Prayer

Last Wednesday in youth group, my youth leader was delivering a message about prayer. He explained about how to pray, when, where, and some other things, but what got me was making it a routine to pray atleast three times a day (but of course more is even better, but it's kind of a start).

Something that has really helped me this week is making a prayer list. Divide it up so that you have different things to pray about in the morning, afternoon, and evening. It helps me to remember what I am praying about and not miss anything. Here is a couple of the things I pray throughout the day.

-Morning: Thank Him for the day, pray for my conduct and my day, the soliders, ect.

-Afternoon: My pastor, youth leaders, my mom, ect.

-Evening: My dad, brother, my friends and all the members of my youth group (by name, one by one), and a good nights rest, ect.

I'm always thinking of different people and occasions to add to it, even just now when I was listing the things I pray about.

It is a little hard to do this, and to make it sincere when you are in a hurry. Afternoon prayer kind of slips by...so I have to make up for it at night. But I believe once when I do it everyday, it will become easier.

Another thing that my youth leader said, and that I completely agree with, is to kneel. You might ask, "What is the importance in kneeling? Why can't I stand, or lie down, or do something as I pray?" Well you can do all of that, to a point..but kneeling is humbling yourself.

One last thing that GREATLY seemed to make Jesus appear more real to me and so close, is pray in the Spirit. This was something my mom told me over the summer and was wonderful. It might be a little hard to understand what this means..but think about WHO you are talking to! Jesus Christ, the Risen Savior, Son of GOD, the Messiah!!!! When talking to your neighbor, or yourself..., you just kind of say words and they don't come from within you. You could be talking to somebody and think about something completely different. Excluding all the things around you and thoughts and thinking JUST on Jesus and what your saying will help you to be more fervent.

If not already, I suggest that you try these practices and see what happens!

~~Rachel