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(Used
with permimission of: http://www.jimwarren.com/)
PRAYER IS COMMUNICATING WITH GOD! LETS GO TO HIS ALTAR!
Let's
Pray!
Prayer -Communication with God - as believers we depend upon our Creator and Savior. Because God is a
personal God, everyone can offer prayers. Prayer is the contact of a living soul with God.
(E.M. Bounds) - "In
prayer, God stoops to kiss man, to bless man, and to aid in everything that God can devise or man can need."
As
we seek a more intimate relationship with God, we need to cultivate all forms of prayer: Praise, Worship, Thanksgiving, Confession,
Adoration, Holy Meditation, Petition, Supplication, Intercession, and Spiritual Warfare.
A faithful prayer life
must be passionately desired -- DECIDED, DESIGNATED, DISCIPLINED, and DEVOTED. Since prayer involves several aspects, let's
focus on the seven major categories.
In 1972, I was healed of cancer through radiation and cobalt treatments! God
met me in the midst of my fear, covered me with His peaceful Holy Spirit, and healed me. I've never been the same since!
Once God touched me, I couldn't go back to where I was -- He changed me as He stretched me beyond my greatest fears, delivered
me into His arms -- until I was well enough to stand alone again! I call that period of my life "My View of Eternity" -for
He truly covered me with his blood-stained robe for over a year!
(1) FAITH: " As God has dealt to every person the
measure of faith -" Romans 12:3 - "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen." Heb.
1:1.
Watchfully, I ask the young children -- "can you see time"? They point to the clock! I countinue, looking
in their shining eyes -- "So a smart man got creative and made a clock with hands to reveal the results of time -- but even
without the clock, time is still there -- it's a universal--around-the-world--truth"!
"Faith is like that too,
raise your hands, just believe and pray, and wait for the results!" They do, and you see in their faces, Jesus met them there,
with his extended-gentle-scarred-hands!
Children are easy - they don't question what has spiritually touched
their hearts. They just believe "Jesus Loves Me"! Lord give all of us a child's faith!
(2) WORSHIP - "Exalt the Lord
our God, and worship at His Holy Hill; for the Lord our God is Holy" - Psa 99:9.
When I'm feeling down, I mix
prayer, supplication, praise, warfare, meditation, and worship, finding comfort in songs I learned when I was seven,"I came
to the garden alone, while the dew was still on the roses, --and He walks with me and He talks with me -- "Jesus Loves Me
this I Know, For the Bible Tells me so"! Soon I'm lifted to a new dimension, -- "That's What God Is", "Rockin' My Soul". Sometimes
I pray and chant Hip-Hop, adding a few "ad-libs" and dance-steps of my own! When my spirits are high, and I've had a blessed
day, I sing and pray the powerful songs "Majesty, Worship His Majesty".
Regardless of the brightness or gloom
of the day, when worshiping the Lord, He meets me where I am -- not because of who I am, but because of who He is -- He Is
Worthy of Praise - because He Is Holy ----(whole-complete-total)--- A perfect God, who knows me, and loves me in spite of
my imperfections!
(3) CONFESSION: Abba Father is waiting for us to enter into his throne room -- "Whoever transgreses
and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father
and the Son" (1John9)
Whenever I've fallen-short (sinned) I feel uneasy, until I've confessed to Abba Father.
Then His love -- mercy and grace -- releases the feelings of guilt, and I'm able to move beyond myself. That's what some call
"being set free from the bondage of sin", that's why he sent Jesus Christ into our lives!
(4) ADORATION -God is love,
and He loved us first! "You shall love your Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all you mind."
Matt 23:37
Because I know He is Real, Alive, Powerful, Present, I applaud my Abba Father -- He is the biggest,
best, smartest, greatest, strongest -- my LIVING GOD. He has many names, but he is the God of all gods -- One and Only God
-- LORD OF HOSTS, SAVIOUR, COMFORTER, 'I AM' , MESSIAH, GODHEAD, and I adore Him, with no reservations!
(5) PRAISE:Lift
your spirit,as the Holy Spirit joins you in adoration! "Praise the Lord! Praise God in His Sanctuary; in His mighty firmament
-- for His might acts -- according to His excellent greatness! Praise Him - with the sound of the trumpet .. the lute and
harp ..the timbrel and dance .. stringed instruments and flutes .. the loud cymbals .. clashing cymbals. Let everything that
has breath praise the Lord." Ps. 150.
When I pray, sing, or think upon the Lord, I start where I am - in the
car, at work, at home, at church. My received blessings are evident in all dimensions of my life - in sickness and in health!
I'm lifted to Praise Him for His Mighty Works in my life. I love Praising Him for the wonderful world he's made, the people,
the trees, the flowers, the winds and rains, the animals and birds. the heavens and the seas. Everything complete! What a
wonderful works Abba Father has given man, and blessed with His fingerprint -- BECAUSE I LOVED YOU, I SENT MY ONLY SON!
(6)
THANKSGIVING - A wonderful Holiday every day! "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is
the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thes 5:15-18 - Blessings beyond compare! A regenerated soul is thankful for a
loving God, who has forgiven our sins, accepted us as His own, given us His righteousness, a new heart, and a new life. Assured
of eternal life we overflow in thanksgiving.
Unlike the typical Thanksgiving dinner, which is once a year -- The
Lord has provided thanksgiving which is two-way path! We thank him, for what he has already given us, and for what is to come
- an event that has no ending!
(7) DIVINE INTERVENTION: Before you started - God was making a way for your prayers!
Intercession! God effects His sovereign purposes in concert with the prayers of His people. ---" Behold, I am the Lord the
God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?" Jer 32:37 --
In prayer and intercession, He holds my hand,
abides with me, laughs and cries with me, as I ponder over what The Holy Spirit (Spirit of God) has placed in my heart, my
mind, my spirit, my world----SO I PRAY AND GOD MOVES IN THE MIDST OF THE PROBLEM -- BRINGING HIS GLORIOUS SOLUTIONS!
HIS
ETERNAL PROMISE:
"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn
from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins and heal their land. Now my eyes will be
open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, and My name may
be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually." (2 Chr 14-16)
Scripted, Poured and Given by
Sue B. Sabas 5/1/2001
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