- I think of prayer as living in continual God-consciousness, in which everything we see and experience becomes a kind of prayer, lived in deep awareness of and surrender to our heavenly Father. Whatever happens, there is a Godward response.
PERSISTENT PERSEVERANCE
-When you pray for something, keep at it until you have an answer.
-Luke 11:5-10
-If such a reluctant and sinful friend will honor persistence, how much more will our holy, loving, sympathetic heavenly Father respond to us?
-If we don’t get an immediate answer to our request, or if events don’t turn out exactly or as quickly as we hoped they would, our Lord’s word to us is to not lose heart (Luke 18:1)
-God longs to respond to His chosen children who are persistent in prayer - even though He often, for good reasons, makes us wait longer than we wish.
-We can never, by our persistence, force God to do what we want against His will; but we do need to demonstrate to Him a heart of compassion and the genuineness of a concerned and caring soul.
CONSTANT ALERTNESS
-Several times Jesus told the disciples to “watch and pray” (Matt 26:41; Mark 13:33; 14:38; Luke 21:36)
-We cannot pray intelligently unless we are alert to what is going on around us.
-We need to keep our eyes open- to be alert to the spiritual needs of others.
-We are to be looking outward, not inward.
-through God’s answers to specific prayers we clearly see Him put His love and power on display.
-If we are not alert to the specific problems and needs of others, we can’t pray about them specifically and earnestly. But when we do, we can watch for God’s answer, rejoice in it when it comes, and then offer Him our thankful praise.
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