Prayer - Sharing Personal Thoughts

Psalm 73:28

"But it is good for me to draw near to God;

I have put my trust in the Lord God,

that I may declare all thy works."

Many people teach children to pray before bedtime and meal time. Poem type prayers are taught that the children memorize and repeat day by day. "Thank you for the food we eat.."; "Now I lay me down to sleep..." This method is a good idea to teach children the habit of prayer, but it does not teach them that prayer is personal conversation and communion with our Lord and Heavenly Father. That God cares about even the little things in their lives, like the lost kitten, a fall from your bike, or a friend who is sick. My husband and I raised our kids on prayer. We prayed for our children before they were even born. We dedicated each of our three children to the Lord. They heard us praying for them over their crib at night. Our children will tell you the times they would wake during the night to find Dad in their room praying. Children learn by example and prayer is no exception. Still to this day we continue to pray daily for our children and our grandchildren as the family grows. We have learned that you can never pray to much.

My parents taught me to pray and were an example of prayer all through my life. I know that my Dad still prays for me, he didn't stop when I married and moved out. I'm sure this has much to do with my desire to pray. I would like to share a testimony my brother John shared with me recently. It blessed my heart and I know it will yours as well.


"Quoting my brother John: "One thing that has made a large impact on my prayer life over the years is understanding that "PRAYER IS A RELATIONSHIP, NOT AN EXERCISE," WDad taught me a lot about what our Father in heaven is like. I remember while we were growing up I would often pop into his study for a visit. I remember finding him deep in his studies or a number of times on his knees praying. Yet even when I apologized for the interruption and started to back out of the door he would stop what he was doing and invite me in to talk. He NEVER chased me out or made me feel like I was intruding. As I've gotten older I have realized that even though my visits to his study weren't necessarily any big crisis in my life they were often just a desire to see my dad! He ALWAYS made the time. This has gone a long way in helping me develop my concept of our Father in Heaven. He always takes time to listen to us no matter how "busy" He is; His attention is fully on us when we seek Him. He's not acting preoccupied or annoyed by our interruption but is sincerely focused on the fact that we need His attention even when our intentions are trivial in the grand scheme of things." LJN


When we are young we do not always understand how life experiences influence our adult life. I too am so thankful for godly parents. I'll share one instance in my life that I always remember about prayer. It taught me that even little things are important to God. I was about ten and I had gotten a new watch for my birthday. Shortly afterward I could not find it. My mother helped me look and look, but neither of us could find it. She left me in my room and told me I should pray. Following my pray I started looking again and almost immediately found my watch in the back of my closet floor.


Our parents shared prayer requests with us and we prayed together as a family. Most every day our family would have devotions and prayer together. We shared special times of prayer together such as Christmas time before opening presents. We each took turns praying, giving thanks to our Heavenly Father for the blessings of the past year. Our parents believed God heard and answered prayers and taught us that God was personally interested in our lives and well-being.


I would like to invite YOU to share some personal thoughts about your prayer life. An event that might have impacted your prayer life with God. An answered prayer that caused an impact or a change in your life.


Send your thoughts and testimonies to my personal email address. I will attempt to share these throughout our series on prayer. Or if you just want to share some prayer requests, I would be more than happy to add you to my private prayer list. plarmitage@comcast.net

Know you will find strength, revival and renewal in PRAYER.