Thankgivings for Prayer

I am easily still within my “Season of Thankgivings” in which I am attempting to bring reasons for thanks to each of us as we have been blessed throughout the year and for many, year after year. One of the big thanks that gives me reason for smiles, hope and encouragement is prayer. Praying is one of those things that a lot of folks talk about doing, and it is a subject that maybe many individuals do without any clear direction of who they are praying to. Me, I know in whom I believe and His name is Jesus. I have discovered that He listens and that He also responds, which has kept me coming back to His throne time and time again.
Prayer is a powerful tool and the fact-of-the-matter based on Christian Scripture is that Christians can pray for anyone and that individual can be the blessed person because of the prayers of another even though they might not have even asked for prayer. Yes, the Bible says that the prayers of the righteous avail much. Considering the subject matter of prayer the Bible is also very clear about what happens when two Christians get together to pray and gather in His name. Positive things happen because two Christians agree and because they agree for God’s Will to be accomplished and not theirs.
There have been thousands of testimonies of God’s Hand-i-work accomplished in the lives of individuals who were given news of no hope and even advice to make preparations because of the exhaustion of medical procedures and treatments. News as this is never what you want to hear and sometimes not what you are prepared for or expecting either. People pray about lots of things. We pray for our children before they are born, as they are growing up and in some situations the children we pray for are those that come into our lives at different age levels and circumstances. Prayer is something we implore when we are facing decisions about work, or situations that require us to lead a group of people toward a goal too. Maybe the most common prayer would be for medic al outcomes, tests, results, surgeries and procedures. I say this is the most common prayer because of my experience over the past 29 years of ministry. Most folks want to pray when they are up against a wall or are facing trials they never imagined a way out of prior to that moment. There is absolutely nothing wrong with praying in emergencies either. I strongly encourage all to pray when such times arrive in our lives. It is often in these types of moments that we realize there is someone that cares and there is a peace that seems to exist when we practice faith. Jesus has the unique ability to hear a million prayers at once, well, actually all the prayers of the world which would include some 6,840,507,000 and counting every second. Not sure how he does it, but he does and I’m for one just thankful that He is able!
I am assuming that those reading this column will be able to admit we have all prayed at some point in our lives, the most precious prayers to the ears of Jesus are simply two. The most important prayer Jesus wants to hear from us is the prayer that comes from our heart where we ask Him to come into our heart and to forgive us and to fill us with His plan and purpose. The second prayer that Jesus longs to hear is the one of praise. If one spends time praying over situation after situation then you would think it would be natural to praise Him like no other when the answer comes, right? But so often that is not the case. The Bible tells of the one who returned to say thanks while everyone else went on their way without taking time to come back and praise the giver whose touch made the change they had been seeking. Finding the courage to express thanks is not only the right thing to do, but it is the example we should all follow as individuals who are grateful. Churches should never have a problem in finding someone to testify about the blessings of God but sometimes the praise is either shorted lived or never even spoken at all. I personally thing this is a great day and time of the year to live a life of thanks and a life of prayer.

Until then