prayer

Real life is messy and hard and never turns out like I__e imagined. Usually it__ better. So, I try not to dream but rather to pray. If there is one thing I know, it__ that I have no clue what I want. I__ fickle. I__ picky. And I__ scared of a lot of things. Especially commitment.

Prayer adds an element of surprise to your life that is more fun than a surprise party or surprise gift or surprise romance. In fact, prayer turns life into a party, into a gift, into a romance.

We fail to prevail with unconverted men because of our more fundamental failure to prevail with God in prayer.

He asked me if I ever prayed-- and I lied.Then he asked me if I ever got an answer, or a sign that my prayer was heard-- and I told him the truth."Yeah... me neither."His hands sounded like leather as he slowly rubbed some warmth into his knotted knuckles."So what happens to all of those lost prayers?"I didn't know if I should tell him the truth of what I really believed... or not.I put my hand on his slumping shoulder, smiled and told him the truth of what I believe, "Don't worry...

Author challenges parents to bridge the gap with maturing, more independent kids with what he calls "Knock and Pray". He says parents should invite their kids to unscheduled times to "pray... big".

The trouble with most of our prayers is that we give them as if we were picking up the phone and ordering groceries - we place our order and hang up.

It takes a habit to break a habit. You can pray every day for a generous heart, but until you start acting in that direction, nothing's going to change.

We formed an impromptu circle just so we could look at each other and memorize faces. We hardly noticed the waiting officials. We hardly noticed anything but our little family whose ties weren__ loosening at all. In fact, this impending separation only seemed to be binding us together with a double overhand knot, hard to untie and unfailing.

I get that. For you, it__ more than following a bunch of rules__o sex, no booze, no swear words, pray every night and twice on Sunday.

We dare not forget the power of prayer.

The joy which answers to prayer give, cannot be described; and the impetus which they afford to the spiritual life is exceedingly great.

...Jesus opens his arms to his needy children and says, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest"(Matthew 11:28, NASB). The criteria for coming to Jesus is weariness. Come overwhelmed with life. Come with you wandering mind. Come messy.

That is to say, I pray for you. And there's an intimacy in it. That's the truth.

Pray FOR positive outcomes, never ON perceived dilemmas

love the people God gave you because He will need them back one day.

Prayer is our Christian duty. It is an expression of submission to God and dependence upon Him. For that matter, prayer is arguably the most objective measurement of our dependence upon God. The things you pray about are the things you trust God to handle. The things you neglect to pray about are the things you trust you can handle on your own.

When you have reached your own room, be kind to those who have chosen different doors and to those who are still in the hall. If they are wrong they need your prayers all the more; and if they are your enemies, then you are under orders to pray for them. That is one of the rules common to the whole house.

Mental prayer is, as I see it, simply a friendly intercourse and frequent solitary conversation with Him who, as we know, loves us.