Broken Pieces

                                   

1 Peter 5:10 “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strength, settle you” (KJV).

The path we take for our prayers to be answered is harder and even longer sometimes. Our path sometimes includes our past choices and the consequences that come with our choices, along with growth, and through our healing, then our prayers will be answered. BUT GUESS WHAT??? GOD IS WITH US EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. God will never leave us. There are somethings we have to go through, but he will always be there to pick up our broken pieces. So, for a little while, we may suffer through our broken pieces, to gain the strength to restore us into whom he wants us to be. I was reading something the other day that stood out to me. It read “There are three key things to remember when you are on your journey getting close to God. We should remember this when we have broken pieces: You are not alone, develop a relationship with God, and believe that God’s word is true”. Now you’re probably saying what does she mean by this? Well, with you are not alone means…YOU are not alone there are others who have broken pieces, although other people's broken pieces are not the same as yours, they too have to suffer through their broken pieces to get where God wants them to be. Developing a relationship with God means just that. We must establish a relationship with God. We may acknowledge who God is, but do we really know WHO God is, not really, not until we begin to study his word, trust that God is working out a plan for us while praying. In addition to all this, we have to remember that God’s word is true. God’s word never changes, he will give us all that we need and help us get through those broken pieces. Psalms 37:4 says, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (KJV). Studying, trusting, and knowing that God’s word is true will help you through those broken pieces.

Is there an Effective way to Pray?

“But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22: 32, KJV).

Have you ever waited on the Lord to show you how to pray; whether it was for yourself or a loved one? I have struggled with this praying thing often. The question is there really a correct way to pray and how to pray? I began doing a little research and stumbled upon the scripture Luke 22:32 and as I was reading this scripture a light turned on for me telling me in a way how I should pray. Now for me, I got from this verse that I should pray without letting my faith fail me. A lot of times we pray for God to remove the problem, to heal a loved one, bring us out of that situation or make it better for us, but when we pray are we praying with strong faith? By all means, I am not saying there is a wrong way to pray I am just asking is there a better way to pray?  When reading Luke 22:32 we see how Jesus prays for Peters faith to be strong at his time of need he didn’t want him to fail: it is important that Peter face his situation with his own strength. Jesus wanted Peter's faith to be strong and to not let it fail him; we must be strong in faith to help us to get through our problems. When we begin to understand the purpose of God in people around us this is when it is a growing process for us. In order to pray effectively, one must pray not only for ourselves but for others' faith to hold strong instead of praying for the situation to change, praying to help us see through problems with faith. Having strong faith shows there’s God in you because God is the power behind the faith that helps us to move through our situation. Effective prayer comes from the heart and the will of God. It comes from the wisdom we are seeking to learn from God. James 1:5-6 states, “⁵ If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.⁶ But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed” (KJV).  Having God in our hearts and gaining wisdom from him we will then learn to pray and ask in His will that it shall be done. Through my continued journey of learning to pray effectively, I am learning that if I pray according to God's will, I have to seek his wisdom. We must continue to seek his will for things we are praying for and I am learning that I cannot pray with fear in my heart, rather than faith, then I will be praying amiss not seeking it clearly. In order to learn how to pray I (we) must pray in his will, have faith, and seek wisdom from God while having God in our hearts.