WHEN I FIRST PRAYED | Frank Becker

Week Six, 2024

Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours (Mark 11:240.

It happened more than sixty years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. It happened on my high school football field, as graduation ceremonies were about to begin. There were foreboding clouds on the horizon and lightning in the distance. It looked like we were going to have a wet outdoor graduation.

Then, I did something I had never done before…… I bowed my head and I prayed. It was an unusual experience because I had never done it before. Oh, as an Episcopalian, I had recited many prayers and knew the Book of Common Prayer nearly by memory, but reciting prepared prayers is not the same as praying your own and I had never been taught how to do that.

Prayer is giving our attention to God in a two-way spiritual relationship where we talk to God and listen to Him. Prayer is like a child’s conversation with their father. It is natural for a child to ask his father for the things they need, or to ask for advice or guidance.

We don’t pray on our own, but prayer brings us in touch with God and others, and Christians pray in the name of Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit. As we pray, we offer every situation to God. There is no ‘hidden secret’ when it comes to prayer. God is always alongside us and ready to listen.

Prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. Prayer is an expression of faith in God’s power, fueled by a desire for more of him. It does not necessarily come naturally, even when we have given our life to Christ. We have to learn how to pray. Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.

Prayer is one of the most powerful weapons God has given us, and looking ahead at 2024, I believe it has never been more important for God’s people to be on our knees. But knowing how to pray is not always easy. Jesus’ disciples felt the same confusion. They were familiar with the oft-repeated prayers of the Torah. But Jesus prayed with a kind of authority and power they had never seen before — as though God was listening! So, when they came to Jesus, as told in Matthew 6, they didn’t say, “Teach us another prayer.” They said, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

Have you asked the Lord to teach you how to pray?

SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

“How do we put our faith to work?”

In response, these 5 things came to mind:

1) By living what we say we believe. That is by glorifying God through our day-to-day living… through our work… through our fun… even in the mundane.

2) By doing what Jesus did – loving others, helping others, sharing life with others. Not because we have to but because He first did for us.

3) By going therefore – That is, by going to make disciples. Whether next door, down the hall, across the country or around the world. Put your faith into action.

4) By loving your neighbor as yourself (goes back to number 2). And who is your neighbor? Everyone – even if they don’t look like you. Overcome hate and disdain with love. Shine where you are.

5) By taking up our cross daily and following Him… loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength – loving him with all that we are. Love like Jesus. See as He sees. Respond like He would respond. Allow His heart to become our heart.

Let’s be clear – Faith and faith alone in Jesus Christ, the Son of God is what saves us. But as we live and grow in our faith in Him, we are called then to put our faith to work. So others can see Him in us… so others might know of His great love, grace and mercy.

Now is the time for us to shine, to be a light in a dark world… or at least our little part of it. Go now… “Get off the bench and do something… get out of the pew and put your faith to work.” Marty Stubblefield

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A large Swedish study has uncovered a paradox about people diagnosed with an excessive fear of serious illness: They tend to die earlier than people who aren’t hypervigilant about health concerns.

Hypochondriasis, now called illness anxiety disorder, is a rare condition with symptoms that go beyond average health worries. People with the disorder are unable to shake their fears despite normal physical exams and lab tests. Some may change doctors repeatedly. Others may avoid medical care.

QUOTES YOU CAN USE

Progress is impossible without change; and he cannot change his mind cannot change anything. Bernard Shaw

Where there’s hope, there’s life. It fills us with fresh courage and makes us strong again. Anne Frank

The excellence of a gift lies in its appropriateness rather than in its value. Charles Dudley Warner

Luck is when an opportunity comes along and you’re prepared for it. Denzel Washington

As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do. Andrew Carnegie

Amidst the global challenges to freedom, we each face a crucial choice. We can passively surrender or actively contribute to safeguarding our cherished values—individual freedom, private enterprise, and constitutional government. What will you do? The Hoover Institute

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better person. Benjamin Franklin

Remind the people…..to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always be gentle toward everyone. Titus 3:1-2.

When in doubt about what to believe, some things never change…Trust in God’s Word, The Bible communicates through the Holy Spirit. Dwight Short

When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. Franklin D. Roosevelt

Public opinion in this country is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail, without it nothing can succeed. Abraham Lincoln

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. Martin Luther King

Be happy while you’re living, for you’re a long time dead. Scottish Proverb

Peace and justice are two sides of the same coin. Dwight D. Eisenhower

You can’t save souls in an empty church. David Ogilvy

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Selected portions of Thoughts on Life can also be read at TheLife.com.

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