My purpose in writing today is to bring us all closer to our Lord and savior. This post is directed at the saved in Christ and the lost. It is my sincere prayer that it will uplift,encourage and revitalize all our life’s. I approached this with fear at first attempt to write that I could not reach the ones I needed to. Which the Holy Spirit readily reminded me that I could not on my own. That I was to write the post and he would tell me what to write and how.
Well let’s get started. The thought came to me several times over a span of time that my prayer life and quite possibly the prayers of others where just not very satisfactory. Otherwise when I got done praying I wasn’t very satisfied and certainly did not want anyone else to know how empty and shallow the prayers I had prayed were. You know sometimes I don’t want to take the time to pray. So when I do pray its quick and something like a mumble or let’s get this over quick and maybe God want notice kind of thing. There have been times when I have prayed for folks and I just did not know what to say. Maybe someone was going to ask one of us in a group to pray for the group before we got started. Time for something eloquent and proper for the moment.
Lord forgive me and anyone else who would come before you with prayers that were not sincere and honest. Have you ever been guilty of prayers where you had no passion or boldness and desire in what you were attempting to say to God. I mean just empty conversation and like why did I ever start. I have many times. I have been guilty of that. I didn’t even know what to do about it. I didn’t know how to change it or did I not care to change it.
Had I spent too much time watching others pray. Ministers,leaders in the church,popular people, television evangelist. Other folks in my church. Had I developed others method of praying to almighty God. Shame on you Tom. No wonder I don’t get answers to some of my prayers. It makes sense that I feel empty when I get up from praying and dread going to God in prayer. I have to get everything just right. It must be a perfectly worded prayer or God will not hear it. I want God to know that I am growing in him and my prayers is after all one way to prove to God how passionate I am about him. I want God to know that I have memorized many scriptures so I will quote them all through my prayer time and when I pray.
Its is not my intent to embarrass myself or ridicule and make fun of how you my readers would pray. It is not my place to have an opinion on how you pray or don’t pray. It is my desire to cause us to think about our prayers to God for ourselves and others.
I meet on Tuesday nights at 9:00pm to midnight or whenever we get out to pray alongside some other men from different churches and backgrounds for our world today. Hoping to make a difference. I pray for my family and church. I pray intercessory prayers. Prayers you know for you that might not understand the term intercessory. I pray whenever through the day for and as the Spirit of God moves me to pray. I pray with boldness and by and through the Spirit of God. I said all this so you my readers might see that I do pray and I do try to make a difference in others as well as my own life. If you ask me to pray for you. I will do it right then on the spot. There is nothing not even fire that is more important than the prayers needed by someone. If you ask its important enough to do even in the middle of Wally world. (Wall-Mart).
These are not my credentials or qualifications for writing this post. They are so I can tell you, I really am guilty at different times of doing all of the above. More often than I would like to admit. I have been told I pray beautifully. This always stumps me because I feel like I struggle to be where I want to be with God in my prayers and relationship.
Here is what God is saying to me to say about all of the above admissions of guilt. Come to me you who are weary and have a heavy burden. I will give you rest. Take my yoke it is light. (Or live my way it is easier) Be honest with me in your time spent with me in prayer. Let your passions and voice come forth from you boldly when you want to be bold about something your saying. I do not seek eloquent or well script prayers,but a simple mind with a need that has a strong desire to be filled. Come to me and let me fill your need. Lets talk about it. Do not always be in a hurry. When you come don’t jump around from one thing to another stay focused on whats important to you,what you are needing until you feel you have gotten your answer. After all was it not important enough for you to ask me. When you come ,come with faith that I will be true to my word and answer your prayers. I promised this and cannot lie to you. Be simple in your speech. Talk to me like you would your mother or father that you dearly love and respect. After all I love you to. I have waited for you to come to me. I anxiously anticipated your arrival. I am eager to fill your hearts desire’s my loved one. When you come don’t come with sin on your hearts confess your sins to one another and ask for forgiveness, then come to me in prayer and I will hear you and answer you.
That is what God would say. Keep it real. Remember he is the creator of all things us included. Yet he genuinely loves us and wants to reveal his love to us by having fellowship with us in prayer. Can you imagine what it is like for God when we come to him with well written rehearsed or lame hurried and no passion prayers. Heck that would be like meeting up with your best friend for lunch and wowing them with your intelligence or yawning at everything they said. Big lack of interest. Well we are doing the same thing to God. I am so sorry Father please forgive me and remind me in my heart to uphold my end of the relationship you wanted with me before I even knew you.
There you have it my friends and loved ones. If you are a pastor,bible scholar,teacher in Sunday school or if you’re a disciple of Christ walking this journey with God daily, trying through Jesus to do his will. I pray that you would let the Spirit of God speak to you about your prayers to him. Be real keep it simple. God loves you as you are. Don’t try to impress him and stress yourself out. Slow down and watch your faith increase and your prayers get answered. Prayers are the single most important thing you can do. Prayers are powerful and change circumstances. Prayers save life’s and change them. Prayers create miracles in others life’s. Prayers give life. Prayers touch the heart of God.
I have enclosed a link for further reading of a fellow most of you will know. He is more long winded than me but full of the spirit and more than abel to expound on this subject should some of you care for more reading on prayer. Click on the word prayer.
