Funny how most of my life my only idea of prayer was at 3 o’clock in the morning when I had gotten myself into some pretty awful scrapes and needed all the help I could get.We’ve all been there.We usually only turn to God when things really hit the fan and we have nothing else to do but pray.

Most people’s idea of prayer is one of making requests to God.We call on God all the time without ever really praying to Him.As soon as our immediate situation improves in the slightest we quickly forget about our promises and we push God back to the sidelines.

My father told me a story of how one Christmas he got a holiday bonus from work.My mother had handed him the xmas list and off he went to go shopping.Along the way he gets a call from my uncle asking him to get in on a poker game.Against his better judgement, my father finds himself in the height of a poker tournament and the stakes begin to get high.After awhile he starts to lose his shirt.He begins to sweat and get anxious.He starts to think about what my mother will do when she finds out he lost all the christmas money on a poker game.

In between deals, my father goes to the washroom.He looks himself in the mirror and then decides to pray. “God, he says,If you help me win this game I swear I’ll never play poker again.”He means it with all of his heart and returns to the poker game.Out of nowhere his luck begins to change.He wins his money back and even makes a small profit.My father was amazed.A few months later he is invited to another game.But because he made a promise to God he turns it down.My dad has never gambled since that day.

Prayer is not just insurance. Prayer is simple communication with God.It’s taking the time every day to acknowledge Him and Thank Him.It’s pouring out your heart and it’s learning to listen and pay attention to what He’s saying.Prayer is so powerful.It is the one thing we can do anywhere and anytime.We can pray for the needs of individuals,families and communities.It’s asking God, including God  and inviting God into our daily lives.

God longs to welcome His children into His arms.He very much wants to aid and help us.He wants to have a relationship with us.Often Jesus knocks but He doesnt get an answer.God is so faithful to us and we need merely to humble ourselves before Him and start praying.It doesn’t have to be anything fancy.As long as we are humbled, honest and heartfelt.

There are many scriptures in the bible that tell us what to pray.Recently, I have come across a bible passage that can be prayed for anyone and any situation.Praying from the heart along with quoting God’s word can be very effective. 

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,  giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:9-14

This passage teaches us so much about prayer.The first part says to pray without ceasing.It means keeping a constant connection to God via prayer.It means having an awareness for the needs of others and paying attention to what’s going on around us and simply communicating to God about it.

The next part asks to be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spirtual wisdom and understanding, so we can walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.This means we no longer have to pray, if God will’s it, we can simply pray that God’s wisdom and will be given.It’s also asking that a person be enabled to walk in a manner worthy of God.For some people,that means a fundamental change in the way they operate.We know from the gospels that Jesus is the example of how we are to walk.

The next part asks to be strengthened with all power, for endurance and for patience and joy.This means recieving the strength and power we need to face obstacles and to further God’s plan. It goes on to remind us to give Thanks to God because He has made us inheritors of His light.

We give thanks because of the eternal gift of life and salvation given to us by Jesus Christ.We have been delivered from darkness and brought into His kingdom where we can recieve redemption and forgiveness of sins.We no longer need to walk through life alone or carry burdens.Everything we need can be found in God.Prayer is the first step towards building a personal relationship with God and the strongest foundation for life on this earth.Prayer allows God to move in our lives.

I can’t think of a more effective prayer.