The Privilege of Prayer

" I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray." Psalm 17:6

Prayer, what an awesome privilege it is! When Jesus cried out on the cross, "it is finished," the veil was torn, opening up the Holy of Holy's, (Mt 27:51) so believers could enter into the very presence of God. We can now come boldly before the throne with confidence. Heb 4:16
This is an awesome yet intimidating privilege. How can I, a man of unclean lips, come before God? On our own it is impossible, but through Christ all things are possible. It is through Jesus' sacrifice alone that allows us the entrance to grace. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do " (Eph. 2:8,9).
Then it is through Jesus that I can come before God, but now that I am able to get there, what do I say to the creator of the Universe? How do I talk to God? The disciples felt the same way, so they asked Jesus. He said, "when you pray, pray like this." Mt. 6:5-13 It is so simple, we are given the luxury to speak to God as if we're simply speaking to our father. Jesus said he knows our needs before we even ask, so stop with all the smoke and mirrors, and just get real with God. Believe me, you aren't going to shock him. Just remember he loves you and wants whats best for you. Jer. 29:11
You might ask, "OK, if God already knows my needs before I ask, why doesn't he just take care of them? Why is prayer even necessary?" That is a huge question, I'm sure I'm not qualified to answer. However, in a nutshell, it's for our benefit. When God answers prayer, it builds our faith. Without prayer God can still supply all of our needs, but I know me, and if I never had to ask for anything I would soon start taking God for granted. I think though, more importantly it is because God desires relationship. He wants us to talk to him, to cast all our cares upon him. He desires us to fully rely upon him because he truly does love us.
To learn more about Jesus, click on one of the church links on this page. For prayer or just to talk about anything at all, feel free to contact me; rlwhitener@gmail.com. Please include prayer request in the subject line.
Thanks for following along,
God Bless