"We all
get confused sometimes about what to pray for, what to ask God for. That’s OK.
Everybody does. But a good rule
of thumb is:
Listen to your Father in heaven.
Hear what God is saying to you.
It will help you to know what to pray for.
Allow the
Spirit within to seek the deep things of God and follow your leading as it is
revealed to you by the Holy Spirit. The
deeper the relationship, the wiser the prayer.
One more
thing to remember - Don’t under-pray. It
shows little faith and trust in God when you under-pray.
Do you
remember what James says about under-praying?
James
1:5-7
“If any of
you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and
upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
V6 But let
him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For
he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
V7 For let
not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the
Lord.”
Two more
things of great importance:
1 When you pray, you must be careful NOT to pray for what
sounds good or what others want to hear.
We do
that once and a while, but less is better.
Now take
a minute and look back and you can see where God was telling you to pray one
way about this or that, and you prayed another.
Even while you were praying, you could sense that what you were asking
for didn’t seem right, but it sounded like the right thing to pray for, or it
was what you thought you wanted.
You need
to follow the Spirit’s leading. You need
to quit trying to please men or say things to be heard. God is looking for you to pray with wisdom.
2 No more teaching during prayer.
We need
to quit trying to instruct others while communing with God. Prayer, all prayer is direct communication
with God.
God is
not pleased when you try to persuade others or put others down when you are
supposed to be in pure reverence before God.
Luke 18:9-14
“And He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.
V10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, the other a publican. (Of the three sects of prominent societies of Judaism; the Pharisees, Sadducees and the Essenes, the Pharisees were by far the most influential. These were the religious leaders of the time. And a publican was a local tax collector for the Roman government.
V11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
V12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
V13 And the publican , standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
V14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
God thinking requires that you think about what you say when you pray to Almighty God. You should be praying with faith directly to God, not trying to teach others or make others feel like they are of a lessor sort.
Excerpt
from God thinking X - Deep Calls Unto Deep by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2012
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