Sincere Prayer

I think most of us pray on a daily basis, be it a prayer request or prayer of thanksgiving. We all know that prayer is a crucial part of our relationship with God. In times of trouble, we will earnestly pray and seek God and in joyful times we give thanks. But how often are our prayers insincere and filled with doubt?

Philippians 4:6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

I do not know about you but I sometimes find myself praying at night before I go to bed for the sake of praying. It has become a routine for me and I start saying the same prayer repeatedly. When things are good in my life, I find myself rarely praying sincerely which is incredibly sad because this means that I tend to take God for granted. I only come to Him when I need Him to help me with a struggle and after everything is alright I give thanks to God. Then after a while I forget what God has done for me and I start praying less.

We should be wanting to talk and pray to God from day to night. We should not only come to Him when we want something or need something. Although God does use struggles in our lives to bring us back to Him but I think as a child of God we ought to pray to Him sincerely in good times and in bad times because it is an absolute privilege that we are able to come to Him in prayer.

Besides having a prayer life that has its ups and downs, I find that sometimes I am doubtful that God will ever answer my prayer requests especially when you have a been praying for that request for some time. It is so easy for us to forget the power of our Almighty God that we think that He cannot move mountains for us. So let us be reminded again that the Lord makes all things beautiful in His time (not ours!) and have faith that He only wants what’s best for us.
Hopefully the Bible verses below will serve as an encouragement that will strengthen our prayer life.

Mark 11:22-25

“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” (NIV)

Matthew 7:11

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (NIV)

-Xin-Yi

Images taken from:

http://www.campusforchrist.org/alumni/prayer/
http://wallpapersweb.com/dlwall.php?image_id=24796