Seven laws of prayer
Feb 3
I came across this as I was meditating on prayer and how prayer works. For the most part I found it very useful. There is a link at the end for the full article:
Seven Laws of Prayer
Telling the
truth in prayer.
There is much that we don’t
understand about prayer, personal or
intercessory. Why does God answer
one prayer and not another? Why does
God seem to prefer the small miracle
to the big ones? When a person
survives a terrible accident, he
thanks God for his protection. But
why didn’t God just prevent the
accident? After all, we pray for his
guidance and protection.
That said, there are some things we do know about prayer, and they are generally much more important than the things we don’t know. I present for your consideration, seven immutable laws of prayer.
Law number
one: We all must die.
No amount of prayer can change that.
We may be able through prayer to
postpone the evil day, but sooner or
later we have to go. The psalmist
said that the years of man’s life
would be seventy, or by reason of
strength, eighty. After that, he is
living on borrowed time. You and the
person you are praying for are both
going to die. What then?
Law number
two: Prayer without works is vain.
I knew a man once that refused to go
to the Dentist. Instead, he prayed
that God would heal his cavities.
God never did.Why should God heal
your teeth when you can go to the
dentist and get them fixed? You
can’t pray that God will prosper you
and then refuse to go look for a
job. You can’t pray that God will
bless your investments when you
don’t do your research. So why
should he heal you when you don’t do
what you can?
Law number
three: You need help to pray.
This is true always and at all
times. I take a great deal of heart
from what Paul told the Romans about
prayer. He said in the plainest
terms, “we don’t know what we should
pray for as we ought.” (Romans
8:26-28 KJV)
Law number four: You are God’s
servant. It is not the other way
around.
You should not be asking God to get
you a taxi. You should not be asking
God to wait on your table. It is
good to practice what is sometimes
called, “the presence of God.” It is
good to be aware of God at all
times, to be “instant in prayer,” as
Paul said. It is good to pray always
and about everything. But don’t get
presumptuous. Persistence is good.
but presumptuousness is not.
We can reason with God. We can even plead our case and make our argument. But notice the humility of Abraham. Never does he presume upon God. He never forgot who was boss.
Law number
five: Absolute honesty is required.
You have to tell the truth.
Don’t pretend you love your enemy
while you hate him in your heart.
God knows, so you might as well own
up to it.
Law number
six: Prayer takes time and
meditation.
If you are going to pray according
to God’s will, you are going to have
to spend some time thinking about
his will, and getting to know him.
Thinking is a lost art. Most of us
simply can’t stand to be alone with
our own thoughts. We have to listen
to something, read something, say
something to someone.
Law number
seven: When it comes to words, more
is not better.
I heard someone once urge his
listeners to spend an hour a day in
prayer. That’s a good thing. I tried
it. I put in the time, but I don’t
think there has ever been an
occasion when I spent the whole time
praying. My mind is just too active.
I was all over the place, but I did
manage to pray some of the time. The
exercise was good for me. And I
learned that to spend time alone
with God is holy time, even when you
say nothing at all.
http://www.rondart.com/Topical%20Studies/Seven%20Laws%20of%20Prayer.htm