Just a Prayer Away   “For everyone who asks receives; who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” Matthew 7:8 NIV

Prayer is our way of communicating with God. It is an act of faith.

The Lord’s Prayer is a model prayer on how we should ask God, Our Father, for our needs.  It teaches us that we should pray with worship and reverence; with humbleness – accepting his will in our lives, with repentance of our sins and forgiveness of others in our hearts;  with thanksgiving for all he has already done for us; and with the believe in his power to grant what we pray for. We are assured that God, our heavenly father, will answer our prayers because, even an imperfect worldly father gives bread and not stones when his children ask.

Prayer is a recipe for peace in our hearts. It is the act of trusting God in our lives rather than our own human knowledge and power. The Bible says,” Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippines 4:6-7. NIV)

God does not always answer prayers the way we expect him to. Sometimes he lets us face trials so that we are strengthened and become more dependent on his grace. God did not take away Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” (2nd Corinthians 12: 7-10) because it made him stronger to be reliant on God rather than on his own strength.  Sometimes, when God delays the answer to our prayers or says no, we realize in hindsight that it happened for the best. It is only God who has the full picture.

Just as Jesus prayed frequently, we are also required to be persistent in our prayers. This way we are in touch with the direction God wants our lives to take.  We need to keep on asking, seeking and knocking on Christ’s door because the Bible bids that we do it, so that our lives can be transformed to be more like him.