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This is the second part of the series on Prayer.
Prayer is the ultimate privilege of speaking to God as our Father, our Daddy. Jesus referred to this relationship with God as one that is as personal as the one we would have with our own Dad. When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, He said to address God as "Father", using a word that translated in English means "a nourisher, protector, upholder"* (Matthew 6:9; 7:11) .
Perhaps your earthly Dad was not the ideal nourisher. If your relationship lacked his protection, his pride in your accomplishments, his words of encouragement, a listening ear, his love--no matter what you had done, please know that your Heavenly Daddy waits with open arms to provide for all of your needs.
Scripture is full of passages calling our heart to "Abba Daddy". The Lord encourages us to ask, seek, and knock in Matthew 7:7; pray always in 1 Thessalonians 5:17; pray and do not give up i n Matthew 26:41; pray that your joy (the kind the Lord gives) may be full in John 16:24; pray when you are in trouble or when you are sick in James 5:13.
These are only a few instances of when and how to pray. I encourage you to look up the word, pray or prayer in a Bible dictionary and read each passage, hanging onto and bringing to your heart the ones that speak to you.
"O you who hear prayer , to you all men will come." Psalm 65:2
"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much will your Father (Daddy--parenthesis, mine) in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him." Matthew 7:11
"What have you learned about prayer? How do you view God? What questions do you still have about prayer?"
*definition taken from Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old AND New Testament Words, copyright 1985 by Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers.
repost from the archives
From My Heart to Yours,
Janis
Labels: Blogging Workshop, Christian Inspiration, Prayer
