TODAY’S WORD…

I prayed to the Lord, and He answered me;

He freed me from all my fears.

The oppressed look to Him and are glad;

they will never be disappointed.

The helpless call to Him, and He answers;

He saves them from all their troubles.

The righteous call to the Lord, and He listens;

He rescues them from all their troubles.

The Lord is near to those who are discouraged;

He saves those who have lost all hope.

Good people suffer many troubles,

but the Lord saves them from them all.

– Psalm 34:4-6,17-19

REFLECTION…

You and I were created for prayer.  Prayer is acknowledging the Lord our God and Saviour. Through prayer we begin to see the hand of God in our day to day life, that is, we see Him acting in our life. We begin to see that He loves us personally, and that makes life so much more meaningful.

Our prayers must be from the heart and we needn’t ramble on, because God knows our desires and what we truly need before we speak.

Jesus taught us how to pray – He authored the “Our Father”, which is paraphrased below with the hope that by seeing Jesus’ instructions on how to pray in different words we may realise the value of simple and heart-felt prayers…and pray accordingly.

Pray to thank and honour God.

Pray to ask God for help doing His will and doing good.

Pray to ask God for help with our needs.

Pray to ask God to forgive us.

Pray to ask God for strength to forgive others.

Pray to ask God for help in avoiding sin.

Pray to ask God to protect us.

[The last three paragraphs have been paraphrased from an article by A. Badura-Brack]

PRAYER…

Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.