Prayer Wisdom

The One Important Thing

I think prayer is difficult for a lot of people. What should I say, how long and how often should I pray, what if I just don't know how to express how I feel? Here Ron Dart shares some very helpful thoughts on prayer.

Spending some time in meditation before speaking is probably a good idea. And it seems good to distill your requests into the things that are truly important while we gather up the rest in the general manner of the Lord's Prayer, "Give us today our daily bread." After all, God already knows what we need before we ask him. Think for a moment. If you were only going to get one thing you ask for today, what would that one thing be? And why is that one thing so important? Not long ago, in making my way through 2 Kings, I came upon a prayer by Hezekiah and God's response to it. He had a letter from an invading king which he took to the Temple and spread out before God. The answer was not long in coming:

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard'"(2 Kings 19:20 NKJV).

And the implication is that if he hadn't asked, God would not have heard, nor would he have acted. So that one thing we really want to ask can be of paramount importance. But perhaps you are struggling with that question. It is intimidating in a way.

There's more, but if it's been a while since posting this you may have to scroll down.