“Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” - Luke 11:1 (NIV).
A long time ago I had an elderly friend who was a great conversationalist. He would call and freely talk on almost any subject under the sky. As the conversation tapered off, and you were eager to bring it to a conclusion, then he would suggest, “Now, let’s pray.” His prayer, just like his conversation, were a journey, in which you felt you were no more as he talked intimately to God, bringing to Him all the issues you had talked in a gentle and lovely voice.
There are many forms of prayers said. Some are scripted prayers like the Apostles Creed. There are spontaneous prayers that emanate from the spirit. The Roman Catholic Church has a list of written prayers to be said to certain saints. Prayers are our expression to the utmost God, where as His dear children we unburden ourselves to Him, in many ways.
One way to pray is as though we are conversing with God. We see that in the life of Moses who on more than one occasion he pleaded to God as with a close friend. At one point the fury of God was bordering on exterminating all the Israelites for their rebellion. “Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, and said: “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand… Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people” (Exodus 32:11-14)
One has a feeling that Moses was very comfortable while talking to God. He talked to God as a friend, a loving father, someone he knew very well was on His side. He could go on and on making his case, quite unhurried. Which reminds me of my old friend who has since gone to glory. I can imagine the long conversations he is having with God, for he must have picked up from where he left. May God help us come to Him and talk to Him frequently without a script as with a dear friend, knowing that He is gently listening and ever on our side.
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, creator of heaven and earth, once the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, and today I pray that your spirit enables me always to come to you and talk as with a dear friend, for you are a loving and listening Father.
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08/05/2024 - 09/05/2024 All day“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)
The culture of sharing gifts runs through scriptures and is at the heart of the Gospel. Upon realizing that Jesus Christ had been born the three wise main did not just go empty handed. “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh” (Mathew 2:11).
When Jacob decided to return to his country, he went with gifts to soften the heart of his twin brother Esau, whom he had left maddened at him for various wrongs. “Then he selected these gifts from his possessions to present to his brother, Esau: 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 30 female camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys” ( Genesis 32: 13-15). The reason was, Jacob thought, “I will try to appease him by sending gifts ahead of me. When I see him in person, perhaps he will be friendly to me.” So the gifts were sent on ahead, while Jacob himself spent that night in the camp” (vv 2—21).
Esau was already a wealthy man and had no need of the gifts presented. But Jacob pleaded with him. “Please take this gift I have brought you, for God has been very gracious to me. I have more than enough.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau finally accepted the gift” (Genesis 33: 11). This symbol of good touched Esau, brightened his heart, burying the old acrimonious relation.
Taking after these two instances believers should be in the habit of sharing gifts. We should visit each other not empty handed but like the wise men with gifts, not so much that those we are gifting are lacking, but as a way of blessing them. Proverbs 11:25-26, says, “Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.”
Most importantly we bless each other with gifts because we have received the most important gift there is in life, the gift of salvation. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I thank you for the most precious gift of all that you gave me of eternal life through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and so I pray that I may not hesitate to share this gift and bless those with as much whom you enable me to meet, this I pray in Jesus’ name.
