Devotional
for the Week of 23 April 2007
LET’S
PRAY
Scripture Text: Matthew
6:5-13
“But
when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your
Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done
in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:6
Developing
A Strong Personal Prayer Life
Every
time we listen to a sermon, God wants us to hear what He says.
He wants us to listen attentively, responsively
and purposefully.
When
we listen responsively, we sometimes lift up our hands, shout
“Amen!”, or bow low like Ezra and others did in Nehemiah
8:6.
When
we listen purposefully, we are sensitive to His message. This
sensitivity opens our hearts to receive either encouragement or
the burden that He wants to place with us through His words, so
that we may be prompted to pray in response to what we have heard.
Why
a personal prayer life?
Personal
prayer should not be confused with private prayer (vs. public).
“Personal” refers to us as individuals. As children
of God, each one of us can pray (Romans 8:15,16) and
each one of us must pray if we do not want to sin against
God (1 Samuel 12:23). When we develop our personal prayer life,
we can expect great things to happen. (Eph 3:20).
What
is the strength of your personal prayer life?
The
strength of our personal prayer life can be determined by our
fervency. Are we passionate and dedicated to our prayer
time? Have we set a specific time aside each day to commune personally
with God? It doesn’t matter how much time we spend in prayer
as long as we are focused. By talking and listening to
God, we can reflect on His will and purpose for our lives. Prayer
can give us a new heart for God, one that looks forward to coming
into His presence daily. Prayer is fellowship with God and the
H.E.A.R.T. of our Heavenly Father.
H
– It’s about Him and connecting
with His heart
E – It’s meant to be enjoyable
A – It’s our access,
our authority to be in a position of dependence in His presence.
R – It’s reaching
hear - to hear Him even as we pray
T – It’s talking
to Him unashamedly with an attitude of total abandonment of self
to Him
How
can you develop a strong personal prayer life?
-
Make
a daily appointment with God. Write it down in your calendar.
Will it be in the mornings or evenings?
-
Pick
a quiet place where you can shut the door and be completely
alone with God.
-
Remove
all possible distractions (e.g. turn off your phone) so that
you can give God your full attention.
-
Let your loved one, spiritual mentor or someone close to you
know about your daily appointment, so that they can encourage
you.
Prayer Response:
Heavenly
Father, there is nothing that I want more than to develop a strong
personal prayer life because this is the way to a personal relationship
with You. Father, help me to keep my appointment with You daily,
to put You first Lord, in everything that I do. In Jesus’
name I pray. Amen.
Devotional based on a message by Dr Ho Boon Tiong