Prayer

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Prayer is simply a conversation with God. If you became a born again believer during this conference, you did not accept to be part of a religion. You accepted to be in a relationship. 

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Why do we need to pray? Think for a minute about the person you are closest to in your life. Now imagine when you first became close, you both expressed to each other how special they were to each other, and then you never heard it again. Would you still believe it after a few days? How about a week? How about a month? How about a year….a few years? How would that feel? How well do you think your relationship would work? How well would you understand each other?

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Now imagine that every day, you had just 5 minutes with that person – to get their advice on decisions you are making, to share in the joy of something that was special for you, and to thank them for being your friend – just 5 minutes to talk to them and them to you. How would that feel? How well do you think your relationship would work? How well would you understand each other?

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It can be a struggle to pray when you think your prayers are just going up into the sky and you’re wondering if God is really hearing, really listening. Leave your feelings behind, and trust in what scripture says about praying. Here are a few really helpful ones but there are many.

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Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything but with everything by prayer, asking earnestly and humbly with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” 

This scripture teaches us that we can pray to God about everything we have concern about, seeking Him to be the answer instead of us, trusting and being thankful that He has the answer, and He promises to give us a peace that quiets the anxiousness and stress if we allow it.

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Romans 8:26  “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

Even when we are facing something that we are not sure how to pray about, that Holy Spirit prays for us on our behalf.

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Matthew 6:7  “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.”

This scripture teaches us that it is a conversation between God and us, not us and everyone who is listening to us. Pray with your  heart turned toward God and don’t worry about whether you chose the right words or not. God knows your heart.

 

Colossians 4:2“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”

This scripture teaches us to remain persistent and enduring in prayer, holding the expectation that God is faithful and will respond.
 

Questions to Ponder:

What are some other reasons that your Heavenly Father wants to hear from you?

What are ways that you can hear from God?

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Study

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The next tool we are equipped with as born again believers is the knowledge from God to study, have Him teach us and understand His teaching. 1 Corinthians 2:12 says, “We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us”. 

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Why study? This is His instruction book for us. Imagine that you became a believer to find out that you have to figure out on your own how to live this Christian life! God didn’t do that. He gave us a book that is without error, all its writing are inspired by God, who breathed His content that He wanted written down into each person’s mind. It is authoritative over our lives because we have given God authority over our lives when we accept Him as our personal Lord and SAVIOR. We have become part of His family, and we want to understand what that means – Who our Father is, who we are as His children, what He asks of us and what He gives us. We can trust what we read just as it is written. We don’t have to go looking for “special spiritual understanding.” He made it plain and simple for everyone to be able to understand. Below in the downloads section, we have provided a suggested method for studying scripture.

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Questions to Ponder:

What steps do I need to take in order to remove reasons not to study?

How can I make an environment where I can focus on study?

 

2 Timothy 3:16-17  All scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction and training, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Psalm 1:1-3   Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.
 

Deuteronomy 29:29  The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.