Think a Minute:
One of my goals this new year (among many) is to have a more powerful prayer life. In looking at the life of Jesus in the Gospels, I see that the first inclination of Jesus was to pray. Prayer was how He collected Himself, how He gathered His mind. In Luke 5:16, we read, “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Look at the life of Jesus. Do you not notice how often He is talking to the Father? It was the first thing He always did. In wanting to improve my prayer life, I have decided that it’s best to imitate His life. I believe that the goal of Christian life is to be like Jesus and that the best reason to pray is that Jesus prayed. When we imitate Him and his actions, follow Him closely, we will pray.
So the question is: How can we become like Jesus in praying? How can we take on His attitude and temperament? I believe Jesus is calling each of us to pray as He prayed. So, to prepare our hearts for powerful prayer, I encourage us to first meditate on the attributes of God. Second, confess all known sins as we meditate on Him. Third, ask God to control and empower you with His Holy Spirit. What next? Now we pray. We pray on all occasions. We pray without ceasing. We pray in our afflictions. We pray with thanksgiving. We pray for the salvation and physical needs of others. We pray for those who will someday cry at our funerals. We pray for ourselves in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. When we are weak and don’t know how to pray, the Holy Spirit “…intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express…” I believe with all of my heart that the Lord saves our prayers. He loves prayer, and He loves the one who prays. He loves to answer prayer in ways that contribute to His plan and purpose. If you are seeking a deeper and more powerful prayer life, here is a prayer for you to pray:
“Lord Jesus, I want to be like You in prayer. I confess that the natural disposition of my temperament is to rely on my own ingenuity and talent. Forgive me for not being like You in prayer. I had not considered how much You personally love prayer, how much the Bible heroes loved prayer, and how prayer is the hidden asset on my spiritual balance sheet. Dear Lord, teach me to pray, as I follow You. In Jesus’ Name… Amen and Amen!”
In Christ,
Pastor Rob Pesola