“Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” Matthew 6:8
In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us to pray for our needs. Then, in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, God commands us to pray continually. That means to pray a lot! Prayer is God’s way for us to receive what we need from Him.
Prayer is not something we do to convince God to love us or do things we want. Prayer is something that God calls us to do because He loves us.
“Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16.
This creates an effect of the Lord’s efficacious word sent into our world bringing the grace to make us pray “our Father” and “Thy Will be done.”
Prayer is like a seed sown in our souls, bread upon which we are nourished.
Prayer is not to be a time of us taking and continually relating our needs. I’m sure God loves to hear us and how our day is going, both good and bad. But, prayer should be a time for quiet listening as well. A time to let God tell us how He saw our day.
A favorite memory of my dad was the many times we would sit together at night. Sometimes we would sit silently watching a movie, John Wayne movies were a favorite. Other times when I’d have something on my mind or a problem to deal with, he would sit silently listening to me as I described the situation. I never remember my dad telling me how to resolve it with a straight answer. “Son, this is what you do…” No, he always seemed to guide me to resolve it on my own.
Looking back now, I can see how his questions and thoughts led me to the decision he felt was the best one for me, always letting me come up with the solution.
This is much as my prayer life is with my Heavenly Father. I relate my life’s events while He sits patiently listening. Then, it’s my turn to listen as He guides my heart to the best path. God never forces my path, but sows the seeds of His love and guidance so I make the right choice.
The time we spend in prayer is time well spent preparing the soil of our soul for God to plant the seeds that will reap a bountiful harvest later. The more we pray, the larger the field becomes which leads to a greater harvest.
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one” Matthew 6:10-13
Beautiful
Watching my father fade away makes me think of all the times he just knew all the simple answers to such big questions I had. This brought peace to my soul. Thank you. Jesus I trust in you.
Continued prayers for your dad and for you. We pray for those transitioning home but can’t forget those left behind are the ones truly hurting
This was a good one. Thank you for sharing.