P.R.A.Y.

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Every Sunday I sit under Bayless Conley at Cottonwood Christian Center. A few Sundays ago Pastor Conley spoke about praying and the benefits of praying consistently. He also spoke about the necessity of prayer and how it impacted the life of Jesus and how it impacts (or detracts) from our lives. While explaining the importance of prayer, Pastor Conley gave a great acronym for the word Pray. It was Praise, Repent, Ask and Yield. These simple four steps helped Pastor Conley develop a structured prayer life and continually get answers when he petitioned God for anything that his heart desired. As he broke down each one, I listened intently on the explanation.

Praise
When you start your prayer to God you should always start with praise. We all know God is an awesome God so we should take time to let God know that we believe He is awesome still. We want to let God know that we are not taking Him or His blessings for granted in our lives and each additional breath is better then the one before it. When we offer our praises up to God we can continue to let Him know that He is first in our lives and that His splendor, glory and grace give us more then enough reasons to praise Him. Make sure when you pray you are letting God know that in this moment, I am overjoyed at all that you have done, are doing and will do in our lives and my words are just not enough to speak on all that I am thankful for.

Repent
After you praise God to your hearts content, ask for forgiveness for the sins that you have committed. Repentance is a key part of our Christian walk, 1 John 1: 9 says "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Therefore, once we repent we are back walking in our righteousness and able to walk in the authority that God has given us. Remember when you have unforgiven sin, if you are saved you will still go to Heaven but you are out of the righteousness of God but not uncovered by the blood of Jesus Christ. Repentance is heartfelt sorrow for the sins you have committed, a strong desire to not continue to commit sins and new outlook that will not dwell on past sins. When you ask God for forgiveness then God says that He will remember your sins no more for your own sake. Therefore if God forgets our sins then why would we continue to carry them.

Ask
When you are done repenting then it is time to ask for what it is your heart desires. In Hebrews it says to come boldly to the throne room to make your petitions of the Lord. Therefore when you ask God for what it is that you desire, make sure you have the faith and confidence that He will do it. Everyone believes that God is capable of answering their prayers but not everyone believes that God "will" answer their prayers. Isaiah 45:11 says "Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Would you question Me about things to come concerning My children, and concerning the work of My hands [would you] command Me?" Many people hope that God answers their prayers but according to the bible, God asks us to command His hands...interesting isn't it? Remember when you ask to ask in Jesus name, for John 16:23 says " And when that time comes, you will ask nothing of Me [you will need to ask Me no questions]. I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that My Father will grant you whatever you ask in My Name [as presenting all that I AM]." Therefore, ask in confidence and faith what you desire of the Lord and make sure it is in Jesus name.

Yield
Finally, when you are nearing the end of your prayer, yield and listen to what God has to say. I was listening to a song by Deitrick Haddon recently and he said, "Stand still and know that He is God". When you are yielding make sure you stand still and know that God wants to speak to you and it is imperative that we learn to listen. Many of us are the world's best speakers but very few of us can listen to anyone. It took me a long time to learn to listen and my wife will attest to that but now I have learned to listen when I pray and make sure that anything and everything God has to tell me, I will hear. God's got a message for each and every one of us, let's all listen to what He has to say. AMEN