"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." Matthew 6:33 (NLT)

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Revelation 8 - Prayer

"3 Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God’s people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of God’s holy people, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out."

I just love this image of our prayers as an offering to God. As I read this, I was reminded that our prayers which include our hopes and dreams, our deepest sufferings and our greatest joys, are a piece of us and as they are being offered up to the Lord as an offering, so too are we. I think it is important to remember that each day as you pray. Our prayers are not just words, and we shouldn't allow them to become that for us. They are our deepest thoughts and hopes. We should be invested in those prayers and offering them in faith that God does receive them and with the assurance that our prayers will receive a response.

What do you do to make sure that your prayers are personal and a piece of yourself, given to God? One of the things that can make prayers special for me is to mix them with music. This combined prayer and music worship seems to help me become more personal and deeper with the Lord. For me, I allow the words of a song to start my journey and bring me to a place of connection and they become a jumping off point for my more specific prayers. Possibly because I am so effected by music, it is easy for my to feel that God will be effected by my prayers when I combine the too. I don't really know and I am sure that the form of our prayers in not important to God, but I guess sometimes it can be important to us.

So what about you, I would love to here what helps make your prayers deep and personal?

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