Prayer

Have you ever felt like you don't spend enough time in prayer? Or maybe, your prayers aren't meaningful because they aren't long enough? Take a look at the what Christ has to say; "When you pray, don't talk on and on as people do who don't know God. They think God likes to hear long prayers. Don't be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask" (Matthew 6:7-8, CEV). We don't have to talk for hours at a time. True there ARE times when we need to spend time in fervent prayer. Please don't misunderstand me.

Check out the example Jesus gives on how to pray; "You should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, help us to honor your name. Come and set up your kingdom, so that everyone on earth will obey you, as you are obeyed in heaven. Give us our food for today. Forgive us for doing wrong, as we forgive others. Keep us from being tempted and protect us from evil " (Matthew 6:9-13, CEV). This is often called "The Lord's Prayer." 

How long did it take to say that prayer? Yes, we can expound on the Lord's Prayer. Use it as sort of an outline and add fitting words in between. Meaningful prayers can also be brief...they also get answered by Jesus.

Jesus tells us to pray continually. That simply means to keep in tune with Him. Have you ever told someone you would pray for a request they entrusted you with...only to totally forget about it? What I have started doing is simply praying as SOON as I hear the request. If it is in an email, I pray when I receive the email and then am able to send a response back to the person letting them know I prayed.(I just started this with emails) If it is by phone, I pray right then on the phone...in person...you get the idea.

Such prayers don't need to be wordy either. Jesus knows the need. It can be intimidating to think that we need to use a lot of words. 

I want to encourage you to enjoy your prayer life with Jesus; few words or many, He hears our conversations with Him and responds as He knows best.