New Creation - Growth via Prayer
Abide in me, and I in you. John 15:4
Greetings to all of you in the matchless name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. After a long break of around 6 months, I am resuming the articles. The reason behind my long break is because I am really difficult to find right time to write the articles. I am getting occupied with more and more professional and personal tasks. I usually write these articles on Sunday afternoons and my daughters were keeping me busy for the past 2 to 3 months. Please pray for me, my family and that God help me with all aspects of my life so that I will touch and transform many lives through God's Word. The Word of God gives us life. Matthew 4:4, John 6:63.
Let's continue the growth chapter as I forgot to mention another important aspect of growth which is Prayer. If reading the Word of God is the food for growth, prayer is like the breath of a true Christian. Scripture meditation and prayer are like two eyes of a Christian. In my opinion, both Bible reading and Prayer are equally important. Few people put prayer above Bible reading and few put Bible reading above prayer. For me, both of them are equally important in its own aspect and one without the other will usually go useless and wouldn't benefit much. So, one must continue to read and meditate the Word of God as well as should remain steadfast in prayer to grow in his spiritual life.
There could be many definitions for Prayer. All the religions have prayer and most of the people in the planet pray for one thing or the other. For me, the simplest definition of prayer is a form of communion (not just communication) with God where we speak what is in our mind with Him. It is like speaking to your friend or your spouse. Usually, we love to speak to the person whom we love and we like to spend more time with him or her. It may be your spouse or best friend or your dad or mom. One must have the same kind of relationship with the Father in heaven. He loves to hear from us and He wants to share back His feelings. When we communicate with our friends more and more, we learn more about them and they learn more about us. Say for example, if you are joining a new job or a new school, there we start communicating with our team mates or class mates and slowly start knowing about them. It is a gradual process. The more and more we spend time with our friends, we understand more about them and they understand about us and the friendship blooms. Best friends are those who easily say about how their friend react to a situation or what their mind would think in a particular situation because they are in sync with their thought process. Same applies for long married couple who have the same mindset. Same thing is expected out of each of the new born Christian to have with God. We slowly understand God's ways and thought process as we spend time in prayer and meditation. The friendship and love blooms as we spend time together with God. This is what Jesus said in Revelation 3:21, if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me. This actually means Jesus will share His mind with the one who spends time with Him in meditation and prayer.
If we continue to remain in prayer, slowly we get the mindset of Jesus and will reflect His nature. This is really essential for the growth. For a plant to grow it needs water as well as sunlight. While reading the Word of God is like water, prayer should be like sunlight. It is like seeing to Him. I could quote many examples from Bible on prayer and victory and I believe you should be knowing them on your own. But, just to quote a verse from my favorite Psalm which is Psalm 34. Verse 5 says They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. Our hearts will be lightened as we spend time with Him as Moses face was bright when He came out after He spent time with the Lord.
Lets look into some more aspects of prayer and wrap this chapter.
A prayer need not be formal but being formal or casual is not a mistake. But, what God looks for in a prayer is the heart behind and the thoughts from which the prayers come. If the mind and thoughts are right, then we have a right platform to communicate with God and we are assured that He hears it. It is about telling God our feelings and requesting for His help in our day to day life. Reading the Word of God and meditating more in the Word of God increases the measure of spirit filled prayer and results in unleashing of the power of God in our lives.
There are 3 basic aspects of prayer. First is about God Himself. This is about fulfilling God's will in our lives and in others' lives, in the earth. The second is about us. This is mainly telling our requests to God, asking Him to supply His needs both spiritual and worldly as well as asking for solutions for troubles and problems in our daily lives. Third is for others, like our friends, relatives, known persons, unknown persons and for the society. Jesus gave many promises for the prayers and I could quote many examples from the scriptures. Just quoting few here. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. John 15:7, And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. John 14:13, Ask, and it shall be given you Matthew 7:7 and That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 18:19.
Next, the prayer unleashes the power of God in our lives and helps us achieves the things that are unachievable by our own strength. Elijah's prayers did wonders, His very short prayer brought down fire from heaven I Kings 18:36-38, another prayer stopped rains for around 3.5 years and again brought back rains. James 5:17-18. The more you are closer to God, more the miracles and powers you witness in your life. God has solution for every difficult problem that we undergo. It may look like impossible situation but still God has unique out of the box solution for the difficulty. God says, I am the God of all flesh, is there any thing too hard for me to do? Jeremiah 32:27. So, prayer brings miracles in our lives and it gives us victory over every trouble.
Actually, prayer could be a very long chapter if I have to deal with each and every aspect of it. But, you should be obviously aware of those things. In the context of our chapter, prayer is essential for a growth of the Christian who is a new creation as it helps to have a continuous relationship with the Lord almighty and helps us to know His mind and reflect His character. It helps us to keep ourselves holy and overcome the temptations and difficulties that we face in our day to day lives. It is the way through which we communicate our needs and requirements to God, the Father and get our needs supplied by Him and finally Prayer brings miracles and victory in our lives overcoming every difficult situation that we face. Above all, prayer life is a way of living that is a basic necessity for every Christian and help us abide in the Lord and grow up. I repeat, if reading and meditating Word of God is like food, Prayer is like breath for a Christian and both of them are essential for the growth of the new creation.
All glory, honor and praise to God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May God bless you all. Amen.
