Next steps - Prayer
As Christians we need to confess our sins to God, repent from our sins and then start the habit of reading and studying the Word of God on a daily basis. However, we need to communicate with God daily and also regularly throughout the day.
Martin Luther said: "To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing". We cannot profess to be Christians if we neglect prayer, it is as essential as breathing. Through our prayers we worship God and seek to connect with Him, build our personal relationship with Him, we can thank Him for what He has done and will do, learn His will for our lives, reflect on the actions we have taken or will take during the day and how it reflects the will of God in our lives, express our faith in Him, confess our transgressions and repent.
Jesus Christ taught us how we need to pray in Matthew 6:9-13:
‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
‘Give us this day our daily bread.
‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
[For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]
Through this we can see that God is our Father, not a distant figure observing us from a distance as one popular song would suggest (Matthew 6:9, NASB). As He is our Father, we should not be shy to approach Him in prayer and build our relationship with Him. This is the relationship that outweighs all other relationships in a Christian's life. Therefore, just as you are able to speak to your dad here on earth so you must above all be able to speak to your Heavenly Father.
We need to also understand that prayer is not about seeking our own selfish desire or our will, but it is entirely about seeking the will of God and His kingdom above all else (Matthew 6:9-10, NASB). Jesus reminds that we need to first seek the kingdom of God and all our necessities such as clothes, food and shelter; not luxuries such as a television, will be given to us (Matthew 6:33). DO NOT CONFUSE THESE WORDS WITH THE FALSE PROSPERITY GOSPEL PREACHED BY SO MANY FALSE PREACHERS.
Jesus shows us that our Heavenly Father will provide us with our daily needs (Matthew 6:11, NASB), we need to ask Him for it and rely on Him for it and not trust other people to provide these things. By petitioning God for our needs through prayer we are displaying our faith and trust in Him.
In our prayers we need to seek forgiveness for our transgressions, but Jesus reminds us that we ALSO need to forgive other people who trespass against us (Matthew 6:12, NASB). You can not profess to be a Christian if you harbour hatred, bitterness and unforgiveness. Jesus Himself states that we must forgive people 70 x 7 times which is a metaphorical way of stating that we must not refuse to ever forgive people (Matthew 18:22). Therefore, you need to take stock of the people in your life and forgive them for their transgressions against you. This may be a very difficult task, but it will be so liberating to do. Unforgiveness will only make you physically and emotionally sick, Jesus knows best, follow His teaching on forgiveness.
As human beings we are very weak by nature and may easily fall into temptation, Jesus makes it clear that we need God's help to be delivered from the temptations that may come our way during the course of a day (Matthew 6:13, NASB). God is the only One who would be able to provide us with a way out of temptations (1 Corinthians 10:13).
God is also praised, honoured and worship through our prayers (Matthew 6:13, NASB). He is worthy of all honour, praise and glory and we must never neglect to give it all to Him and Him alone for He is the Living God (Revelation 4:11).
Live a prayerful life, brothers and sisters in Christ. God bless each and every one of you.