Essays on Prayer - No 9. By Robert Dean Steel

Essays on Prayer - No 9.  By Robert Dean Steel

   Sometimes it is good to just say prayers that have already been written.  When I am praying I love this next section of prayer.  I pray them with feeling and purpose.  I want every word to sink in and come to pass.
   The first prayer of course is the Lord's prayer.  It is the model for all the  prayers I pray but it is also the catalyst for a series of prayers that I pray everyday and will share later in this series.  There are times where we get stuck and do not know how to pray in our native language written prayers can be times of deep feeling and reality for us.  "Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed Be your Name, Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.  For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."
   The second prayer that I love to pray is the prayer of Jabez.  Jabez was a man who was in the line of Judah and David.  he was a honorable and noble man who loved God and saw the fulfillment of His prayer.  His name means, "I gave birth to him in pain.  Jabez however did not live up to his name.  This prayer is found in 1 Chron 4:10.  Jabez cried out to God, God of Israel.  "Oh God that you would bless me and enlarge my territory.  Let your hand be with me and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain."  The final phrase was that God granted his request.
   In my prayer time I add, "please keep me from pain and causing pain."  I do not want to be a source of pain or strife in any ones life.  I m sure that is your wish as well.
   You may or may not have written prayers in your tradition of prayer.  These two that I have shared today are biblical prayers.  Not that long ago some friends of mine did a audio series on the prayers of the Bible.  Later in this series I will give you a list of prayer that I use.  They may help you into a new area and help push you into seasons of prayer you never thought about.  One further thought, praying biblical prayers is a great way to hear the mind and thoughts of God.  They are put in the bible for a reason.  Use them under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.