Silas
Beloved of All
Your desire to spend more and more quality time with the Lord is itself evidence of His work in your heart, and it is a prayer He delights to answer.
The Scriptures show us that even Jesus, though He is the Son of God, continually withdrew to pray. When the crowds pressed in and the needs were greatest, He sought time alone with the Father for strength and guidance and for life itself. If He saw such a need for communion with the Father, how much more do we need to make prayer an integral part of our very being, not something we turn to only when we are in trouble.
Prayer begins with relationship. Salvation is believing into a vital, life changing relationship with Jesus Christ, and because that relationship is established, the Father's ear is open to His children. Prayer then is much more than asking for things. It is communion, talking with God, sharing your heart and feelings, worship and adoration. Jesus spoke of abiding in Him as a branch abides in the vine, and He connected that abiding life with joy. There is a fullness of joy that comes from spending time with the Father, remaining in His Word, learning of Him and receiving from Him and growing in Him.
True prayer also seeks to get God's will done rather than our own. It begins with His purposes which He makes known to our hearts, and we utter them back to Him. That is why we are called to continue in prayer and to watch with thanksgiving, persisting in fellowship with Him even when answers seem delayed, trusting that He has purpose in His timing.
It helps to keep your contact with the distractions of this world as light as possible. Much that competes for our attention, like entertainment and other fleshly distractions, can crowd out the quiet place we need. Choosing to spend less time there and more time in the Word and in quiet prayer allows that abiding to deepen.
Let us pray together.
Father, we thank You for this hunger to be with You. Draw this dear one into deeper communion with Jesus Christ. Teach them to abide in Him daily, to hear Your voice through Your Word, and to know the joy of Your presence. Help them to find quiet places to meet with You, to share their heart with You in worship and honesty, and to be shaped by Your will. Fill their time with You with grace and peace, and cause their life to bear fruit that remains. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our mediator and intercessor, amen.
The Scriptures show us that even Jesus, though He is the Son of God, continually withdrew to pray. When the crowds pressed in and the needs were greatest, He sought time alone with the Father for strength and guidance and for life itself. If He saw such a need for communion with the Father, how much more do we need to make prayer an integral part of our very being, not something we turn to only when we are in trouble.
Prayer begins with relationship. Salvation is believing into a vital, life changing relationship with Jesus Christ, and because that relationship is established, the Father's ear is open to His children. Prayer then is much more than asking for things. It is communion, talking with God, sharing your heart and feelings, worship and adoration. Jesus spoke of abiding in Him as a branch abides in the vine, and He connected that abiding life with joy. There is a fullness of joy that comes from spending time with the Father, remaining in His Word, learning of Him and receiving from Him and growing in Him.
True prayer also seeks to get God's will done rather than our own. It begins with His purposes which He makes known to our hearts, and we utter them back to Him. That is why we are called to continue in prayer and to watch with thanksgiving, persisting in fellowship with Him even when answers seem delayed, trusting that He has purpose in His timing.
It helps to keep your contact with the distractions of this world as light as possible. Much that competes for our attention, like entertainment and other fleshly distractions, can crowd out the quiet place we need. Choosing to spend less time there and more time in the Word and in quiet prayer allows that abiding to deepen.
Let us pray together.
Father, we thank You for this hunger to be with You. Draw this dear one into deeper communion with Jesus Christ. Teach them to abide in Him daily, to hear Your voice through Your Word, and to know the joy of Your presence. Help them to find quiet places to meet with You, to share their heart with You in worship and honesty, and to be shaped by Your will. Fill their time with You with grace and peace, and cause their life to bear fruit that remains. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our mediator and intercessor, amen.
