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How to Pray
【Prayer】Some people’s prayers need to be cut short
at both ends and set on fire in the middle.
【Prayer】Often we pray with our minds on hold and
our mouths on automatic.
【Prayer】”In prayer it is better to have a heart
without words than words without a heart.”—John Bunyan
【Prayer
by Asking in Jesus’ Name】A father took his children to the county fair one day. Since they were
obviously not interested in the prize pig or calf, the father bought a whole
roll of tickets for the various rides at the fair. As each of the children
approached a ride, they would hold out a hand to get a ticket from their
father. At one ride, after all his children had received tickets, a strange boy
whom the father had never seen came up and held out his hand, obviously
expecting a ticket.
The
father drew back his roll of tickets. He wasn’t about to give this boy a
ticket. Upon seeing this, the man’s son Stephen turned and said to his dad,
“It’s okay, Dad, this is my friend. I told him you would give him a ticket.”
Do
you know what the father did? He gave the boy a ticket in Stephen’s name. That
boy had no right to a ticket, but since his son had said he would do it, the
father honored the name of his son by giving that strange boy a ticket.
【Guidance Through Prayer】An aircraft pilot was following a major highway and observing the traffic
below. One particular car caught his attention. The driver was attempting to
pass a large truck, but because of oncoming traffic and no-passing zones, he
was not able to pass safely. Over and over again, just as he would pull out, an
oncoming vehicle would force him to retreat. The pilot, being able to see
several miles down the highway, thought to himself, “If I could only talk to
the driver, I could tell when and where it is safe to pass.”
God,
of course, is the ultimate Pilot and his perfect knowledge is exactly what we
need to guide our life. Prayer is how we talk to God, and as we learn to listen
to his responses, we will find the guidance we seek.
【Perseverance in Prayer】A woman left her diamond brooch in a hotel. When she got home she
remembered her brooch and called the hotel. She told the manager what happened
and he went to look for it. He found it, put it in the safe, and returned to
the phone to tell her the good news, but she had hung up.
So
many of us are like this. We aren’t willing to wait on the Lord.
【Perseverance in Prayer】When Edmund Gravely died at the controls of his small plane while on the
way to Statesboro, Georgia, from the Rocky Mount-Wilson Airport in North
Carolina, his wife, Janice, kept the plane aloft for two hours. As the plane
crossed the South Carolina/North Carolina border, she radioed for help: “Help,
help, won’t someone help me? My pilot is unconscious.” Authorities who picked
up her distress signal were not able to reach her by radio during the flight
because she kept changing channels. Eventually Mrs. Gravely made a rough
landing and had to crawl for forty-five minutes to a farmhouse for help.
How
often God’s people cry out to him for help but switch channels before his
message comes through! They turn to other sources for help, looking for human
guidance. When you cry out to God for his intervention, don’t switch channels!
【Perseverance in Prayer】A father related that during their family time each person was going to
pray for one person. His son prayed to ask God to help his friend Eddie be
better at school because he was so bad. When they got together the next week,
the father asked his son if he was going to pray for Eddie again. “No,” the son
replied, “I prayed for Eddie last week and he is still bad.”
【Perseverance in Prayer】A young man, who was obviously worried, stepped into an elevator to go to
the second floor of a hospital where his father was in the intensive care unit.
Although the button labeled “
As the man thought of his father in
intensive care, it was comforting to know that God does encourage believers to
continue to pray the same prayers until he answers (Matt. 7:7~8).
【Perseverance in Prayer】In Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, Christiana (the hero’s wife),
Mercy (a young pilgrim), and the children are graphically pictured knocking on
the Wicker Gate. They knock and knock, but no one answers. Meanwhile, a
ferocious dog comes and begins to bark-making the women and children very
afraid. They simply do not know what to do. If they continue to knock, they
must fear the dog. If they turn away, they fear the gatekeeper will be
offended. They determine to knock again, ever so fervently. Finally they hear
the voice of the gatekeeper asking, “Who is there?” And the dog ceases barking.
What
dogs are barking in your life that the Lord can silence?
【Perseverance in Prayer】For your desire is your prayer; and your desire is without ceasing; your
prayer will also be without ceasing.—
【Perseverance in Prayer】The story is told of a long-ago couple who said farewell to their home
church as they were about to leave for an African mission field known as “The
White Man’s Grave.” The husband said, “My wife and I have a strange dread in
going. We feel much as if we were going down into a pit. We are willing to take
the risk and go if you, our home church, will promise to hold the ropes.” One
and all promised to do so.
Less than two years had passed when
the wife and the little one God had given the couple succumbed to the dreaded
fever. Soon the husband realized his days were also numbered. Not waiting to
send word of his coming, he started back home at once and arrived at the time
of the Wednesday prayer meeting. He slipped in unnoticed, taking a back set. At
the close of the meeting, he went forward. An awe came over the people, for
death was written on his face.
He
said, “I am your missionary. My wife and child are buried in