On My Knees

"pray without ceasing" 1 Thessalonians 5:17

In the age we live in, we are always connected to one another in some way. We have email, Facebook, Skype, texting and talking. We spend so much time communicating with friends, family, and colleagues, but how much time to we spend talking to God?

God is my Father, my Lord and my Savior, and yet I talk to so many other people more than I do Him. I am not saying I never pray; I pray daily, but it is not as intimate or often as I would like, or need. Communication in a relationship is vital and our relationship with Christ is no different.

My grandma, Ellie, was a prayer warrior. She would pray anytime anywhere about anything or anyone. She used to live in this condo facing a pretty busy street and she would pray as she looked out her window. She would see a couple holding hands walk past her and would thank God for their love and their relationship. She would see children walk home to and from school and would pray for their lives and their future. She would she an ambulance drive by and would pray for the safety of where they were going and to guide the paramedics and doctors working. She would watch the snow or rain fall from her window and thank God for the weather and also pray for the safety of everyone because of it. She would praise God on his creations when she would watch the cardinals and robins feed outside. She would see a distressed or sad person walk by and she would pray that God would comfort her and provide her with support and encouragement and that she would come to find happiness in Him. I could go on and on about who and what she would pray for.   She was filled with the Holy Spirit and was so happy to use her gift of prayer for His glory. Just as the verse says, my grandma truly prayed without ceasing.

She is one of my role models when it comes to my prayer life. I am not saying we all need to pray all day like she would, however we do need to set aside time to pray to our Father daily as well as whenever the need arises.

A lot of people don't pray as often as they should because they feel awkward by not knowing how or what to say. There are several passages in the Bible that tell us about prayer; Romans 8:26-27, Philippians 4:6 and Matthew 6:5-15 (9-15 being The Lord's Prayer) are just a few.  There are also many standard prayers, meaning they are laid out there for you to say. I have heard mealtime and bedtime prayers that children recite; there is the serenity prayer, and so many more. There is nothing wrong with those either, but the prayer I am talking about is more personal that those. I am not talking about praying for something that never changes, but communicating to God your fears, praises, requests, and things pertaining solely to your personal life or about what is happening now.

As a child, I was told of a way to help me pray by using the fingers on your hand, it contains no words to say, just a structure of how a prayer can be delivered. It is not a requirement just merely a suggestion. You start with your thumb and work your way to your pinkie with every finger representing a different subject to pray for. It goes like this...

• Thumb - It is nearest to you and so you start by praying for the people who are closest to you. This is the easiest to remember but not always the easiest to pray for. Your loved ones are close of course and they are the easy ones to pray for, however our enemies, even if in a negative way, are close to us as well and those are not so easy to pray for, but just as equally important that we do.
• Pointer - We use our pointing finger to well... point of course, so next you pray for those who help point you in the right direction. They can be teachers, pastors, doctors. They have great influence on society and personally so we should lift them up in prayer.
• Tall Man - The tallest finger is supposed to remind us of who is in charge; the president, congress, governors and even bosses. Those people are responsible to lead us and they need God's guidance.
• Ring Man - For those that do not know, our ring finger is the weakest finger on our hand. It should help us to remember to pray for those that are hurting, in trouble or weak. They are battling struggles of some kind and are always in need of our prayer, comfort and love.
• Pinkie - Finally we are left with the smallest of them all, which is where we should place yourself in relation to God and others. The pinkie represents "little old me". By praying for all the others first, by the time you pray for yourself, your needs can be placed into perspective better.

Now, that is by no means the only way to pray, but it is a great reminder of who to pray for if you get lost. There is not a set guideline as to the exact words you have to pray. That being said, prayer should always come from a humble heart. In fact the word prayer comes from the Latin word precari which means to ask with humility. We should always come to Him with the understanding that He is in control and remember who we are talking to. We don't even have to kneel, however there is no place more humble than on your knees which is why so often it is done in that manner. We should always pray for God's will to be done in every situation, which as most of us know is not always what we want, but it will be what God wants and what will eventually bring glory to Him. Prayer is an act of faith and so we need to trust God to provide, be there and answer, regardless if the answer is the one we want to hear. Prayer is a powerful thing and amazing work can be done when we come to God and ask Him to do His will in our lives and the lives or others.

So I encourage us all to come to the Lord in prayer more often and more intimately, whether it is in the car, before dinner, during chores, while you walk, or at bedtime, that we take the time to communicate to our Father.  It can be silently in your head, spoken out loud or even in writing, just that we focus more on our relationship with Him.

Dear heavenly Father, I come to you with a humble heart on my knees asking that you please give us all a renewed love for spending time with you in prayer. And regardless of how you might choose to answer, I pray that we trust you to guide us down that path according to your will, that we will surrender to you and will have faith in your perfect plan. Also Lord please teach us to be more bold in prayer, to come to you more, to ask for your help more and to be more unwavering in trusting that you listen and answer the prayers of your people.  It is such a joy knowing that Jesus lives to pray for us and that the Spirit is ever interceding within our hearts; what a most glorious and comforting arrangement, Father. Thank you. So in Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Maybe this song choice is a bit unorthodox since it is me who is singing, but I feel that this post is a request for myself to be more diligent in prayer as well as encourage all of you, and since the prayer is from me, I don't find it inappropriate that I be the one singing the song as well. I won't explain the song, but if you are curious, read the caption under the video. More importantly though, just as this post comes from my heart, so do the words of this song and I pray that they both can be used to reach both me and you so that we may all grow in our relationship with Christ.