Effective Praying

God wants us to pray.  He even promises that there is great power and wonderful results to be had from praying.

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5:16

I don’t know who Marvin Williams is but I found this quote on his blog today about prayer and it summarizes so well what I’m trying to say:

God invites into a relationship with Him, not to just get stuff from him. He invites us into His purposes and power – power to defeat the enemy, save, restore, strengthen, raise up, heal, glorify God, accomplish the impossible, bless, impart wisdom, secure peace, keep us from sinning, and reveal God’s will. When we see prayer this way, it becomes less of punching the clock and donkeywork and more joyful anticipation of how our Father will move the world for his glory and our good.  (Marvin Williams)

Loving God, we thank You for this amazing gift of prayer – the chance to talk to You the most high and holy God, creator of the universe.  You so much want to hear what we have to say and bless us. 

Help us to recognize those things that call us away from You.  Give us humility to ask for and receive the strength and help we need because our flesh is weak even though our spirit is wanting to follow You.

And we know that You want us not just to pray for ourselves but that our prayers are meant to minister to others on their behalf, even our whole nation. In whatever country each of us live today Lord help us to care for those who live there as You care for them and to pray. 

And so Lord, whether we feel like we know how to pray, what to pray, or even why to pray, we will pray today trusting You to make something wonderful and right about the things we speak to you.  Amen

What an amazing privilege we have today to pray.  Let’s take advantage of it often and bring everything we can to our Heavenly Father.