Praying

[alextg55]

Can my friends here help me out by answering this question why sometimes do i feel im not praying enough like sometimes if im running late in the morning and i dont pray then i feel pretty bad or why sometimes do i feel i have forgoten to pray if i dont do it a few times a day.

 

[novcncy]

Can my friends here help me out by answering this question why sometimes do i feel im not praying enough like sometimes if im running late in the morning and i dont pray then i feel pretty bad or why sometimes do i feel i have forgoten to pray if i dont do it a few times a day.

Correct me if I'm wrong, alex, but aren't you a relatively new Christian?

Regardless, if you are a Christian, you need to talk to you Father. The Holy Spirit may be impressing on your conscience that you need to pray. But Prayer isn't a hoop you have to jump through, as in, if you don't pray enough you're in trouble.

Paul tells us to "Pray without ceasing." How is that even possible? It's possible because God is always with us, and we can talk to Him as casually as we can talk to the person next to us on the bus. Don't take casually the constant access Jesus has given us to the throne of God, but take advantage of it. God isn't so concerned with fancypants formal prayers, He wants you to incorporate Him into every aspect of your life.

I want to recommend a book to you that will be EXTREMELY helpful to you. It's called "Talking with My Father" and was written by a man named Ray Stedman.

Keep growing!!!

 

[RED that's ME]

Great post novcncy.

Having a set prayer time that you can focus more daily is a great thing and something we should all be doing but as novcncy pointed out christians are to pray without ceasing. Like right now I see that I need to pray for you in this area and I am not going to wait till a set time to pray about it. I will do it right now while it is fresh on my mind.

When you're driving down the road and the Holy Spirit brings something to your mind you don't have to wait till a set time but you can pray right then.

How many times are christians guilty of telling people they will pray for them and never do? A LOT if they would say.

My mom was convicted of doing that and has taught me to just take a minute or two and pray for the person/situation right then.

While your at work, at home, driving no matter where a person is, we are to live a prayerful life. If you start doing this you will notice a difference.

 

[arunma]

Alex, I think that the above two posters have stated some very important truths. Don't get me wrong, it is important to have set times for prayer. In some sense, I think that the liturgical folks have an edge on us in this, because they've got set prayers for set times. And as long as one isn't ritualistic about it, this can really help a person's prayer life (as I've observed in some of my Lutheran friends).

That said, God doesn't listen any less to a prayer that is made less formally. Personally, I often pray while walking to class, mowing the lawn, or doing other mundane activities. If God wasn't capable of hearing and responding to these prayers, he wouldn't be God, would he?

Now I noticed you said that you feel rushed in the morning. As a college student who isn't very good at waking up early, I often have the same problem. But why not give thanks for your morning coffee? That's prayer. How about blessing God in the morning that Christ atones for your sins? As Novcncy already mentioned, Saint Paul instructs us to pray without ceasing. Surely he didn't mean to say that we should be on our hands and knees at all times, so I personally think that this is what the Apostle had in mind.

 

[SonOfThunder]

But Prayer isn't a hoop you have to jump through, as in, if you don't pray enough you're in trouble.

Paul tells us to "Pray without ceasing." How is that even possible? It's possible because God is always with us, and we can talk to Him as casually as we can talk to the person next to us on the bus. Don't take casually the constant access Jesus has given us to the throne of God, but take advantage of it. God isn't so concerned with fancypants formal prayers, He wants you to incorporate Him into every aspect of your life.

Good post, thankyou novcny.

I grew up with very routine structured praying times and fancypants formal prayers. Then I lived alone and things changed to making time to slot in prayers when your busy.

The prayers also changed to a relationship with The Father (the best change ever) then the prayers were no longer formal, and in a structured time slot but ongoing during the day as things came up. It concerned me repeating prayer to God, after all He isn't deaf, nor does He forget. But I consider Him my Father and as such know He doesn't mind hearing my heart, even if it is repetative.

I think we can feel guilt if we forget to pray for another and a few days slip by. So I pop post-it notes on the mirror with just the name, I hear some keep a small prayer diary and years later when that prayer has been answered they go back and fill in that it has been answered. I like that idea, but for me it lasted a week.

You will find what works best for you as The Holy Spirit guides you, in terms of prayer.


James