Christian Living
Sermon Notes on: Meditation as a preparation for prayer
Aug/23/2007 14:20
A new thought? Prayer as a response to what God says
(this entry is related to the sermon on Joshua 1:8)I often notice that I pray about the same things in the same words. How about you? I also notice it in other people's prayers. We tend to use certain phrases.
I am not happy with this. Of course God will hear our prayer every time we pray for forgiveness in the name of Jesus. The condition is that we repent from the heart and trust in the sacrifice of Jesus. It does not depend on the words you choose, provided you don't turn it into vain repetitions (Matthew 6).
However, I am wondering: can we change the way we say it so that we don't fall into a rut because we have our fixed formulas? And wouldn't God be pleased if we respond to new insights we gain from the Bible?
I would put it like this: when I grow my prayers should grow in depth and creativity. The way your own children talk to you when they are 22 will hopefully differ from the way they talked when they were 2. They won't be asking things only. They will talk more intelligently. They will have developed certain gifts and desires. They have changed and the way they talk to their parents will change. Wouldn't the same thing happen in the lives of God's children?