My church printed cards with suggestions for prayer time. I’d like to share the first three with you today:
Begin every prayer by praising God for who He is.
I will extol You, my God, O King;
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
And His greatness is unsearchable.
Psalm 145:1-3 NKJV
Ask God to reveal any sin that may be in your heart.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24 NKJV
Then, confess any sin God has shown you.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9 NKJV
A lot of people falsely believe that they don’t sin. Others pray a blanket request for forgiveness for “all my sins.” I try to ask for forgiveness as I go and name the sin, but there are so many in a day, it’s hard. So, it’s a good idea to ask God to reveal those sins so we can ask for forgiveness for each one. Remember the Sermon on the Mount: anger is murder, lust is adultery, etc. Matthew 5: 17-30. It’s easy to forget our sinful thoughts and focus only on our actions, but we need to ask for forgiveness for all of it.
Praise God for His grace and mercy.
Please join me this week in praying for a revival of prayer. Pray that those who profess to be believers but don’t pray realize that without this conversation with God, they are separated from Him. Pray that they realize they can have a personal relationship with Him if they get to know Him through His word and through prayer. Let’s also pray for those who have a prayer life to draw even closer to God. Pray for the courage to ask people if you can pray for them/with them. Pray with thanksgiving that our loving Father allows us to come to Him in this way.
