For the last few years I have been thinking/learning/sharing the “Lord’s Prayer” as not just a prayer that Jesus taught us but as a blue print of how to pray. A few weeks ago I had a length talk with a friend about it and that today I heard a sermon about it again. I feel that God just wants me to share this message with others.

1. Make prayer a priority. Praying is to your spirit as breathing is to your body. For your spirit to be healthy, to grow you must pray.

2. Pray alone. Make time for the Lord. He wants you to know Him. Matthew6:5-6 basically tells us not to make a show of prayer, but to do it in private.

3. Surrender to God. It is about God not us.

4. Frame your prayer with God’s character not our circumstances. he is our ruler, redeemer, healer, provider, wonderful counselor, prince of peace. We are nothing without him.

5. Prayer recognizes our dependence on God. Matthew6:11 Everything is a gift from God from our day to our food. It is from Him.

6. Prayer restores and delivers us from evil. Matthew 6:12-13 We are forgiven from our sins and are given strength so we do not fall into temptation. God rescues us from the evil one.

7. Prayer is available to anyone but there is only one authority God! Matthew 6:9 “Our Father in Heaven hallowed be your name.”

Another words, start with how great and righteous God is, pray for God’s goals than finally for us.

God Bless.

Posted by brianW in the ChristianDads Forums

In the Old Testament a man named Job was both righteous and wealthy. (A rare combination if you ask me.) However, In a matter of hours he lost his children, his home, his livestock, his servants, and his herdsmen … plus as he laid on the ground covered with boils, his wife was no help at all.
In addition, Job’s 3 buddies accused him of holding on to secret sin and being untruthful to God. They verbally pounded Job … sounding more like his worst enemies than his friends.
When I imagine myself in Job’s sandals … or his bare and blistered feet … I would have been very “ticked off” with these so-called friends. But noticed what happened to Job in the last chapter :
“After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.” Job 42: 10
Oh I know many of us pray for our family and friends … especially in times of stress and trials. But this is different.
So, I took out a piece of paper and wrote down the names of enemies whom I’ve actually prayed for down through the years.
Ashamedly the list is very short. What about your list ?

For those of you who don’t know, Greg and Nicol Sponberg are probably welcoming a new life into the world today. Greg is planning on being a contributor on our website, after things with the new baby settle down. You might have heard of his wife Nicol, singer/songwriter (also known as Nicol Smith Sponberg of the Christian group Selah), who has such a beautiful and unique voice.

Anyway, I just spent a few minutes just now praying for a safe and healthy delivery for Nicol and the baby, as well as for strength and courage for Greg. Being a dad, and witnessing natural childbirth, I can promise you Greg needs prayer too!

Greg, when you have a moment, drop us a quick post and let us know how the family is doing!

I must admit that prayer, for me, has always been something that I have found difficult. Not sure why, but I never pray as much as I should, and just feel weird doing it sometimes. On Wednesday night, we had Lee Strobel at our church to talk about the DaVinci Code. Before his message, our congregation was asked to pray in groups for those who will be affected by the book and by the movie.

I have never experienced 7,000 people praying at once before. I sat quiet, simply listening to the sound of God’s people caring for the lost. What an amazing thing to witness.