Colossians 1 - Prayer is Asking and Receiving

Today, Monday May 10 Prayer is Asking and Receiving Colossians 1:9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; Right after I received Jesus Christ into my heart and life as a nineteen year old, I knew I needed to learn how to pray. There was something in my heart that wanted to communicate with the God who saved me! When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives at our salvation experience we become a new creation in Christ Jesus and have new desires in our lives. And prayer, talking with our Father, is definitely one of those desires. If you don’t have a desire to pray please take the time to make sure you have a genuine salvation. Remember the disciples saw and heard Jesus praying and they were motivated to pray and so they asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” One of the ways I begin to learn to pray was to find good books on and about prayer written by people who knew how to pray. One of the very first books I read as a brand new believer was a book entitled, “Prayer, Asking and Receiving”, by Dr. John R. Rice. The Apostle Paul said in verse nine, that he “prayed and asked….”.  Now for sure, prayer is many things. But genuine prayer comes from a great sense of need in my life or the needs in the lives of others that the Spirit of God might reveal to me. Another book I read basically said that, “Prayer is a sense of helplessness.” If I get lost when I driving to a specific location, it seems the last thing I will do, is to humble myself and admit that I am lost, and stop and find someone that knows the area and ask them for directions. It’s my pride that keeps me from admitting and asking! I believe we have the same issue when it comes to praying. We try to make the Christian life so complicated when, really it is so simple! Is it difficult to talk with someone that you love and you know that they love you? Of course not! My friend, your heavenly Father is waiting with open arms for you to come and talk with Him. I’m delighted as a father and grandfather for my children and grandchildren to call me and ask for help when they need it. One of the great joys of my life over my many years as a pastor, is for a member or friend to call me and ask for help or advice. Today, would you please take the time talk with your Heavenly Father? First, tell Him how much you love Him and need Him in your life! And then know that He has given you complete access to Himself and all His resources through His Son Jesus Christ! God bless!