THE PRAYER
Martyn Lloyd-Iones once wrote: "Prayer is undoubtedly the supreme activity of the soul of the human being." Man arrives at his utmost when kneeling in front of tempt with God ".
earthly ministry of Jesus was surprisingly brief, just three years. However, in those three years, as he should have been in his previous years, he spent a lot of time in prayer. The Gospels report that Jesus had a habit of getting up early in the morning, before dawn, to have fellowship with his Father. At night, I often went to the Mount of Olives or some other quiet place to pray, usually alone. The prayer was the spiritual air that Jesus breathed every day of his life. He practiced an interminable communion between himself and the Father. He urged his disciples to do the same, and told them, "Watch therefore, at all times, praying that you have the strength to escape all these things that are to come" (Luke 21:36).
It seems to me that to pray at all times is to live in a state constantly aware of the presence of God, where everything we see and experience becomes a kind of prayer that is lived with a deep awareness and a surrender to our heavenly Father. It is something that I share with my Best Friend, something that I instantly communicate to God. Obeying this exhortation means that, when tempted, we present the temptation to God and ask for his help. When we experience something good and beautiful, we immediately thank the Lord for it. When we see the evil around us, we ask God to straighten it out and allow us to help achieve it, if he wants to. When we meet someone who does not know Christ, we pray that God will bring that person to him and use us to be a faithful witness. When we encounter problems, we turn to God as our Liberator. In this way, life becomes a continually ascending prayer: All thoughts, works and circumstances of life become an opportunity to have fellowship with our heavenly Father. Thus we put our minds "on the things above, not on the things of the world" (Colossians 3: 2).
The fact is that every believer must be continually in the presence of God, constantly breathing his truths to be fully functional.
Because for many of us, society is free and prosperous, it is easier for Christians to feel safe presuming the grace of God than depending on it. Too many believers are satisfied with physical blessings and have very little desire for spiritual blessings. Having become so dependent on their physical resources, they feel little need for spiritual resources. When programs, methods and money produce impressive results, there is a tendency to confuse human success with divine blessing. Christians can actually behave as practicing humanists, living as if God were not necessary. When this happens, passionate longing for God and craving for His help will be needed, along with the bestowal of His power. In the wake of this great and common danger, Paul urged believers to pray "at all times" (Eph 6:18) and to persevere "always in prayer" (Col. 4: 2). Continuous, persistent and incessant prayer is an essential part of the "Christian going" influences the dependence of God.
Prayer is not a function that lacks meaning or a duty that must be fulfilled at the end of a busy or exhausting day. We are not obeying the commandment of our Lord when we are content with a few minutes kneeling in the morning bustle, or late at night when the faculties, tired from the day's tasks, ask for a rest. It is true that God is always within reach of a call, his ear is always attentive to the cry of his son, but we will never get to know him if we use the vehicle of prayer as we use the telephone to have a few words of rushed conversation. Intimacy requires development. We can never know God, with all that implies the privilege of knowing him, through repetitions of brief, fragmented and inconsiderate intercessions, which are requests for personal favors and nothing else. That is not the way we can enter into communication with the King of heaven. The goal of prayer is to be the ear of God," a goal that can only be achieved by seeking it patiently, continuously and constantly, pouring out our heart and allowing it to speak to us. Only by doing so can we hope to know him, and as we know him more we will spend more time in his presence and we will find that that presence is a constant and growing delight.
In Ephesians 6:18, Paul says that we should pray with "all prayer and His." The Greek word translated "prayer" (also in 1 Thessalonians 5:17) is the common New Testament word for prayer and refers to petitions. The word translated "pray" refers to specific sentences.
Paul's use of both words suggests our necessary participation in all kinds of prayer, of whatever kind that is appropriate.
Pray all the time you need to be in various positions because you will never be in the same position all day.
In the Bible, people prayed standing (1 Kings 8:22), raising their hands (1 Tim 2: 8), sitting (2 Sam 7:18), kneeling (Mark 1:40), looking up (John 17: 1), inclined (Exo.
34: 8), putting his head between his knees (1 Kings 18:42), striking his chest (Luke 18:13), and going to Jerusalem
The Bible also records people praying in all kinds of places: in battle (2 Chronicles, 13:14, 15), in a cave (1 Kings.) 9: 9, 10), in a room (Matthew 6), in a garden (Matthew 26: 36-44), on a mountain (Luke 6:12), by a river (Acts.
16:13), on the beach (Acts 21: 5, 6), on the street (Mat 6: 5), in the temple (1 Kings 8: 22-53), in bed (Ps. 3,4) , in a house
(Acts 9: 39,40), in the belly of a fish (John 2: 1-10), on a roof (Acts 10: 9), in a prison (Acts 16: 23-26), in the desert ( Luke 5:16) and on a cross (Luke 23:33, 34,46). In 1 Timothy
2: 8, Paul said: "I want, then, that men pray everywhere ...". For the faithful and Spirit-filled Christian, any place becomes a place of prayer. The passion that can be spent spending time alone with God. I also hope you understand that prayer is not an attempt to get God to agree with you or supplant your selfish desires, but it is both an affirmation of your sovereignty, justice and majesty, and an exercise to shape your desires and purposes at your will. and glory.
