I’m fairly disappointed in myself because I haven’t wrote a
blog posting in over a year. I could give a thousand excuses as to why but I
won’t. Word World War falls within my aspirations to build up my knowledge of
God’s word and help you do the same.
Needless to say, no matter how busy we become with our
lives, we should always make it a priority to develop a genuine love for and a relationship
with God. Undoubtedly, it’s important to allow God the opportunity to hear from
us and likewise, to hear from him.
This dialogue is what we call prayer! Prayer is our biggest
weapon against the enemy. Prayer strengthens our faith. It increases our
self-confidence and our confidence in God’s power. Prayer relieves the anxiety
we can acquire from our demanding lives! And as the famous saying goes, prayer changes
things.
Today, Thursday, May 1, 2014 is actually National Prayer Day and in light of
this I would like to share with you The Five Fingers of Prayer and five of my
favorite Bible verses that encourage prayer.
Prayer is a selfless act. Of course we want to communicate
to God our needs and wants but as believers we have an obligation to pray for
our brothers and sisters in Christ. A long time ago one of my Sunday school teachers,
Mrs. Yarber taught us The Five Fingers
of Prayer!
- Thumb, the closest finger to us represents the people closest to us: family, friends, spouse, children and even our neighbors, co-workers and people we interact with on a daily basis
- Pointing/Index finger refers to the people who lead and “point” us in the right direction: school teachers, mentors and role models, work managers, etc.
- Middle finger, our tallest finger symbolizes those in high positions: church leaders and government officials. They especially need our prayers so that God will move their hearts to act with integrity as the impact (and even affect) the lives of many.
- Ring finger, our weakest finger denotes we should pray for those who are weak: be it the sick and shut in, those in mourning, weak in the flesh, in pain or in trouble
- Pinky, the farthest from us represents are ourselves: again prayer is a selfless act and it takes humility to be concerned about others just as we are concerned about ourselves.
As we observe National
Prayer Day today, remember these five things! Be encouraged to include
these aspects in your daily prayers as well. As you do, consider these five
Bible verses. By the way, these are all in the Amplified version.
Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Lean
on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your
heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
6 In all
your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If My
people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require
of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from
heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.
Romans 8:26
26 So too
the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we
do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought,
but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads
in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance.
Matthew 6:9-13 (The
Lord’s Prayer)
9 Pray,
therefore, like this: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed (kept holy) 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 also have forgiven ([e]left,
remitted, and let go of the debts, and have [f]given
up resentment against) our debtors.
13 And
lead (bring) us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and
the glory forever. Amen.
Proverbs 15:29
29 The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the
prayer of the [consistently] righteous (the upright, in right standing with
Him).
Peace and Blessings
