WEEKLY MESSAGE
SUN, 28/06/26 - SAT, 04/07/26
ON THE MESSAGE THIS WEEK: WAYS TO PRAY
KEY VERSE: “I LAY PROSTRATE BEFORE THE LORD” (DEUTERONOMY 9:25)
Hezekiah, King of Israel, received a threatening letter from a much more powerful king, the King of Assyria. The Assyrian potentate demanded unconditional surrender, and told Hezekiah not to trust in God. The letter was graphic, warning that resistance meant the Israelites would have to ‘eat their own excrement and drink their own urine’ before they died (see 2 Kings 18:27).
So Hezekiah went to the temple ‘and spread it out before the LORD’. Then he prayed: ‘God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see’ (see Isaiah 37:16-17). Hezekiah literally said, ‘Lord, would you read this, then do something about it!’ And God did. Indeed, what He did was spectacular. ‘Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!’ (see Isaiah 37:36).
So, what piece of paper would you like to spread out before the Lord? A financial statement that’s overwhelming? A divorce decree? A medical diagnosis? An angry email? Any piece of paper that causes you stress can be an invitation to prayer, and a candidate to be spread out before the Lord. If it’s important to you, it’s important to Him. You say, ‘I’ve never done anything like that before.’ Try it, trust Him, and watch how He works things out for you.
Someone who’s better at prayer than you are is already at work on your behalf. ‘God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in us and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves…and keeps us present before God’ (see Romans 8:26-27). Notice, the Holy Spirit ‘keeps us present before God’.
Sometimes we’ve a hard time being ‘fully present’ in prayer. We all know what it’s like to be with another person when their mind is a million miles away. What’s the answer? Try jotting down what goes on while you’re praying. The two most common hindrances to praying successfully are: a) your mind gets easily distracted by other thoughts; b) you get tired.
When author John Ortberg shared these two frustrations with a friend, he suggested that John go outside alone and simply invite Jesus to come along with him. Ortberg writes: ‘The next day I went to the ocean, took off my shoes, started to run and invited Jesus to come along. I found the strangest thing. When I thought I was supposed to be talking to Him, I found it effortful and difficult. Now that all I had to do was invite Him, I couldn’t stop thinking about Him. My mind kept reflecting on His being with me. I found myself wanting to point out the pelicans and the waves to Him. People and concerns would pop into my mind, and I would find myself telling Jesus about them. Everything changed.’
Find a prayer style that works for you. In Scripture people pray as they stand, kneel, lie on the ground, sit, stretch out their hands, lift their faces toward the sky, or bow them toward the earth. Just find the method that works best for you, and use it. Some people pray better when they are moving. If you’re one of them, take a walk, go for a drive, or run. You are free to use your body and posture to help you turn your mind and heart towards God.
When you’re acknowledging your sins, you may find it helpful to have your head bowed and to kneel; it’ll help you to remember and experience the humility of the moment. In worship, you may want to turn your face towards the sky. In asking for guidance, you may find it helpful to turn your palms upwards as a way of expressing with your body: ‘Lord, whatever You want.’ When praying for someone, say at a restaurant, you may want to look that person right in the eye while talking to God and say, ‘Father, I’m so grateful for this person. You know what they need. Give them what is required by their heart.’ When you’re praising God, put on a worship CD and sing along.
The point is you should approach God with the joy, excitement and simplicity with which a child runs into the arms of a loving parent. Just as you don’t have anyone else’s fingerprints, you don’t have anyone else’s temperament. So just approach God in a way that’s natural, spontaneous and comfortable for you.
Have a goodly week in Jesus' Name, Amen.
(Article/ extract from ucb,wordfortoday)
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Did you know: There are almost 20 different passages in the Bible where it is mentioned that we are God's people.
Ref: Jeremiah 32:38 / Ezekiel 14:11 / Zechariah 8:8 / 2 Corinthians 6:16 / Hebrews 8:10 / Ezekiel 11:20 / Ezekiel 37:23 / Jeremiah 7:23 / Jeremiah 31:33 / Ezekiel 37:27 / Jeremiah 31:1 / Revelation 21:3 / Exodus 6:7 / Leviticus 26:12 / Jeremiah 11:4 / Jeremiah 30:22 / Ezekiel 36:28.