IMPROVE YOUR PRAYER LIFE (PRAY)

I know there there are a number of people struggling concerning the issue of prayers! I am happy that today we get to talk about this. I just want to share some experiences both mine and others' together with the word of God so as to get to help each other concerning praying.

Many Christians are having trouble with praying especially long sessions of prayers. At least it is better in a congregation, but for a single person doing personal prayers, it is a big struggle. I have met a number of people saying that they are not really able to pray. Not only hearing from people but also I have been there too! I'm not saying that I am the best prayer worrier in the world but I am improving and I thank God for that. I just want to share some staff with you and if you have been almost not praying or whatever level you are, you get to move to the next level and that is what is important.

1. Ask God to give you the Spirit of prayer. The bible says in Romans 8:26 "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. " NIV. Make The Holy Spirit your teacher, your helper, He is ready to help. I remember when I was in advanced level (four years back), I used to pray about this most of the times, wherever I go, in a bus, while eating, I just prayed in a few words asking God to give me the Spirit of prayer and surely I experienced significant changes. God helped.
2. Pray. As so they say, practice makes perfect, today lets go with this, do not long for perfection but long for continual improvement. Perfection might take too long but continual improvement will someday lead you there. Make it this way, practice makes it better. When you do something and
   
   experience some changes and improvements, gives you more energy to move on. Enjoy every little improvement you get and desire to do more. To be able to pray, you have to
   
   pray. Do not wait for the time when you have learnt all the prayer techniques but use every technique you know along with continue studying more and more from the word of God!
3. Make use of the Lord's prayer to guide you when you pray. The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray and Jesus taught them a prayer, you can get this from the gospel of Mathew 6:9-13. It is a guidance that Jesus gave us  to use as we pray. Make it personal for example you can say"My Father in heaven, hallowed be your name (you can take sometime praising the name of God, magnifying him), your kingdom come(speak it out where exactly you want the kingdom of God to be established in school, your home, your friend's place), your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Specify the exact place you want the will of God to be done, in your family,studies). Give us today our daily bread (What exactly should God give you). Forgive us our debts(There are something you may remember that you did against God, ask him to forgive you and even those you do not remember), as we also have forgiven our debtors (You may find it hard to forgive others, ask God to help you in that as if you will not forgive others it means you should not be forgiven). And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (There are some temptations that God will not let you go through if you pray so ask God to help you in that). This very same prayer can be used to pray for others as well.
   
4. Pray anywhere. Many people think that they are busy and can not find time to settle down and pray. I am advising you to use each and every moment you get. You may be walking or in a bus, that time can also be used very well in prayer. I once heard a song saying 'Have you ever talked to God..., you can whisper in your room, you don't have to say it loud, God answers prayers." It does not matter where you are, God can hear you. The problem is that, many people want to put God in their schedule instead of being with God all the time. It is important to have a quiet dedicated time with God but if you have not been able to do that, you may start with this technique, it has helped me personally. Put your mind in a prayerful attitude and as you grow you will be able to pray even more. Do not just give God an hour and assume that the rest of the hours you can just go your ways, long to be in God's presence all the time and doing so, God can use you in prayer any time, it is not bad to have a timetable for prayer but do not restrain the Holy Spirit.
   
   
5. Make use of opportunities to pray. For example, you might hear that there is going to be a congregation for prayers maybe praying for the church or the nation or any other thing right before God, go pray. Having the desire to pray will trigger God to do something about it. The truth is, God is looking for people who can pray and release His power to intervene in different situation.
   
6. Pray using the word of God. This is another important thing. When you pray, remember that God can not give you something that is not according to His word or let's say against His word. So make sure your prayer is in the line with the word of God. The bible says in book of Jeremiah 1:12 "....for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled." There are so many promises in the word of God. Read and pray according to what God says to you through His word and surely you will see the results.
7. Keep the records of your testimonies. This is something that will push up your faith, the more you pray and see results, the more you grow in faith. God answers prayers it's just that most of the times we forget what God did for us because we do not keep records. Or it happens sometimes that God answered your prayers and you take it simple. Let us appreciate what God does and praise Him!

I have shared these with you because I know that they will give some help, I have experienced these and God has been faithful to take me steps further and I still trust God for more. We are supposed to move from glory to glory. Do not get settled where you are but seek to go another step forward. However small the step might be, it is worth it rather than staying at the very same level for so long. Remember, in any situation, do not complain but instead, go before God and pray.

God bless you so much in Jesus' name!

HEARING FROM GOD

It has been a while now since the last sermon we got to share. I am grateful to God for this opportunity that we have once again to get to explore His word. 

Today, we are going to talk about hearing from God. Can we really hear God in this period of time where there is too much noise around us? The answer is YES!

It will be very nice if you read the book of 1 Samuel chapter 3, the sermon will base on this chapter.

In summary, the story is about the first time when the prophet Samuel  was called by God. If you are a good student of the word of God you will be aware of how Samuel was born. He was the answer to his mother's (Hannah) prayers. 1 Samuel 1:11 says "And she made a vow, saying, "O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head." "

Samuel was taken to the house of the Lord at a very tender age, the bible says after he was weaned (verse 22 of the first chapter).

Back to chapter 3. The bible says the word of God by then was  rare and there were not many vision. God called Samuel four times before starting to speak to him, and the first three times, he responded to Eli until the moment when Eli told him what to say so as to give God a chance to say what He wanted to say to him.

Verse 7 of the third chapter says "Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him"

We see in verse 9 and 10 "So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”"

What I want us to grasp from this chapter concerning hearing from God is that

1. God wants to speak to us, He longs to speak to us even though the word of God may be rare to others or you may be around people with no vision.
2. Your age does not matter , God can still speak to you. For example, Samuel was only a small boy.
3. We need to know the word of God to measure against what we here because God will never say anything to you that is against His own word from the bible.
4. The more we respond to what God says, the more we hear from Him. For example when Samuel responded to the call, God started to speak and told him so many things.
5. We need some teachings, a teacher or lets say a mentor can help us learn more on how to hear from God. Take an example of Samuel and Eli, Eli was there long before and he has been working for God for so long and so Samuel had so much to learn from Eli. Eli was the one who taught him how to respond.

God speaks to us often, I came to notice that there were so many times when I came to realize that at so and so moment God spoke to me about a certain thing. Put more focus on what you hear from within you. God speaks to us more often than we think. Sometimes we think it is just our thoughts but in real sense, God drops His ideas into our mind so many times. God speaks to us through some other people around us. God speaks to us  through nature and all that is around us. God speaks to everyone, getting closer to God helps us hear Him even louder. Work more on your relationship with God!!!

Have a good time and God bless you so much!!!