Prayer

Recently I was invited to be the guest speaker at a prayer breakfast, I hadn't had an invitation to speak at an event in a while, so I decided to accept the invitation.  Knowing that the topic was prayer, I thought to myself, "this should be easy," but it wasn't.  I struggled with what to present as I thought about the audience I would be speaking to, and I struggled with how the Lord would want me to present a topic on prayer.  I had several months to prepare, so I would pray and ask the Lord for guidance, but nothing concrete or coherent came together.  A month earlier I was ready to back out of the invitation, but after much prayer and two days before the event, I finally got direction.  After I finished praying I went immediately to my computer and began to pull the lesson together with ease. I titled the lesson, "I've been Praying and Praying."
Philippians 4:6-7:  be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

 In the lesson I focused on the individuals responsibility in prayer, things that may hinder or prolong the answer to prayer.  I won't elaborate however, I presented ten things we should consider in our daily prayer life: Honesty, cherished sin, wrong motives, surrender, faith, righteousness, God's mercy, our expectations, God's will, and the power of prayer.  I summed the lesson up with these words, "if you have been praying, keep praying."

 If you have been praying about a situation or circumstance in your life (and I know you have), then make your request known to God and ask yourself, am I being honest with myself and God, do I have a sin in my life that I refuse to let go of, are my motives right, have I surrendered my will to God's, do I have faith that my prayers will be answered, am I living right before God, do I understand God's mercy, what should my expectations be, do I understand God's will and the power of prayer.

 Yeah, it's a lot, but I know for a fact that as we earnestly begin to ponder these questions and apply the answers to our lives we will experience the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding in our prayer life. 

I leave you this week with this; If you have been praying and praying and haven't gotten an answer, I encourage you to keep praying!

 Much Love
Melissa

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