When you pray…

Posted by Alan Knox on Mar 2, 2011 in discipleship | 1 comment

Andy at “aBowden blog” has a very good post called “Myths about prayer.” He offers several “lessons learned” about prayer from a study of Matthew 6.

Andy has alot of very good points in his post. I think he has seven points in all, and they are all worth considering. Most of his points deal with the quality or effectiveness of his prayers.

He ends his post with this:

When I take Jesus’ words about prayer to heart, I find my own prayer life strengthened. No longer do I judge the effectiveness of my prayers by their length or verboseness, and this God-blessed simplicity fuels my prayer life. I can simply talk to God, and when I’ve told him what is on my heart — even if it is only a few short sentences — that is okay.

We’ve also recently finished a study of prayer (well, it continues for one more week). Here are a few things that I’ve learned:

1. There’s nothing special about bowing your head and closing your eyes when you pray, or saying “In Jesus’ name” or “Amen” at the end.
2. If you have a “daily quiet time,” that’s fine. But, don’t think that you’ve finished praying when the “daily quiet time” is over. In fact, you’ve only just begun to pray.
3. Your relationships with other people affect your prayers – both what you pray for, and how God hears your prayers.
4. God is always present, and every word and thought is a prayer, whether we realize it or not.

What do you think?