October 21, 2016
Article – 5 Rules that WILL improve your Prayer Life
- Make prayer a habit.
Sometimes we don’t pray because we didn’t pray. Prayer never became a habit. It is amazing to see how Jesus built his habit. “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” (Mark 1:35). When is the last time you rose before others and began your habit of prayer? It is placing such a priority on prayer that turns it into a habit.
- Have an appointed time and place for your daily prayers.
You can certainly pray while riding in your car or walking your dog, but these are not the mainstays of a great prayer life. If you don’t have an appointed time and place, it is not likely to become a habit with you. Life will rush in and the urgent things that happen will push out the important thing of prayer.
- Use pen and paper in your prayer life.
Keep a note pad handy so you can jot down your thoughts. Throughout the day things will come into your day that you know you need to remember in your prayer. You cannot trust you memory to keep up with all those things. You might even benefit by using a journal to write your thoughts after prayer. By keeping that journal you can study your own prayer life. I once talked with a spiritual person who told me that he spends two hours a day writing “love letters to God.” This was a habit of many years with him and he often went back over his “letters” and read the things he had already written to God.
- Incorporate the short prayer into your life.
Obviously you should have medium and long prayers. There are circumstances in life that require long conversations with God. Sometimes, however, immediate circumstances require a quick prayer. When Nehemiah went before the king, the king asked him what was wrong. Before he answered, he prayed and then gave the king his answer. In the time the king asked the question till the time he answered the king, there would have only been time or a most brief prayer. (Nehemiah 2:1-5).
- Learn to pray for both generic AND specific things.
When you pray for your family, do not always say, “God bless my family.” Take the time to pray for specific needs of the individuals in your family. They will be blessed and the prayer will help you think about the needs of each family member.
Obviously there are many more guidelines, but I will close with one more that ought to be obvious to all Christians. To build a great prayer life, you must believe that God answers prayer. Unless you do, you will not build a strong, habitual, passionate prayer life. You may pray some out of a sense of ought, but it will be no deeper. If you do believe that God will answer your prayer, nothing will stop your prayer life.
Lonnie Davis
Quote
“Sin is not hurtful because it is forbidden,
but it is forbidden because it hurtful.”
– Benjamin Franklin
Scripture
“A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
– Proverbs 15:1
Quiz
- Why is the Book of Acts called the Book of Acts?
- What is the first thing that that Eve did for Adam?
- What kind of material did God use to make clothes for Adam and Eve?
(For Answers see bottom)
Resource: Easton’s
My resource recommendation for this week is an app for your smart phone called “Easton’s.” It is an older Bible dictionary. It cost next to nothing and will be helpful to have with you at all times. In Bible class someone might ask a question about a person, place, thing, or word. Easton’s would be a good resource to have handy. Certainly there are better Bible dictionaries, but for the price and convenience, this is nice to have.
Humor
I always thought my neighbors were really nice people But then they put a password on their WIFI.
Bonus Humor: What is blue and smells like red paint. Answer: Blue paint. (Groan).
Fact
In George Washington’s day there were no cameras. One’s image was either sculpted or painted. Some paintings of George Washington show him standing behind a desk with one arm behind his back while others showed both arms and legs. Artist new that limbs (arms, legs, and hands) were very difficult to paint so they charged more to paint the arms and legs is picture. From this fact comes the expression, “It will cost you an arm and a leg.
Answers to Quiz
- The full name of the book is “The Acts of the Apostles.” Over time, for convinces sake, we shorted it to “Acts.” A better title for the book might be, “The Book of the Acts of Peter and Paul.” Most of the book is about these two men and their relationship with building the church.
- The first thing Eve ever did for Adam was give him something to eat. (Genesis 3:6).
- Adam and Eve made their clothes from fig leaves. (Gen 3:7). God made them clothes from animal skin. (Gen 3:21)