Prayer

Discussing the act of prayer and how to do it, with readings of two relevant poems.

Featuring readings of Teach Me to Pray and The Power of Prayer from He Is There.

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In Episode 4, we’re going to look at prayer. There are many examples in the Bible when Jesus tells us to come to Him in prayer. We can ask our Lord anything, being problems we cannot fix alone, or joys and blessings that we just want to share with Jesus. Remember, He’s always there to listen and to advise.

In the Bible, in Matthew 6, chapter 6 to 13, and those verses, Jesus tells us: When you come to pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is the Unseen, and when your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not just keep on babbling like pagans, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. And then Jesus said, This, then, is how you should pray. And it was then that He gave us the Lord’s Prayer to recite, which is well known for Christians throughout the whole world.

Even with all this reassurance from the Lord and the readings on how to pray, personally myself, I’ve often struggled to know how to pray. I need to know how to talk to my Lord. After some thought, and reading the Bible, I came to the following conclusions. Make your prayers a conversation to Almighty God, for He’s our Creator, but He’s also our Father and our Friend. Always listen to God for guidance, and be aware of answers to prayer. Find that quiet area to pray, where you will not be disturbed, somewhere private, as Jesus instructed. It might be in your garden, it might be in your room, it might be anywhere in your house when nobody else is around.

So the above conclusions led me to write the following poem, and it’s called, Teach Me to Pray.

Please enter my heart Lord And teach me to pray, I need you to tell me The right thing to say.

I ask you to help me, To love you more each day, And that by your grace My sins you’ll take away.

Make my faith grow stronger, Make me worthy of you, Please show me dear Jesus How I can to you be true.

Give me more understanding As I read from your word, Let me be enlightened When a sermon I’ve heard.

I ask for your blessing On my dear family, That you’ll open their eyes Lord So your presence they’ll see.

I thank you so much God For my home and my life, For my husband and children, For being a mother and wife.

I think of my friends Lord, Who show me they care, Who through good times and bad For each other are there.

Thank you for creation, The sun, wind and rains, For the stars in the sky, And the mountains and plains.

For the birds in the garden, And the animals at play, For the flowers and trees That I look at each day.

I think of the strife, In this vast world you gave, Of floods, famine and war, And the souls still to save.

It can be difficult to pray for some people when standing in a church service, or even in a group situation. Don’t worry about it. Your church family understands, and the more you talk to God on a one-to-one basis, the more confident you will be to pray in front of others. But the power of prayer is very powerful, and when groups of believers pray together, amazing things can happen through God’s grace and mercy, if it be his will. So the next poem is called The Power of Prayer.

Bring everything to God in prayer,
All our deeds, cares and sins are heard,
For God is interested in us,
As He has told us in His word.

Talk to God with confidence,
For He’s there listening to you,
For Jesus knows our every need,
And all the things that we do, do.

The more we get to know of Him,
The more we’ll understand His ways,
We can learn through realisation,
How we should serve God all our days.

Each of us is on a mission,
To set examples on God’s earth
To others who don’t know Him,
We ask God to send new birth.

Jesus is our mediator,
And when we talk to God above,
It’s with hearts that are unburdened,
That fills us with peace and love.

As we shall sow so shall we reap,
And as we pray so shall we gain,
With God’s Spirit working in us,
Our lives will never be the same.

All our prayers they will be answered,
According to God’s mighty will,
Trust and obey and in His time,
All our hopes He will fulfil.

So make a special time each day,
To bow down to the Lord in prayer,
At home, at school, at work or play,
For Jesus Christ is everywhere.

Yes the power of prayer is very powerful, and when groups of believers pray together, amazing things can happen through God’s grace and mercy, if it be his will.