Thoughts for Thursday

Praying
by guest blogger Emily Farmer

If you ask me I would say that praying is an important part of my day. I often find myself engaged in prayer with God continually through out the day. When I am in HIS word and praying scripture I am more aware of HIS voice and what he is trying to tell me. I can also see where he is leading me. The Bible tells us that we are given a special helper called "The Holy Spirit" when we accept Jesus Christ as our personal savior. This helper, or also known as counselor, is there to be our conscience in the sense of correcting our thoughts or attitude, to encourage us on, and to lead and guide us. Here is a verse I ran across recently and I thought I'd share it. It comes from Gal. 5:25 "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."

You might be thinking I don't have time to pray enough to make it count. My friend, you are mistakenly wrong. Every prayer you utter from your mouth is heard by God and important to HIM. Prayer is our way to communicate and talk to HIM. It's very hard to understand especially when we can't see God as a person but, we just have to have faith in knowing what we can not see. God wants us to come near to HIM, as James 4:8 says "Come near to God and he will come near to you."

Another verse on prayer that comes to mind is Phil. 4:6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, 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." This is a verse I have prayed a number of times when my husband and I had a big decision to make. We are not to worry about anything in all things big and small we are to take them (worry) to the feet of Jesus. He's the only one who can answer our many prayers.

God tells us in 2nd Corinthians that HIS grace is all we need. 2 Cor. 12:9-10, "And He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong." (NASV) I just love this verse it's so powerful if you break it down.

In 1st Thessalonians we are given 3 steps to take in praying.
Step one: Always be joyful- in everything you have and do be joyful.
Step two: Pray continually -to me this is through out the day every day, hour, minute or when ever something crosses your mind.
The third and last step is to give thanks. Enough said. "BE THANKFUL". 1 Thess. 5:16-18 "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Take the time today to stop and pray, be joyful and give thanks!