March 15, 2011
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The Best Advice About Prayer EVER!
OK. Do you think maybe that title was a little too much? 
Sorry, but it really IS good advice!Often I think, one of our biggest struggles in prayer is that we want to do MORE than "just pray." We want to be actively involved in the answer. We think praying is not enough! What does this say about us? Honestly, if you have put something in the hands of the loving and almighty, all knowing God, how can that not be ENOUGH? Where is our faith?
Sure, I find it hard to just sit back and let God do His perfect, God thing. I don’t like waiting, and I also don’t like seeing those I love hurting. It is hard sometimes not to try to “take over” and “help” God juuuussst a little bit.
Yeah.... not a good idea. God knows those we pray for better than we do. He knows what they need, and He knows when they are ready to receive it Some of the best advice I ever got was this.... are you ready? Are you paying attention? You might want to take notes or something. OK... here it is.... THERE IS ONLY ONE SAVIOR, AND IT’S NOT YOU. Did you get it? Do you need me to say it again?
(Philippians 4:6-7 NLT) Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Once you have come to God and placed a problem in His hands, it is no fair yanking it back. You either trust God, or you don’t. That’s what faith is. Trust that God loves the people you are praying for. Trust that He knows where they are, what they are doing, what they are thinking. He knows it ALL. Trust is giving up your control of the situation, stepping back and allowing God to do His work. If He needs your help, He will ask for it. Otherwise, your job is to just wait with thankfulness. Wait with expectation! Praise Him for the answer. Trust in His timing and His goodness.
Sometimes, people just aren’t ready to respond to God. Then, instead of trying to push them, we need to continually bring them to God in prayer. We need to ask Him to bring them to that place where they will be ready to listen. We can ask Him to remove wrong influences from their lives and surround them with good ones. We can ask Him to make them mighty uncomfortable with the wrong things they may be doing. We can ask Him to soften their hard hearts. We can even ask God for wisdom to pray exactly how we need to pray. We need to pray not from our emotions, but from the leading of God's spirit within us.
There is a lot we can do in prayer, whether it is for someone's healing, or salvation or for our own walk with God. But, we need to pray with faith in our hearts. We need to lay down our will and ideas in what, how and when God should answer. And above all else, we must remember this...
THERE IS ONLY ONE SAVIOR, AND IT’S NOT YOU!
Comments (24)
Great post! I think especially as mothers and grandmothers we like to be right in there sometimes, so this is very good advice Mae, thank you.
I think I need to get(or make) a plaque with that on it for a reminder. Thanks!
Good post - We need to humble ourselves and know who we are in Christ.
Thank you for encouraging me to keep praying for my son-in-law in faith, thanking God for the answers........and for others in my family.
"Otherwise, your job is to
just wait with thankfulness. Wait with expectation! Praise Him for the
answer. Trust in His timing and His goodness." Love this!
Excellent post. Just what my worried heart needed to hear this morning. I am too much of a doer and a fixer. I need to be a "waiter" and a "praiser" (yes I'm making up words).
I'm a doer and it's hard to wait but I pray for God that if there is something he wants me to do about this problem to put it right in front of me and if not I will continue to pray until he does.
I really do so much appreciate your posts.
Such confirmation of what has been going on in my heart. So much to take to Him in prayer. He is encouraging me though as I see answered prayer in my life right now!
So so good to have a Savior to fully rely on!
Good message even though I can sense in my spirit, 'I don't want to hear it'.
(Picture 3 year old with fingers in their ears) Even though I 'don't want to hear it' though, I am listening. 
(Fingers in ears don't really block things out)
That passage from Philippians is so hard to adhere to... to not worry about anything... ANYTHING! When all around us we can see the struggle to survive... and we want to do more than just survive...
wonderful advice. and some that i needed to hear too!
reminds me of a quote i read not long ago that said, "the power of prayer is in the One who hears it and not in the one who says it." Max Lucado
wonderful post
Amen.
You have no idea how much I needed this right now. Thank you so much!
I absolutely LOVED this message! Such wise advise! I think I'll go apply it to a few things I've been praying about!
Thank you. Just what I needed.
I Love this, It is so true and we often-times forget it. Sometimes I find myself praying so many times a day for the same thing, as if he didn't hear me the first time. It's like I'm "making sure" he didn't forget. I need to just remember that he is all-knowing and he won't forget. He works in his own timing.
I get that message.
If this was true, then we'd have no need of things such as Red Cross, shelters for homeless, and social workers. All those people should just pray instead for those who need help. I believe this is the kind of thinking that would lead people to inaction and becomes an excuse for inaction. If there is concern about an issue, the best thing is to actually do something about it; at the very least it shows that you are motivated and moved enough about a cause to sacrifice of yourself to do something about it rather than sit back and trust that someone else will take care of it.
@a_drunken_cellist - There are many times when a Christian needs to, should act, but these are not the things I was writing about. The Bible says that faith without works is a dead faith, so of course, we are to feed the hungry and care for those in need. These things are clearly stated in scripture. However, there are many things we need to leave in God's hands. Only HE can change a heart. Only HE can heal a broken spirit.
I can't comment on my own site, so will try it here.
First: I love that last quote. There is only one savior and it's not you. Concerning transporting the children, we have a seven passenger van.
Loved this post on prayer. The first Christian book that I read was on prayer. God is able.. Sometimes we need to relax and wait.
blessings
frank
So true. loved the post(:
Thanks! Sometimes I need a two by four to the noggin before it sinks in. LOL.
Good study here, He certainly is God, we are not!!
ryc...Yes, to be passionate about God, oh that more would be!!
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