“Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them . . . I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.’”
Nehemiah 1:8-9 (NLT) When you pray, it turns your attention toward God and helps you to see that he is bigger and more powerful than any of your concerns. And as you watch God answer your prayers, your faith deepens. Today I want to talk to you about four ways to pray effectively, based on the life of Nehemiah: 1. Base your request on God’s character. Pray like you know God will answer you. You can say something like, “God, I’m expecting you to answer this prayer because of who you are. You are a faithful God. You are a great God. You are a loving God. You are a wonderful God. You can handle this problem!” 2. Confess the sins you’re aware of. That’s what Nehemiah did. He said, “I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us” (Nehemiah 1:6-7 NLT). It wasn’t Nehemiah’s fault that Israel went into captivity. He wasn’t even born when it happened; he was most likely born in captivity. Yet he included himself in the sins of his people. He said, “I’ve been a part of the problem.” 3. Claim the promises of God. Nehemiah prayed to the Lord, saying, “Please remember what you told your servant Moses” (Nehemiah 1:8 NLT). Can you imagine saying “remember” to God? Nehemiah reminded God of a promise made to the nation of Israel. In effect, Nehemiah prayed, “God, you warned through Moses that if we were unfaithful, we would lose the land of Israel. But you also promised that if we’d repent, you’d give it back to us.” Does God have to be reminded? No. Does he forget what he’s promised? No. Then why should you claim God’s promises when you pray? Because it helps you remember what God has promised. 4. Be specific in what you ask for. If you want specific answers to prayer, make specific requests. If your prayers consist of general requests, how will you know if they’re answered? When you pray, you’re submitting yourself to God’s sovereignty, acknowledging that he is active in all the details of your life and able to provide for your every need. But prayer also brings you into alignment with God’s will, helping you understand how and why he answered the way he did. But never doubt this: God answers your prayers.
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“I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold. They will call on my name, and I will answer them."
Zechariah 13:9 (NLT) Some prayers are answered immediately, but others take weeks, months, or even years. You probably know this all too well! But there’s good news: While you’re praying for God’s answer, you’re going to learn some things that you can’t learn any other way. In the waiting, there is blessing. One of the blessings is that you learn more about yourself when you don’t instantly get everything you want. When you’re going through fire, do you ever wonder why you have to go through it? It’s for testing and purification. As you pray about something over and over again, you face tests that reveal more about you. God says in Zechariah 13:9, “I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold” (NLT). You test gold by putting it in a big vat and heating it until it gets so hot that all the impurities are burned off. How do metalsmiths know when gold and silver are pure? When they can see their reflection in them. God can see his reflection in you when all the impurities have burned out of your life—after you’ve been through the fire. He says that, after he’s done the testing and purification, “They will call on my name, and I will answer them” (Zechariah 13:9 NLT). Answered prayer comes after the test. Before every blessing, there is a testing. God tests you with stress before he trusts you with success. These are the principles of persistent prayer. God is going to test you before he blesses you. And in that test, you’re going to learn a lot about yourself. If you give up praying, you’re never going to learn the lessons that help you become more like Jesus. Keep praying with persistence each day. And remember that after the testing, the blessing will come. “The Lord still waits for you to come to him so he can show you his love."
Isaiah 30:18 (TLB) God longs to be close to you. If you’re away from somebody that you love for a long time, you can’t wait to talk to them. If you have not been close to God, he can’t wait for you to talk to him, because he loves you so much. And he’s always available! He’s got a 24/7 drop-in system. He’s never offline. You can talk to him any moment of the day. Did you know that every day you go without prayer and spending time with God and his Word, God is waiting for you? You were made for this. You were made to know God and have a relationship with him. The Lord waits for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. It’s the whole reason you exist! Some parents know the unique pain of a child that can’t talk for a physical or emotional reason. When you love them but can’t have a conversation with them, that’s a heartache. Others are parents to a child that can talk but won’t. They’ve been shut out of their child’s life. When you long for a phone call that may never come, that’s a heartache too. That’s the way God feels about you when you don’t talk to him. Do you go days or weeks without sharing your heart, what you’re feeling, and what you need—your doubts and fears, your highs and lows? When you go that long without talking to him, God is thinking, “I created you. I love you. I want a relationship with you. Why do you turn away from me?” Don’t miss out talking to the God who created you. You weren’t put on this planet to mark things off your to-do list. You were put on this planet to be loved by God and to learn to love him back. You were chosen to be his child. You were formed for his family. You were created for companionship. God says, “I don’t want your sacrifices—I want your love; I don’t want your offerings—I want you to know me” (Hosea 6:6 TLB). God is waiting for you to talk to him. Don’t make him wait any longer! “Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”
Romans 8:34 (NIV) God knows everything that’s going to happen. He is omniscient. That means he knows the past, the present, and the future all at once. He already knows what’s going to happen in your life this afternoon. He knows what’s going to happen in your life next week, next month, next year, and the rest of your days. This also means he can pray about it before it happens to you. Wait a minute. God prays? You mean God talks to himself? You talk to yourself all the time. When God talks to himself, it’s prayer. And God talks to himself about you all the time. The night before Jesus went to the cross, he was with his disciples. Peter was boasting and saying, “Lord, I would die for you!” Jesus loved Peter, but he knew Peter was a little impulsive. He also knew Peter was going to deny him three times before the next morning. Jesus said in Luke 22:32, “I have prayed that you will not lose your faith! Help your brothers be stronger when you come back to me” (NCV). Jesus had already prayed for Peter in the storm he was about to go through. In the same way, Jesus has already prayed you through what you’re going to go through this year. In fact, right now Jesus is in heaven, praying for his children. He is interceding for you—he is talking to God on your behalf. Romans 8:34 says, “Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (NIV). Jesus is praying for you to make it through your storms. It’s one thing to have people pray for you—but how would you like to have the Son of God praying for you? The Bible says no matter what you go through today, next week, or next year, Jesus is praying for you. He’s on your side. If you’ve trusted him as your Savior, he’s interceding for you. “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace.”
Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT) It’s not easy to stop worrying about the often-scary, everyday parts of our lives, but God tells us how to do it: “Pray about everything . . . thank him for all he has done” (Philippians 4:6 NLT). Grateful prayer brings peace. God says that when you start to worry, stop to pray. Parents understand the power of gratitude. Most parents wouldn’t appreciate their children always making requests without saying “thank you” for what they’ve already received. God sees it the same way. He wants us to ask him for what we need and want. More than 20 times in the New Testament, we’re told to “ask” him. But he wants us to ask with gratefulness. The Bible urges us to be specific in our requests—and our praises. Instead of a simple “thank you for everything,” he wants us to tell him what we’re grateful for. When I say to my wife, “I’m so grateful for you,” she tells me to be specific. She likes to hear what I appreciate about her and what I’m grateful for about her. God wants to hear the same things. So when you pray, tell God what you’re thankful for. Prayer is one of the most important ways we tell God “thank you.” Thanking God in advance is a big step of faith. The Bible says that when we have the faith to thank God ahead of time for an answer to our prayers, miracles happen. The more thankful we are, the more God works in our lives. The Bible says that God inhabits the praise of his people. He empowers and uses our thanksgiving as an instrument of power in our lives. |
AuthorTaken from Daily Hope by Rick Warren. Categories
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