PETITION
“Give us today our daily bread.”
God is our good Father who knows what we need before we ask, so why bother asking Him? Well, like a good Father He wants relationship with us. He wants us to grow in our relationship with him, to spend time with Him and tell Him what’s on our heart. God enjoys relationship with us.
I have heard many Christians say that they find prayer ‘boring’. This may be a result of praying vague prayers and not seeing a precise answer, leading to the conclusion that prayer is a spiritual activity that does not change our reality. Or perhaps sometimes we lose sight of God as our Father, we think He is not interested in the small incidents of our day-to-day lives. Yet in Luke 12:17 we are reminded that we are indeed precious to God, “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with the amount of things to pray for. As part of The Prayer Course Pete Greig shared the story of his 8-sided dice, made specially to take into account his 8 big prayers. Can you identify up to 8 miracles that you want God to do in your life/in the lives of those you love/in the world around you? Identify these and commit to praying for them – to help perhaps get the PrayerMate app on your phone, or write a list and pin it on your wall or somewhere you won’t forget and pray for them regularly.
Try to make your prayers specific; instead of simply praying for God to bless someone – what is it you really want God to do? And don’t always just pray the big miraculous prayers – think of the journey to get there. For example, instead of praying simply for salvation for a colleague, I need to pray in small steps, for opportunities to share God’s love and grace, then an opportunity to share something of my faith, then for her heart to be softened and for her to start asking questions. If we pray about specific things we will be more able to identify those prayers being answered, and this will encourage us and keep us praising God.
Establish those things you want to pray for and get praying! Why not choose a time each day to commit to praying for those big miracles you identified earlier. If it helps why not pray with a spouse or a friend too!
scruffyvicar 