Abide in me, and I in you. John 15:4
Greetings to all of you in the matchless name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. After a long break of around 6 months, I am resuming the articles. The reason behind my long break is because I am really difficult to find right time to write the articles. I am getting occupied with more and more professional and personal tasks. I usually write these articles on Sunday afternoons and my daughters were keeping me busy for the past 2 to 3 months. Please pray for me, my family and that God help me with all aspects of my life so that I will touch and transform many lives through God's Word. The Word of God gives us life. Matthew 4:4, John 6:63.
Let's continue the growth chapter as I forgot to mention another important aspect of growth which is Prayer. If reading the Word of God is the food for growth, prayer is like the breath of a true Christian. Scripture meditation and prayer are like two eyes of a Christian. In my opinion, both Bible reading and Prayer are equally important. Few people put prayer above Bible reading and few put Bible reading above prayer. For me, both of them are equally important in its own aspect and one without the other will usually go useless and wouldn't benefit much. So, one must continue to read and meditate the Word of God as well as should remain steadfast in prayer to grow in his spiritual life.
There could be many definitions for Prayer. All the religions have prayer and most of the people in the planet pray for one thing or the other. For me, the simplest definition of prayer is a form of communion (not just communication) with God where we speak what is in our mind with Him. It is like speaking to your friend or your spouse. Usually, we love to speak to the person whom we love and we like to spend more time with him or her. It may be your spouse or best friend or your dad or mom. One must have the same kind of relationship with the Father in heaven. He loves to hear from us and He wants to share back His feelings. When we communicate with our friends more and more, we learn more about them and they learn more about us. Say for example, if you are joining a new job or a new school, there we start communicating with our team mates or class mates and slowly start knowing about them. It is a gradual process. The more and more we spend time with our friends, we understand more about them and they understand about us and the friendship blooms. Best friends are those who easily say about how their friend react to a situation or what their mind would think in a particular situation because they are in sync with their thought process. Same applies for long married couple who have the same mindset. Same thing is expected out of each of the new born Christian to have with God. We slowly understand God's ways and thought process as we spend time in prayer and meditation. The friendship and love blooms as we spend time together with God. This is what Jesus said in Revelation 3:21, if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me. This actually means Jesus will share His mind with the one who spends time with Him in meditation and prayer.
If we continue to remain in prayer, slowly we get the mindset of Jesus and will reflect His nature. This is really essential for the growth. For a plant to grow it needs water as well as sunlight. While reading the Word of God is like water, prayer should be like sunlight. It is like seeing to Him. I could quote many examples from Bible on prayer and victory and I believe you should be knowing them on your own. But, just to quote a verse from my favorite Psalm which is Psalm 34. Verse 5 says They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. Our hearts will be lightened as we spend time with Him as Moses face was bright when He came out after He spent time with the Lord.
Lets look into some more aspects of prayer and wrap this chapter.
A prayer need not be formal but being formal or casual is not a mistake. But, what God looks for in a prayer is the heart behind and the thoughts from which the prayers come. If the mind and thoughts are right, then we have a right platform to communicate with God and we are assured that He hears it. It is about telling God our feelings and requesting for His help in our day to day life. Reading the Word of God and meditating more in the Word of God increases the measure of spirit filled prayer and results in unleashing of the power of God in our lives.
There are 3 basic aspects of prayer. First is about God Himself. This is about fulfilling God's will in our lives and in others' lives, in the earth. The second is about us. This is mainly telling our requests to God, asking Him to supply His needs both spiritual and worldly as well as asking for solutions for troubles and problems in our daily lives. Third is for others, like our friends, relatives, known persons, unknown persons and for the society. Jesus gave many promises for the prayers and I could quote many examples from the scriptures. Just quoting few here. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. John 15:7, And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. John 14:13, Ask, and it shall be given you Matthew 7:7 and That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 18:19.
Next, the prayer unleashes the power of God in our lives and helps us achieves the things that are unachievable by our own strength. Elijah's prayers did wonders, His very short prayer brought down fire from heaven I Kings 18:36-38, another prayer stopped rains for around 3.5 years and again brought back rains. James 5:17-18. The more you are closer to God, more the miracles and powers you witness in your life. God has solution for every difficult problem that we undergo. It may look like impossible situation but still God has unique out of the box solution for the difficulty. God says, I am the God of all flesh, is there any thing too hard for me to do? Jeremiah 32:27. So, prayer brings miracles in our lives and it gives us victory over every trouble.
Actually, prayer could be a very long chapter if I have to deal with each and every aspect of it. But, you should be obviously aware of those things. In the context of our chapter, prayer is essential for a growth of the Christian who is a new creation as it helps to have a continuous relationship with the Lord almighty and helps us to know His mind and reflect His character. It helps us to keep ourselves holy and overcome the temptations and difficulties that we face in our day to day lives. It is the way through which we communicate our needs and requirements to God, the Father and get our needs supplied by Him and finally Prayer brings miracles and victory in our lives overcoming every difficult situation that we face. Above all, prayer life is a way of living that is a basic necessity for every Christian and help us abide in the Lord and grow up. I repeat, if reading and meditating Word of God is like food, Prayer is like breath for a Christian and both of them are essential for the growth of the new creation.
All glory, honor and praise to God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May God bless you all. Amen.
