Prayer - It's Now or Never

My friends, here we are in 2011 and we are seeing very hard times. 

I have friends who are experiencing hardships like I've never seen in my lifetime:  Job loss or big salary cuts, home foreclosures and business losses, deeply injured relationships or divorce, loss of faith and questioning God, and unbelievable financial hardships. 

 

I have experienced some tough times in my life, and have not always turned to prayer and God when I should have.   Yet the Lord has proven to me that He is always here for me, and loves me unconditionally when others have not. 

     "No one is a firmer believer in the power of prayer than the devil; not that he practices it, but he suffers from it" ~~Guy King.

            Well said, Guy King! 

           

     Some have been to the mountain.  I have been to my knees by the side of my bed ~~Robert Brault. 

     

     I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.  ~~Abraham Lincoln

I love these three quotes. I've found myself on my knees in prayer many times in my life, despite the devil's influence.  God has answered some prayers, and he's NOT answered some (or answered my prayers in a different way).  I am sure you've experienced this same thing.

While we all pray. . . We also long to connect with someone who can identify with what we are going through in our daily life.  "Prayer is just that -- a personal experience and intimate connection with our loving Heavenly Father."

 You might be asking how all this ties together?  At the beginning I spoke of untold hardships among friends and family, and many of these friends have spoken to me about prayer.  Many have said 'Without prayer I could not make it through the day', 'We would have never survived this ordeal without prayer", and 'Prayer and God was our only hope'.

     Recently I received a daily devotion by Rick Warren and it contained the most precious prayer that touched my heart in these days of turmoil:

 

“Lord, I have so many things on my plate. They are impossible. I can’t do them all today so help me know what’s important and what’s not important.
Help me not to worry about not getting the unimportant things done.
Help me focus on what matters most.
I need your strength today to do what I need to do today.
I have some financial, physical and emotional needs and I’m depending on you to help me today.”

Recently I read in 'what order' we should pray beginning with "Thanks" to Him for the blessings He's given us and the prayers He has answered.  And thank Him for the good things in our lives.  Follow by praying for others and their healing, help, etc.  Then talk to God about ourselves -- confessing sin to him -- praying for blessings, assistance, forgiveness, guidance, etc. 

  

     "God has editing rights over our prayers.  He will . . . edit them, correct them, bring them in line with His will and then hand them back to us to be resubmitted" ~~ Stephen Crotts.  

Do you struggle with asking for what YOU want, instead of praying for God's Will to be done. . . and trusting that HE knows best?   I do.

I have struggled with this all my life many times failing and asking for certain things instead of asking to be blessed with what "God knows is best for me".   It's almost amusing to look back at some of the things I prayed for, and received, only to deeply regret it later.  

I am no better than anyone else in my faith.  I struggle daily.  But I do know that prayer has helped me through all my life, and through some of the toughest things I've ever gone through. 

I encourage you to continue to pray, and I pray He will ease the burden of many of my friends and help them find peace in these hard times.

      God Bless my Friends