DEFINING and DOING PRAYER

Thanks to Pete Atkins for this Devotional on prayer...Pete is a founder of what is now the nationwide Mission Shaped Ministry Course...I'm on the course, and enjoyed being on the receiving end of this inspired word last night. Don't just read it once...take time with it and let God speak to you as you reflect:

To pray is to breathe
Relationship with our Father in Heaven is what brings us life

both on earth and for eternity;

prayer is one of the gifts from God for expressing and deepening relationship with Him

– without it we die inside,

we are cut off from our source of life

and our souls start to shrivel.

This gift is permission and means to communicate and commune

with the creator of all things,

the redeemer of our souls,

the lover of all mankind,

the King of Heaven.

In prayer we speak and listen,

ask and receive,

are quiet or shout,

pray in words or in silence,

focus on the needs of others

or our own situation,

use what is written

or respond in our own words,

use our mother tongue

or the "tongues of men and angels".

We can sing or say our prayer,

pray wordlessly

or in groans too deep for words.

We can dance out our prayer,

draw it,

paint it,

write it down,

write it in the sand

or encapsulate it in the flame of a candle.

In prayer

we approach the God who loves us

and who draws us nearer;

we acknowledge our dependence upon Him,

our desire to hear Him,

to give thanks to Him,

to pray our confession when we mess up

and to receive again the joy of forgiveness.

Prayer can be …
…a season of devotion

...or a 3 second request for help,

it can be impregnated with intense feeling

or be a cerebral and passionless event.

Prayer can be on our own

or with others.

Prayer can be inspired by nature or beauty

..or by desperation and suffering.

Prayer can be inspired by our own joys, needs or sorrows

..or the difficulties and heartaches of others.

Prayer, like worship, is a way of life

..not an occasional foray into a spiritual realm.

Seeking to see vision fulfilled without prayer

is like going to war with

no strategy,

no map,

no armour,

no weapons

and no communication with headquarters.

But of more importance

is that seeking to see vision fulfilled without prayer

is to seek effect above relationship.

Closeness to Him is what He desires of us most
…it’s what Jesus came and died to restore.

Seek His face before His hand.

Seek the giver before the gift.

In our love for Him and His for us

lies the source of the power

of the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Kingdom is within us

and only to the extent it has come in us

will the Kingdom come through us.

The Kingdom of God in us is measured by

our submission to the King,

our love for the King,

our likeness to our King,

our relationship with the King,

our communication with the King,

our life of prayer.

In prayer we align ourselves

to the will of heaven

and pull away from the gravity

of our own desires,

our self centeredness,

and our perspective.

In prayer God invites us

to sit beside Him in heavenly realms

and gain His perspective,

share His heart

and commit ourselves

to the accomplishment of His will.

In prayer we can ask

or groan,

or plead

or wrestle,

or agree

for His will to be established,

for His Kingdom to come on the earth

– including in our hearts,

our territory,

our realm of responsibility,

our lives,

our families

and our Churches.

We pray on our own and we pray with those who share our life
We pray

as one of the two or three gathered together in His name

and we pray

as one of the thousand

gathered together to worship the King,

to cry to heaven,

to plead for the nation

or for the future of our children.

To pray is to live
…and to breathe,

and to allow Him

to be our all in all.

Then as we obey in prayer,

we see our dreams unfold,

His love made known,

His Kingdom established,

the captives set free,

addictions broken,

light come in the darkness

and the lost found.
…and as we pray, Heaven comes upon the earth