Prayer

As I was looking through my past devotions, I came across this verse; and it served as a very good reminder to me

James 4:3 (NKJV)
You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

Thinking back on how I prayed, it seems that sometimes I pray really selfishly, pray for my own needs, always complaining to God, grumbling, praying only when I need a parking or when I lose something, praying on the day before a major exam… even to my shame, I put on a mask before I seek God, prayer that doesn’t come from my heart but from what I memorized. Lord please forgive me…
When I pray I should put Jesus first, others second and myself last, then will I have true joy. And by esteeming others higher than myself, will I overcome pride.

Don’t stop praying, for it's our power!!!

below is something i read on http://www.actsweb.org/ , daily encounter.

1. Praying the Right Prayer
"You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."

One reason we don't get some prayers answered is because we are praying the wrong prayer. Not necessarily because of a wrong motive, but because we focus our prayer on the symptom and not on the cause of the problem or illness.

There's a well-known hymn that says, "O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer." We could also sing, "O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not pray the right prayer."

For example, if I have a stomach ulcer or a headache, I tend to ask God to heal my ulcer or my headache. This is what I mean by focusing our prayer on the symptom. While some ulcers have a biological cause, some are caused not by what I eat but by what is eating me, and then what I eat aggravates the problem. I've never had an ulcer and rarely have a headache, but when I do have a headache, it's usually because I am either mad about something or am under a lot of stress.

If I am going to ask God for healing, I need to admit not only the symptom, but also ask him to give me the insight to see, and the courage to face, anything in my life that is causing my illness, and then ask him for the help to resolve it.

It is unrealistic to ask God to heal my symptoms if I fail to face and deal with the causes. If he did, he would be irresponsible. It is possible, however, to exchange one symptom for another because if we don't deal with the cause of our problem, in time it will come out another way—probably a worse way.

I recall hearing one man claim that the moment he became a Christian, God delivered him from his alcoholism. He may have quit his drinking but it was rather obvious that he was now (or still) a rage-aholic, which quite possibly was a cause behind his alcoholism.

This principle applies not only to physical ills but to many other problems as well. I learned this lesson the hard way. After many years trying to resolve a frustrating situation I was in, I begged God to give me the courage to face the truth of what I was contributing to the problem. Within two weeks I saw what an enabler I had been for so long. Once I saw the truth, I knew exactly what I needed to do, which in the doing resolved my part of the problem.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, with every problem, illness, conflict, and challenge I face, help me to pray the right prayer and see any cause behind my sickness or problem and what I am contributing to my situation. Help me to resolve whatever cause there might be so that I will clear the way for your deliverance, healing, and freedom. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
1. James 4:2-3 (NIV).

how to pray? learn from the Lord's prayer

The Lord's Prayer
Matthew 6:5-15 (NKJV)
5“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly I say to you, they have their reward.
6 “But you when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
7 “And when you pray, don’t use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
9 “In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 “But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.