All my love Tom
A Perspective From The Pew & Street 
Absolutely great. There’s nothing more important (nor less practiced) than prayer. Even in Wally world (grin) And thanks for the link to the Spurgeon website. Wow, what a fantastic resource!
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Lol I laugh at my own innocence of knowledge of prayer Ruth. You know when I first picked up letters of Spurgeon. Carolyn and I would read a sentence and go away and ponder it for weeks. This fellow is deeply in love with God and gives us practical and biblical examples of how to act as a mature Christian. Thank you for the encouraging words Ruth. I hope you enjoy Spurgeon.
Much love Tom
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Doris is our ministry’s mightiest prayer warrior. Though she’s in her eighties, her soft prayers bring down the thunder and lightning of the Holy Spirit. I asked her what her secret was. She looked at me and said, “There’s no secret. It’s hard work to pray and you’ve got to keep at it, even when you don’t feel like it.” I think you and Carolyn have a lot of Doris in you 🙂
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Ruth thank you for your kind words. What a honor to be compared to Doris. She has the wisdom from living many years and many mistakes. You do have to keep at it. If I might add Ruth prayer is also a honest relationship with God. We cannot know God if we want talk to him and spend time with him. Have a wonderful day Ruth.
Much love Tom
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Tom, if you are guided to – I would love to hear more, to read more, to share more on this thing called prayer. You have a way of writing that cuts through the usual “stuff”. You bring real to something real. I have mixed thoughts about prayer. See so much that seems rite rather than right. Hear so much that sounds like habit more than heart, and wonder sometimes who all these prayers are for.
A bit like breathing, for a Christian you are supposed to. Something so basic that to question it is to be seen to be immature, misguided, a trouble maker, etc. well I do question it. For no other reason than because it seems another subject off limits. And because I do not “get” so much of what others seem to.
If you are guided, I would read.
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You tell me the forum you want to use and I would be honored brother Paul. I have been dying to pick your brain lol. You are so full of wisdom and the love of God man. Lets do this bro.
Much love Tom
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Thank you, Tom, for causing us to think. I will share with you my thoughts about my way of praying. I have been guilty of short, time for bed prayers and also for long wordy ones that get lost in the eloquence. I have even fallen asleep in the midst of my prayers!! But, I have also been very aware that some of my shortest prayers have been the most emotional …speechless…and there is where I know that the Spirit took my moanings before the Lord, who knows all things including the requests of my heart.
I have also ran out of words, repeating myself senseless, feeling as though my very words were weighted down by the ceiling. Still, I know that God hears the words of a broken heart. Much of my prayer life was changed when my son died. In the beginning it was the rantings of a crazed and shocked mother who could not believe her Lord and Savior would allow such a terrible thing…that my prayers for the health and safety of my children had not been answered. Then I realized that I also would be praying to the very Father who I know had to have my son in His loving presence forever. I had to pray with a thankful yet, saddened heart. My understanding of it all has not been satisfied but will be one day. Meanwhile, I pray with a different kind of heart, knowing that God has heard my sobbing wordless prayers for quite some time. God be with you, Tom and all you do to further His kingdom. Much love and gratitiude that you are my friend and brother in Christ.
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And there is where I know. Dale that is exactly how I would explain this door I walked through in the depth and clarity of my prayers and relationship with God.. Yes God is God isn’t he. I too have found this out. God does what he wants to when he wants to. That seems hard to me when I first excepted that. Now I’m glad he does what he does. God thinks way above me Dale. Just think one day we will meet them in the sky. My eyes are turned towards heaven these days. My thoughts on God and eternal life. Sorry for rambling. I get lost in my thoughts. I appreciate your open and very personal comment. You did a world of good for my soul.
Peace to you my sister
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Tom, I wanted to add one more thing that you may find interesting. The very first devotion or words that I read in the first hours of grief….God sent me to this devotion by Spurgeon that I already had on my coffee table. It was the very first random page I opened to and it helped me immensely. Please permit me to place it here for you and your readers:
“He that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37
No limit is set to the duration of this promise. It does not merely say, “I will not cast out a sinner at his first coming,” but, “I will in no wise cast out.” The original read, “I will not, not cast out,” or “I will never, never cast out.” The text means, that Christ will not at first reject a believer; and that as He will not do it at first, so He will not to the last.
But suppose the believer sins after coming? “If any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” But suppose that believers backslide? “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for mine anger is turned away from him.” But believers may fall under temptation! “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” But the believer may fall into sin as David did! Yes, but He will purge them with hyssop, and they shall be clean; he will wash them and they shall be whiter than snow”; “From all their iniquities will I cleanse them.”
“I give unto my sheep,” saith He, “eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” What sayest thou to this, O trembling feeble mind? Is not this a precious mercy, that coming to Christ, thou dost not come to One who will treat thee well for a little while, and then send thee about thy business, but He will receive thee and make thee His bride, and thou shalt be His forever? Receive no longer the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption whereby thou shalt cry, Abba, Father! Oh! The grace of these words: “I will in no wise cast out.”
Charles H. Spurgeon ( Morning and Evening Devotions)
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Whoooooe who’s preaching Dale or Charles. Hope for all mankind. I am so glad you posted that letter of Charles Spurgeon. I pray all will receive this message.
Much love Tom
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