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1. 8 DAYS A WEEK
Psalm 119:164: "Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws." Am I really supposed to pray 7 times a day? No, but this relates to...
2. HAVE FUN?PRAY
I Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
True Christianity is exhilarating, not depressing. Not only should we pray together at Church, but also on our own.It is thankful. There is always something for which to give thanks.
3. ACCORDING TO HIS WORD
Psalms 119:169-176: "Let my cry come before Thee, O Lord; Give me understanding according to Thy word. Let my supplication come before Thee; Deliver me according to Thy word. Let my lips utter praise, For Thou dost teach me Thy statutes. Let my tongue sing of Thy word, for all Thy commandments are righteousness. Let Thy hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen Thy precepts. I long for Thy salvation, O Lord, and Thy law is my delight. Let my soul live that it may praise Thee, and let Thine ordinances help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Thy servant, for I do not forget Thy commandments."
By faith, make your plea to God. God teaches us, through the Bible, we should desire to offer Him praise. God's word should be the basis of our speech AND prayer. It should be our tool to bringing others to God, because God's Word is truth.
We live to praise God by deliberately choosing to follow Him and His Word and taking those things seriously. And by looking toward the hope of heaven. And also by taking pleasure in doing God's will. We should live our life in order to praise God and always remember that our place in heaven is due to God's grace.
4. PRACTICE YOUR ABC's: ACCEPT, BELIEVE, CONSIDER
In practical terms, we should keep a few things in mind when we seek to PRAISE God. Also, that praise and worship ARE NOT just another word for prayer. There is a different purpose in doing them. In praise and worship, we should focus our prayers on the needs of others, not ourselves.
This allows us to accept, believe, and consider that the needs we have, and have previously prayed about, have been met, even if we haven't seen it yet. These "ABC's" of praise helps us to be self-less in our communication with God.
Praise and worship have a component of meditation and reflection. It is not always necessary to do all the talking with God. We can let Him talk back. IF God is to speak THROUGH me, I must listen to Him speak TO me. We read scripture for INSPIRATION and meditate on God for APPLICATION Prayer is our plea to God on the behalf of others. When we pray for others we should avoid presuming to know their needs, even when they seem obvious to us. Instead we need to pray instead for:
--God's will to be done in their life, whatever it may be
--the other person to be blessed
--their needs, whatever they may be, to be fully met
Don't be shy about prayer. Pray for ALL those whose lives intersect yours. Sometimes you might pray WITH them, publicly. Most of the time you will pray FOR them, privately.
5. BE STILL AND KNOW
I Kings 19:9-13: "Then he came there to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" And he said, "I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, torn down Thine altars and killed Thy prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." So He said, "Go forth, and stand on the mountain before the Lord." And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. And it came about when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
Are you listening for God? God is not always where you think He is. The large, spectacular displays might not always be how God wants to talk to you. God wants to talk to us by gently whispering to the quietness of a humble heart. A personal quiet time is you stepping back from the business of your life and listening for God.
6. GOD WANTS TO ?PUMP YOU UP
Mark 1:35-39: "Very early, when it was still night, Jesus rose and went out. He went away to a deserted place and there He was praying. Simon and his friends tracked him down and said to him, "They are all searching for you," Jesus said to them, "Let us go somewhere else, to the nearby villages, that I may proclaim the good news there too, for that is why I came forth." So he went to their synagogues, all over Galilee, proclaiming the good news as he went, and casting out demons."
What do you do when you need to get away and be with God? What is your "solitary place"? If you do not have a place to go where you can be alone with God, find one. It isn't hard. The story is told of Suzanna Wesley, the mother of John and Charles Wesley. She had something like 17 kids (don't quote me on the number). But even in a household as full as that one must have been, she found a way to be alone with God one hour every day. When it was her "quiet time", she would pull her apron up over her head. That was her "solitary place". Right smack dab in the middle of a bunch of kids and teenagers.
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