

I say all this to say that I think the purpose of prayer is no different that the purpose of everything else, it's for God'scglory. When we pray and God answers our prayer we get to praise him for his goodness and love and ultimately he is glorified when this happens. This line of thinking certainly begs the question, why is it that God doesn't always answer our prayers? To answer this question we have to look at both the nature and attitude of our prayers. While Jesus did say things like, "Ask and it will be given to you" in Luke 11:9, he also also said in John 14:13 that "I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father." From these verses we can conclude that God will always answer our prayers as long as the result brings glory to Him. I know many of my prayers are not of this nature. I frequently pray asking for things that will bring glory to me with little to no concern for the glory of the father. It's not surprising then that God doesn't answer these prayers. The other place that I often struggle in prayer is the attitude with which I approach God. In 2 Chronicles 7:14 God speaks through the prophets to give these instructions about prayer: "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. " "Humble themselves" and "seek my face" are key phrases giving us clues as to how God wants us to approach prayer. I'm not sure about you but my prayers are usually quick cries for help asking God to give me the extra energy I need when feeling under the weather or asking for a little help on a test. These "give me a boost" prayers where we ask for God's extra 10% to add to our 90 don't show the humility or seeking God is asking for. We are fooling ourselves if we believe anything other than truth that we're absolutely 100% dependent on God for everything. When we realize this and stop trying to take credit for what we do, getting on our knees and talking to the Lord becomes so much easier and much more real.
If you want to be used as a spiritual influence by God, start praying daily for people by name that you see on a regular basis. Ask God to give you opportunities to share you faith with these people but watch out. You might be surprised at the new love you have for your classmates, co-workers or family. You also might be surprised at what God wants to do with believers who are ready and willing to obey his leading and his instruction to go and make disciples.
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