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Is prayer a gift?

Prayer is a gift that we can give each other, when we can give nothing else. We can ask God's blessings, his intervention or his will to be done, even when we do not know the specific details of what or for whom we are praying. Prayer is the act of reaching out to God in faith.

citizen-times.com - Power of prayer is sharing and appreciating the gift: Devotional

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Rev. Tim McConnell

Devotional

I am sure there have been hundreds of thousands of books and articles written about prayer: how to pray, models of prayer, answered and unanswered prayers and prayer for specific times and situations in our lives. Prayer can be made as complicated as we want to make it, or it can be simple. Prayer doesn’t need to be wordy, flowery or lengthy. God hears the simple praise, petition or confession just as well. “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner!” “Your will be done!” “Praise your name!” “Thank you for provision and protection!” “Thank you for your son Jesus!” “Breath” prayers or “thought” prayers can be the beginning of a prayerful conversation between us and God. The gift of prayer is perhaps the most important and necessary spiritual practice that promotes growth as a disciple of Jesus. As we read throughout the Bible we run into people — common, ordinary people — who pray. These people talk to God in response to him speaking to them or because of some need. Prayer seems to me to be the glue that holds together the relationship between God and his people. God sometimes chooses to perform miracles because people pray. People are healed both physically and spiritually because of prayer. We think it is an important part of our worship each Sunday, Wednesday night and whenever we come together, so prayer becomes a focal point of our worship in various ways. Not only the pastoral prayer, but our silent prayers, the hymns and songs, the affirmations of faith, the prayer of confession and the call to worship. Every part of our worship can be considered a form of prayer: talking to God, listening to what he has to say to us. We also think prayer is a necessary part of our daily walk, so we pray during each day. We know there is power in prayer, so we ask each other to pray for us and our particular needs. Prayer is a gift that we can give each other, when we can give nothing else. We can ask God’s blessings, his intervention or his will to be done, even when we do not know the specific details of what or for whom we are praying. Prayer is the act of reaching out to God in faith. As we read the book of Acts, we see the early church formed in the spirit of prayer. Jesus’ disciples and the many followers, both men and women, devoted themselves to conversation with God. The church was founded on this holy communion.

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Promotion

Jesus slipped off many times during his ministry in order to pray. He felt that prayer was necessary in order to stay in touch with God’s will for his life and ministry. The disciples learned from Jesus, asking him, “Lord, would you teach us how to pray?” So Jesus gave them and us what we call the “Lord’s Prayer.” If prayer was that important to Jesus and the disciples of the early church, maybe we should consider it important to us as well. I know Jesus must have prayed continually because he had much to pray about, and so do we. He wanted to be in conversation with God, his Father, and so should we. We have a few of his prayers written down for us, but none are more beautiful than the one found in John 17. Jesus had gathered his disciples for one last meal together before his arrest and crucifixion. He had passed around the bread and wine — the first Holy Communion. After washing their feet as a symbol of servant hood and teaching them for the last time, Jesus said, “Let’s close in prayer.” If you are following these weekly devotions, we will be looking at this High Priestly prayer from John 17 in the next couple of weeks. You are invited to read and meditate on the words of Jesus as he faces the cross. This is the opinion of the Rev. Tim McConnell, assistant pastor of Long’s Chapel United Methodist Church in Lake Junaluska. Contact him at 828-456-3993 or pastortimmc.blogspot.com.

citizen-times.com - Power of prayer is sharing and appreciating the gift: Devotional

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