Q. How important is prayer? Doesn't God already know what we need?
A. As powerful as God is, He cannot answer prayers until they are prayed.
That seems like an odd limitation on an omniscient being!
Prayer is the key that unlocks the storehouses of God's grace and power.
Without it, God is powerless!!! Muahahahahahaha!
Prayer is not a matter of overcoming God's reluctance,
Of course not. You’ll never overcome that!
and it is not a means of sending God to run your errands.
God, this latte is cold!
Many people consider prayer a form of divine insurance or a game of chance-heaven's version of Let's Make a Deal.
“Would you like what’s behind Door #1, Door #2, or Door #3?”
“Door #3, Jesus! Please give me Door #3!”
“Oh, I’m sorry. That’s the damned to eternal torment door. Step right this way.”
…Yeah, I see your point. That would be a bummer.
It's not that at all.
Whew! That’s good. I never figured that Jesus looked like Monty Hall.
Prayer is submitting to the purposes of God. Find out what God wants and pray for that.
And supposing to know the purpose of God is arrogance! So prayer is arrogance! Got it!
When you meet God's conditions
Which will become clear to you after eating these brownies
in prayer, you get an answer every time.
Which explains why all the controlled studies on the subject agree whole-heartedly with this claim!
Realize that there are three possible answers: yes, no, and wait.
Vegas calls this “hedging your bet”.
Of course, we don't want to hear two of those answers, because we hate to wait on anything.
Especially on that terminal illness. We’re picky that way.
America is the land of fast cars and fast food, instant potatoes and instant coffee. But Isaiah said, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength" (40:31).
Except when he doesn’t.
Through prayer, you can tap into the supernatural world,
And feel like you’re doing something when you’re not!
and you can pray with intelligence that goes beyond the knowledge of man.
Clearly
Romans 8:26 says that when we don't know how to pray, the Holy Spirit helps us and makes intercession for us.
Yay! And here I was worried that there’d be a test.
I have learned to pray with a legal pad close by. When I finish telling God what's on my mind, I listen to see what's on His mind-and I write it down.
God obviously needs a secretary
What He tells me when I shut up and listen is what gives birth to every sermon I preach and every book I write.
In addition to those brownies!
If you want to hear from God-and He does want to talk to you-then don't just bombard heaven with a laundry list of requests. Pour your heart out to God, then take time to listen. It will revolutionize your life.
You too could become an obese, adulterous, million dollar a year televangelist! Yay!
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