Intercessory prayer is the purifying bath into which the individual
and the community must enter every day.
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
and the community must enter every day.
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
Before You Ask
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:7-8)
Many people think their prayers won’t work if they don’t utter them clearly enough, or fail to explain to God exactly what they mean, or don’t speak loudly enough to him with sufficient earnestness. But when this happens, prayer becomes so exaggerated that our Savior even forbids it.
Obviously Jesus does not want to discourage us from praying. His point is that when we pray we must have a sense of proportion. Once we have prayed, we must be quiet. We need to be like the farmer who has sown his seed. Help will come only when you are quiet in faith. Also in your sickness or with other needs, learn to be still and look to the Kingdom of God.
We can share our needs with the Father in a few words, without making a fuss, and rest assured that God already knows what we need and what he will do to help us. We don’t have to explain our requests in great detail to God, or try and make quite sure that he knows our needs. God knows about even the smallest matters and takes them straight into his heart. We can turn to him by glancing Heavenward, with no words at all. We can do this even when we pray about something concrete and tangible, or about something that specifically troubles us. We may realize that what we thought we needed is actually not necessary and that we can find a way right in the midst of how things are now.
This doesn’t mean that we just let things happen – as if everything will come of its own accord without our longing for it. Nor should we just cast a brief and hurried request at God’s feet. When this happens, we too easily lose sight of God, assume that everything comes to us without his help, and we forget to thank him. Then we cease to have a believing heart and are consequently not true children of God.
Jesus said, “Before you ask him.” Therefore we do need to make our requests known to him, otherwise many things will not be given that could have been given. It never displeases God when we come to him with our heartfelt requests. A real child asks for everything, knowing God has an ear for him. We should bring all our burdens and needs to him, for at the very least this helps to make us ever more aware that in all things God is the giver.
God always has our interest in mind. He carries our various needs with fatherly concern, eagerly waiting for us to come to him. He has not forgotten us. And when we feel tempted to think so, then all the more we should remember that he knows it all and cares for us. In fact, he knows much more about us and our needs than we do. Simple, childlike prayer is enough to move his heart, give you something out of the fullness of his compassion, and save you from all sorts of fear and trouble.
(Johann Christoph Blumhardt)
(The God Who Heals, Words of Hope for a Time of Sickness)
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Anonymous
Please pray for my daughters one is being abused and she's in a occult. The other one is an alcoholic. The other one is obese and there wasn't have any self-esteem for herself and let this young man use her. And the one is being abused she's in a polygamous relationship in a cult. Pray for my grandchildren under her care. The guy that she's the one that's being abused he has weapons. I myself has no finances and need a better job so I can be financially secure and I need healing in my body mentally and physically so do my children and grandchildren need to be healed mentally and physically and be able to lose the weight that we must and break this curse of diabetes to my family. And all these people that are putting curses on my family that are being smiling in our faces will be exposed. Break this curse of sickness disease poverty. Healing in my family my children and my grandchildren come together as one and my children's my youngest children's dad decide to get together and be as one again. I need my vehicle I need a new vehicle so does my daughters! They need good jobs to get us out of poverty! Open doors of opportunities and blessings and break this curse of sickness and evil that people come into our lives and trying to destroy us exposed and father God in Jesus name I pray! I pray that I will get me a better job this week and when I go to the doctor it's going to be a blessing and my body will be healed from sores and pain and diabetes and eyesight my daughters also! Thank you all for praying and I also pray for you all everyone here I pray that God will keep his Holy Angels right about right around you guys and protect you from any hurt harm or danger! Have a blessed day!