Praying is merely talking to God like you would talk to your best friend. Tell Him everything you are thinking or feeling, though He already knows. You can't hide anything from Him. He loves to hear you praise Him for all the good things He has done in your life.
Matthew 21:22 And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Prayer is the divinely appointed way to know God personally and intimately. We are as intimate with God as we choose to be.
Prayer is an act by which we enter the presence of the God who spake the worlds into being, the God who has lived and will live forever, the God who loves us and who died for us on the cross, and the God who continually meets our needs.
Prayer doesn't change God, it changes us.
If you pray for rain, carry your unbrella.
Matthew 21:10,11 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
C.S. Lewis suggests that there are only three possible answers to who Jesus was and is:
You must make your choice. Either this man Jesus was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool: you can spit at him and kill him for a demon: or you can fall at his feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with the patronizing nonesense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
Jesus is God -- the Messiah, who came to save humanity from their sins. He is the only way to salvation, the only door to heaven, and the only mediator between God and man.
Is Christ your personal Saviour? Why not?
The spiritual life must be lived and nourished from the inside out. However, most believers try to do it from the outside in, trying to fix what's wrong on the outside. But that's backward.
Romans 8:8-9 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
When we try to be like Christ in the energy of the flesh -- to do His work our way -- we actually prevent the very thing we desire. God's work must be done in God's way. God's way is not in human ability or determination. God's way comes by surrendering our will, ability, and determination, and allowing Him to live His life through us.
God doesn't want your best, He wants to give you His best. Let Him.
Because we don't know the day or the hour of our Lord's return, we must constantly be ready. The believer who starts to neglect the "blessed hope" will gradually develop a cold heart, a worldly attitude, and an unfaithful life.
2 Peter 3:13,14 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless.
If we are diligent to watch for His return and to live holy and godly lives, then we will not be afraid or ashamed. We will meet Him without spot and blameless.
We must keep "His promise" before our hearts. The promise of His coming is the light that shines in this dark world.
2 Peter 1:19 . . . as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts;
The "day star" will be aglow in our hearts if we love His appearing.
