Some people may think, “Why do I have to pray? Doesn't God already know everything about me?”
In Matthew 7:7 it says: “Ask, and it shall be given unto you; Seek, and ye shall find; Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” So, we have to ask God for anything we want through prayer.
Proverbs 15:8 says: “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.” God does not accept the offerings of a sinner. Nonetheless, He will accept the repentance of a sinner.
As you can see, you first have to turn your whole heart away from all sin and give your life to Christ. The smallest of things can sentence you to eternal destruction. For instance, taking a lost five dollar bill of the ground that doesn't belong to you, or even thinking about something sinful. Yes, God truly wants us to be pure in every aspect. Nonetheless, the only prayer of a sinner that God will answer is a prayer for forgiveness.
Prayer is talking to God with respect. You receive blessings when you pray. No prayer, no blessings. However, blessings shouldn't be the only reason why you love God. Think about how He died on the cross just so that you can live with Him in eternal joy. When you pray, God speaks to you. He can tell you about you future, and so much more. He also empowers you with the Holy Spirit and gives you the ability to do miracles. However, it is only through God that we can do miracles.
Daily Devotion: Doing one's daily devotion is very important. They allow you to start and end your day with God. When you do so, you will see how smooth your day will be just because of prayer. When you pray, God can guide you through your day. But when you do not pray, you will probably see that your day isn't going to be the best it could be.
Prayer and Fasting: This is another way to pray. It is a time to separate the spirit and the body. Doing this, the spirit will have time to focus mainly on God and not on the body. The spirit and the flesh will always disagree. By praying and fasting, you are denying the flesh, and focusing on your spirit. However, you should do it with a willing mind.
Night Vigil: This is when Christians come together in the night and pray to seek the face of God.
Try praying out loud like mentioned in the Tenth Avenue North video below. It seems like something insignificant, but it's amazing how much it exercises your faith. Like we said earlier, prayer is talking to God. So, why not talk to him?
There are so many reasons to pray. Maybe you just need a friend who will actually listen and understand you. God speaks to people in so many ways, and prayer is one of them. To keep the constant flow of communication with God, prayer is a must for your spiritual life.
Sometimes, it's difficult to pray. But that's because we may sometimes look at prayer as “something Christians do.” Yeah, it is something we do, but there's a lot more to it. It's communicating to your Heavenly Father, Savior and Friend. Try to look at it on that perspective...and then pray.
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