Persistent Prayer

Psalms 55:17 "Morning, noon, and night you hear my concerns and my complaints."

There are many mornings when I have just hot tea and cookies. It's so relaxing. I find myself praying silently throughout the day. 

My group of friends meet every month, and we have lunch. Before we eat, we say grace, a prayer thanking the Lord for the food and the fellowship. I don’t know about you, but as I’ve gotten older my mind bounces here and there and everywhere. Somehow, I think if I bow my head, my words will fall out onto the floor. Sometimes I pray, but mostly, it’s Ruth or Ellen who pray before our luncheon.

When I first became a Christian, I read about prayer. I still struggle with prayer. I am reading Billy Graham’s book, “The Journey…How to Live by Faith in an Uncertain World” and Chapter Twelve, “Keeping in Contact” talks about prayer and how “prayer is not an option but a necessity”.

Like in any relationship, there must be communication. Oh, I can pray in my car and that’s usually where I do most of my praying. It should refer to my ‘prayer closet’. At home, I pray in the morning using my Bible on my phone or hardback cover and pray with my Bible open.

Sometimes when praying for a family member or friend, I turn to Colossians 1:9-14, NIV. These verses are prayers. In his radio program, Dr. Charles Stanley spoke about these verses and said place a name every place where the word “you” is found. So, for example, if you are praying for family members or a friend, here is the prayer:

“For this reason, since the day we heard about Carolyn, we have not stopped praying for Carolyn. We continually ask God to fill Carolyn with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that Carolyn may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that Carolyn may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified Carolyn to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued Carolyn from the dominion of darkness and brought Carolyn into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

In addition, if words don’t come readily, I pray the Psalms back to the Lord. One verse I’ve memorized is Psalms 119:11, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” The Psalms are mostly penned by David, and most are very beautiful to recite back to our Lord.

Prayer. It’s a privilege. Yes, and there is a prayer that I repeat every day. It’s not citing repetitious words, but a continuous plea that I will never quit bringing Him to answer.