Prayer (part three)

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him (Mark 10:17).

When you offer prayer to God, how should you behave?  God is royalty, after all—He is King of the Universe!  Before you meet British royalty, there are people who explain how you should present yourself.  What standards of conduct should you observe when speaking with the Lord God Almighty?

First of all, you should be respectful.  Saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ is a step in the right direction.  Avoid insulting Him by letting your mind wander during prayer.  Don’t blame Him for the bad things happening in your life—any pain and frustration you feel has been triggered by sin, your own or those of someone else.  And remember that God doesn’t owe you anything.  He is not obligated to do anything for a sinner like you or I—that He loves us and cares for us despite our corruption is truly a wonder to be appreciated.

When you pray, Jesus says to be persistent.  Sometimes a lot of prayer happens before things improve—this is God teaching you to cling to Him at all times, not just in moments of crisis.  The Lord does not want us taking Him for granted.  Prayer should be a daily habit for us, as it was for Jesus during His time on earth.  Sometimes a long bout of trouble is needed to develop a habit of regular prayer.

The word of God also tells us to pray with confidence.  The apostle James had this to say: when you ask God, you must believe. Don’t doubt him. Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is blown up and down by the wind. People like that are thinking two different things at the same time. They can never decide what to do. So they should not think they will receive anything from the Lord (James 1:6-8). Jesus gave His life to keep us from hell.  He is fully committed to your eternal welfare.  The Son of God wants you to speak with Him, not with fear or uncertain of His motives, but absolutely convinced of His loving care for you.

We look forward to spending time in conversation with people that we like and respect.  Prayer should be no different.  It’s not a chore, not an obligation, it’s an opportunity to converse with the most wonderful person in our lives!  If you have that kind of attitude when you go to God in prayer, you can be sure that you’re acting right.