He goes to prepare for us will be ours (John 14:2). He is wanting us to ask for our daily needs and for us to ask for His forgiveness as we forgive others. He wants us to recognize that the devil is right there in our doorstep. He wants us to ask for His protection against the evil and against those desires of the world and flesh. We each have our own personal needs for forgiveness and protection, so we need to each give account of our own personal lives when we reach out to Him.
When we wake in the morning, we should pray and thank the Lord for another day. We are blessed and some do not get that chance. We pray at meal times and thank him for the food that we have to sustain us. We pray during the day for anything, and everything that may come up. When you’re raising children is tough and many parents pray for guidance and understanding. We pray when we’re at work, or during fun times! We pray before we go to bed, asking the Lord for our protection at night, and for thankfulness for everything that we have had during that day. We pray when we get in the car asking for protection for where we need to go and when we need to get back. There is no boundaries in prayer!
So with that, I am asking the Lord today for your heart to be filled with Him. I pray to Him on your behalf, so that you may be blessed, be healthy, and be safe in this world as we know it. I pray for His love to reach down upon each and everyone of you reading this. I think Him for each and every one of you and everything and everyone that He puts in my life. Dear Lord, please be with us all! In Your name Jesus Christ, amen!