Being Christians, we all pray, especially in our family prayers. Actually what is prayer? Let us see:
We all communicate with each other in our daily life, using different media of communication. Some verbally communicate, some by e-mails, by text messages, by hand signs, by letters. Similarly, when we communicate with our God, we call it as prayer. Yes, Prayer is "Communication with our Father in Heaven". Different people do this in different ways. Which one, should we adopt in our Christian life? Disciples have the same doubt and asked Jesus to teach them how to pray.
Luke 11:2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Any prayer should start with "Our Father in Heaven" and closing in the name of our "Lord Jesus Christ".
Remember one thing. For communicating with God, one need not have to follow certain postures or place or situation. One can communicate any time, and all time, viz. while walking, while driving, while cooking, while doing anything. The point is you are communicating, that's what God is anticipating from you. Make sure you are always, in contact with HIM, around HIM, and, by HIS side. Let me tell you one thing, if you are actually around HIM, or by HIS side or with HIM, one don't have to be scared off any thing in this world. Bible says, Isaiah 49:16 "Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms {of My hands;} Your walls are continually before Me. HE scripted us on his hand. We are in the hands of the creator of the whole universe. HE, who defeated all powers and principalities of Air.
Hebrews 12:28-29 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire. HE created the universe you are in, by HIS Word. HE, who measure the sands on the beaches' by HIS hand. HE, who can see our inside out. Therefore, be very careful when you kneel before him. One should utterly fearful (reverence to HIM). HE is the most-holiest God. When Lord the Jehovah asked Moses to come to Sinai, HE asked Moses to instruct people what to do. 'Exodus 19:12-13 You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, 'Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death .No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not live.' When the ram's horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain."
That’s how holiest, is our God. Being with HIM, should equally be holy. Do we leave our shoes outside before we pray. I don't mean literal shoes what we wear. I mean our walk. Is it not that we watch movies, talk all rubbish and make jokes, reading magazines OR had a fight with someone (could be your husband/wife, brother, sister), just before we go for a prayer. How many of us really prepare our-self before attending a church congregation or family prayer or even personal prayer. We all know what Abraham did, when God asked him to sacrifice he only son. Genesis 22:3 Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
In present world, why people are struggling so much so, that some are even committing suicide? This is happening, while so many churches are blooming every day, so many fasting prayers, so many crusades. The reason is because we are not giving the right respect, right reverence to our God. It is because we have become mere hypocrites.
Mathew 6:5 When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. Mathew 6:7 And in praying use not vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Let's get our acts together these days. Let us prepare ourselves before we encounter God in our prayers. Let us pay right respect and reverence to HIM.
There are two types of prayer referred in Bible. One is prayer with one's wisdom and the other with Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 14:15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. When one prays with wisdom, he can choose words, topics and pray, but when one prays with Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit will takes over. That is the time when he prays in un-known languages, prays for those whom he don't even know, nor heard off.
Personal prayer is a private conversation between our Father in Heaven and oneself. This conversation has no boundaries. All your grievances, all your sorrows, all your pain, all your complaints, all that you personally need, be it spiritual or materialistic could be discussed or presented before God. While doing so, ensure that you do this conversation in a closed door environment. Matthew 6:6 "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees {what is done} in secret will reward you.
Apart from this, as stated in foregone paragraphs, one can also communicate with God anytime, any-where. For e.g. I communicate with God just as I talk to my friend. Just like that, God see how those people are doing to me. I feel bad. I am having headache please heal me, Or see how they are mocking at me, please give me strength to endure such treatment. etc. One thing I make sure, never ask God to punish such people. Because, we all know that who so ever is behaving like that is not the person to blame, but it is the prince of the powers of the air that is residing in him. Once upon a time, we also did the same things, but because Jesus loved us, he saved us and transformed us to be a new creation. Ephesians 2:2-6 wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience; among whom we also all once lived in the lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest:--
but God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly `places', in Christ Jesus:
Therefore, we need to be sympathetic towards such people. In our personal prayer, we should uphold such people, who have afflicted you, hurt you, for their deliverance from the clutches of evil. By doing so, we are not only forgiving them, but also sharing the Love of God with them.
Family prayer is just mini version of church congregation. Here the head of the family is who leads. There should be praise & worship; there could be testimonies, bible reading, speech, intercession & prayer. It is family fellowship. This is the place where all members of a family can discuss and share word of god. Here, the head of the family could give scriptural guidance to kids and young ones, so that they could understand the Word of God. Children could raise their doubts, which probably they didn't understand while in Church, or while reading the bible. Parents are obliged to explain those points to them. In short, a family prayer could also be termed as a bible school too. This is where kids learn how to pray, how to read bible, how to sing songs, how to worship, so when they grew up, they can pass on what they learnt to their children.
The points that one should always keep in mind is, in family prayer, one should give importance to his family first, then their relatives, their spiritual growth, their well-being, those who deserve a prayer support, Church etc.
One last thing. We all have ups and downs in our daily life. Some of these ups and downs really bring us to the brink of fall off the faith. This is very dangerous. It is the trick of Satan who wants, all persons to forsake God. We know what he did in the life of Job. Please read Job Chapter 1 versus 7 to 21. You will understand the kind of troubles Job faced. The good thing is that he didn't sinned nor he charged God with what happened. In our life, when such situation arises, we need to get closer to God, as Job did. In verse 20 "Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped". Let me explain this in modern-age theory. Most of you might have heard about "Road Banking" principle.
"Roads are banked because of the inertia of vehicles driving on the road. A car moving at a fast speed has a large inertia, which means that it has the tendency to keep moving in the same direction at the same speed unless a force acts upon it. So when the car hits a curve, it needs a sideways force to push it around the curve, otherwise, it would just keep going straight. The bank in the road tilts the car in the direction of the curve so that its unequally distributed weight will be the force that pulls it around the curve. It is literally falling in the direction of the curve, and gravity is helping it turn. This is the same principle as when you are riding a bicycle. We all know that you do not literally turn a bike so much as lean in the direction you want to go, and the bike will change its course".
The point I am driving at is, we all must have or had, experienced the turbulent times at some point of our life, without exceptions. During such time period, we need to ensure that our Center of Gravity remains with "Jesus Christ". Our Focus remains with Jesus Christ. It is very easy to lose our concentration/sight off the center point. It is because, Satan will en-cash each and every opportunity he gets to drive you away from God, and cause you injury. If you find that you could be getting swayed away from God by the impact of the problems, then you need to adjust the intensity of your prayer life to higher angles/levels, so that you don't skid off your track. The more trouble you are in, the more time you spend in prayer (communicating), with God. If you practice this exercise, rest assured God will take over your problems and your journey in this world will be smoother than before.
Amen.
