Are You Limiting Your Prayer Life?

As believers in Jesus Christ, one of our most powerful and often unused weapons we have is our ability to pray. It often becomes our last resort after we have attempted to correct whatever we eventually go to God and pray about. But what if we are limiting ourselves to praying for the bare minimum instead of what God has in mind for us.

Lest you think I believe in prosperity, don't believe it, unless at some point God wants to. I am not one of those who believe in the power of God to prosper His people by his many abundant financial blessings, or name it and claim it pastors and leaders of the Mega Church movements. - Just needed to clarify that one before moving forward.

After doing my devotional today, it really clicked for me, that often times, I believe, we do honestly limit ourselves. It's like we don't want to bother God with all our problems when there are truly others who have greater needs than ours. We might need help to get through a test we have to take today, while someone is hoping to live one more day. We think, "I don't want to bother God unless I have a really big need."

Are you limiting God, who is without the limits we face but can't wrap our head around? Realize that God knows what we need before we even think about it.

I wonder how many times, He sits there waiting for us to simply ask for help, but we don't. He's just sitting there waiting for our prayer and He wants to provide it, but we miss out, simply because we do not ask. Isn't it better to ask and then not pass up the opportunity that God, in His infinite power and grace, can do anything we ask, if we simply are willing to ask?

Much like the man who sat at the pool of Bethesda who was paralyzed for 38 years. Each time the waters stirred, he failed to get there in time before someone else was healed. When Jesus found him, the first question He asked him was, "Do you want to get well?" Makes you wonder what the man thought after hearing Jesus ask him that.

Instead, the man answered Jesus with all the excuses of what he tried to do and failed and how someone always beat him to the pool. Isn't that like us?

We make all the excuses in the world to what is troubling us in this life, but we fail to go to God first, before anything. We try to handle it ourselves, manipulate the outcome, instead of simply asking God what He wants for us instead. God needs to become that first response in ANY situation. We need to Stop, Drop and Pray in ALL things, and then don't forget to follow it up with a thankful heart and attitude of gratitude.

Even today, as I am writing this post, our car needs to be repaired. Rather than lift this need up in prayer, we began to make arrangements to get our car in for service. But I stopped, and lifted this request up to God in prayer asking Him to help us get our car fixed. This isn't an expense we need at this time, and with a heatwave impacting us right now, doing with out air conditioning in our only car just isn't an option. We are asking God for His will in this situation and to make something happen that is what we need. If He wants to bless us above and beyond that, we aren't opposed, but for now, simply want what He has in mind for us at this time.

That is how our prayer life needs to be. When we lift up our needs in prayer, we need to realize that God can do anything. What we think we need, is less than what God knows we need. And sometimes in our prayers we can short change ourselves. Sometimes the reason we are where we are right now, is because we haven't prayed about it.

Just because you didn't get the answer you wanted, did you simply stop praying? Why? Do you think you're bugging God with your requests? We need to keep on praying until God asks us to stop. We often think that God helps those who help themselves. Did you know that isn't even in the Bible?

If it were, it might be translated more along the lines of God helps the helpless, or God helps those who can't help themselves. Let us change how we pray, when we pray and pray according to His will in our life and not just what we want to happen. Remember, God already knows what we need but He wants to hear it from our hearts and our lips. Let our first response always be prayer in ANY thing and let it always be in Jesus name! There is power there to be had, if we simply use it and ask for it.

1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 ~ "Pray continually and give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (NIV).