Pray First – Blessed
In his weekend message, Lead Pastor Ben Snyder mentioned that another way we can give God our first is by praying first in all circumstances. For many, prayer is not a go-to throughout their day.
Unfortunately, we often make it out to be more complicated than it is. I most often do this when I have to pray in front of other people. But newer Christians often don’t know where to begin. Should I prepare? Should I know specifically what I am praying about? Will people like what I am praying for? Will they be impressed by my prayers? Am I doing it right? Is God listening?
I’m not sure if these are questions that you ask when thinking about praying, but in this week’s message, Ben makes the point that in all things, we should pray first. Give it to God.
How?
Prayers don’t have to be long. They do not have to be fancy. There is no need to try to impress God or others with them. Simply put, prayer is you talking to God. It is a chance to connect with him and tell him what is going on in your life and how you feel about it.
By praying first, we are acknowledging our need for God and giving him his rightful place in our lives.
Philippians 4:6-7
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
We saw in Tuesday’s LivingItOut that Jesus gave us a great example of praying first to start our days.
Mark 1:35
Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.
Jesus would get up in the morning to get away from the crowd, from all the demands and productivity he had to get done for the day. He took time to first be present with God before he was present with anyone else. He didn’t get up early to impress God but to connect with him.
The next time you have a difficult decision to make, when you get bad news, or when a difficult circumstance arises—pray first. When things are going well in your life, when something’s worth celebrating, makes you joyful or excited, or is praise worthy—pray first. Before you step into a meeting, make a phone call, etc.—pray first. As you make prayer the first thing you do instead of your last resort, you will experience blessings from connecting with God more often.
Questions:
What keeps you from giving God trust, by praying first?
What doubtful question(s) do you have about praying first?
What does your prayer life look like and how can you give God your first?
Next Steps:
Take five minutes in the morning in silence and simply pray for God’s will for the day and listen.
Checkout CedarCreek’s Personal Prayer Guide:
Join us in 21 Days of Prayer.
21 Days of Prayer:
Day 12 Focus –To Live Confidently (1 John 4:16-17)
Father in Heaven, thank you for loving me. I know I can trust you with all I am, and I am confident in the salvation you have given me. Help me to abide in you, to become more like your Son every day. Show me how to live like him, according to your will, working for your Kingdom in all I do. May my love for you and others be perfected through your love for me.
Day 13 Focus – To Live Obediently (Philippians 2:12-13)
Heavenly Father, thank you for working in me. I am in awe of the changes you make possible in my heart and how you continue to grow me to love you and others more. I praise you for saving me, for making salvation possible through your Son. Help me to share this gift with others. Teach me to desire what you desire. I trust you to give me the power to do all you ask of me.
Day 14 Focus – To Worship Him (John 4:23)
Dear Father, I worship you with all my heart and soul. I want to sing your praises from early in the morning when the sun rises until late at night when the day has passed. I am so grateful to be allowed to be your child as your love washes over me again today.
This post was written by Rebecca Roberts, a regular contributor to the LivingItOut Bible Study.
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