God is Always in Control

How to Pray

UPDATED – Previously published and updated once by DON MARTIN ON MAY 2, 2020 and NOV 4 , 2020.

I heard Pastor Allen Jackson say once that there were four components, four steps, in a prayer to communicate with God.

1 Recognize that God is the One True God.

2 Thank Him for the many blessings He has given.

3 Tell Him of your needs, and don’t ask Him to fix them, but rather, ask Him to be there with you, dealing with your difficulties.

4 Ask Him to show you and let you do the service He has intended for you to do for Him.

Published in Prayer and Prayer & Spirituality

I am publishing and expanding on this exerpt I wrote in a different web blog this year. Something has recently occurred that caused me to realize that, after all, God IS in control. And equally, I need to respond to item 4 of the above list in this article.

Maybe this website and speaking to you is part of my purpose. I am not being flashy about this article and have not even placed it in the featured update section on the front page. If you were meant to see this, you will, I already know that.

I do try to pray every day, first thing, according to that list. After I finish that list, I have another list that I look at if I need to, and my 4-part list has come to include each of my family, our leaders, my friends, and then a list of other peeps, some by request and some not. This is a formula that seems to work for me. You are welcome to use it or ignore it. It’s just what I do.

I was caused to get serious and consistant about this some months ago, last spring.

This may sound odd, but I must say, if you would like to be added to my prayer list, it would be my pleasure. Whether for something in particular, or just prayer in general, please let me know. Nothing you tell me will ever be made public.

Please put the word “Prayer” in the subject line. You will NOT be put on any auto-email platform.

I don’t pretend to be a prayer giant. This is just something I need to do. Thank you for letting me.

I will continue adding more to this article over the next few days, and thanks for reading.

THE UPDATE

I can say, at this point, I am finding more and more people are discovering or returning to prayer. We are called to pray continuously, but few of us do. It is quite easy to become preoccupied and busy at day to day routines. Many of us here are trying to sell our houses.

As I talked about earlier, I have come to use a list. A list of four areas as a reminder for me.

To that list of four areas, I have added two more areas, a list of things for which I am thankful, and a list of items I need/want for myself. In addition to being called to pray continually, we are called to be thankful for all things.

And we are led to ask for what we need, as in our daily bread. I pray this list last in my order.

THE LIST

The list itself can take a couple of different forms. Some are proponents of index cards, and praying by catagories on different days of the week, with some even getting more prayer than others. Google the index card systems for prayer lists for a deeper look.

The other type list is simply a written list. It requires no index cards, card boxes or rubber bands to work.

I happened to have an old composition book like schools use, and it works great for me. Find what works great for you.

I try to start each day with my composition book. I go through the six sub-areas that make up the entire list each morning. I must be honest, there are many people on my list about whom I have no idea what to pray.

That does not stop me from lifting their name to God in prayer. God already knows that person and their needs. I do pray that I become better at praying for people and situations I am not totally familiar with. I understand the Holy Spirit will help me with that in time.

So please understand, there is so much more I don’t know than what I do. But each day, I am starting to know more deeply that God loves me and has a reason that I am here.

Maybe I’m just here to realize that. Or tell you that. Or tell you He feels that way about you, too. Have you ever heard a message and realized, in your heart, that message was aimed at you? I do more and more.

More soon. Please feel free to comment. Feel free to get on my list. I don’t have to know why you want to be on it.

Thanks,

Don

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