Reading Notes

Prayer is the most central part of our spiritual life.

Real prayer is life creating and life changing.

Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us.

To pray is to change.

Reflection on Prayer

In our everyday life, we probably like to develop the habit of quiet prayer. To be quiet is not a simple task. It takes a lot of concentration. Being quiet becomes possible only after collecting the fragmented ideas of our conscious mind and put them together. Once we learn to pray quietly, we will be able to pray constantly, anywhere and at any position.

Many of us go through lots of difficulties with praying. When we sit to pray, we are swayed by school works, job issues, family and all sorts of distraction. The assignment due dates come into our mind, and it takes our quality time away from us. At the same time, instant online messaging services, social network, chatting etc capture our mind instanteneously. Once we enter into the world of social network and start chatting with friends, it gets harder day by day to quit it. Our sancturay for prayer turns a place to twitter about this and that. All these sorts of unhealthy habits are the challenging difficulties in our prayer life.

A Light for the Path

You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:3

The verse talks about the unanswered prayer; it also specifies why some prayers are not answered. Jesus commanded, and encouraged his disciples to pray to God for every single need. He has promised us to fulfill our needs when we ask in his name. Later, Paul encouraged praying incessantly. People, however, do not get answer of their prayer because some people pray merely for their own interest. God teaches us to pray for others. He is still praying for us. His intercession has sustained us to follow him. But when we pray and ask God, we do not receive since there is a wrong motivation in our prayer. God answers them whose hearts are pure, and do not doubt God’s promise. If we do not pray out of vain conceit, surely shall receive what we ask for.

Journal Reflections

Prayer is the core of the entire spiritual disciplines. Through prayer, we can establish perpetual communion with the Father.  Many godly men inherited the realm of God through prayer life. Prayer does not only change our life, but transforms it into godliness also. Prayer is a learning process to ask God and depend on him.

Jesus commanded his disciples to pray only lest they might fall into temptation. Our flesh revolts against the Spirit. Therefore, a man neither can resist any trials and temptations nor overcome them by his own strength and knowledge. Praying with intense and genuine assurance for victory over sexual deviations and immoralities was the most helpful suggestion for me.