Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube of Red Marlow singing his original song … I Pray … poignantly singing of how his (and our) prayer opens us up for God’s amazing grace to flow into our lives.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Matthew 6:5-6 [NKJV] … 5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
… Jesus felt that we needed to know the importance of prayer and how to be in prayer to Abba Father.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Matthew 6:5-15 [NKJV]… USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount teaching on how to pray.
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Reference Passage : … Philippians 4:6-7 [NKJV] … 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
… Paul exhorted us, as Christians, to bring anything and everything to God in humble/thankful prayer.
Reference Passage : … 1Thessalonians 5:16-18 [NKJV] … 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
… The Apostle Paul exhorted Christians to have a 24/7 attitude of thankful prayer.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Xochitl Dixon, strongly teaches on the value of prayer and how to make it effective for God’s glory. The author wrote … I admire people who record prayer requests in journals tattered from daily handling, those who keep track of every prayer and praise and then faithfully update their lists. I’m inspired by those who gather with others to pray and whose kneeling wears out the carpet at their bedsides. For years, I tried to copy their styles, to emulate a perfect prayer life, and to imitate the eloquence of the so-much-more-articulate-than-me folks. I strived to unravel what I thought was a mystery, as I longed to learn the right way to pray.
Eventually, I learned that our Lord simply desires prayer that begins and ends with humility (Matthew 6:5). He invites us into an intimate exchange through which He promises to listen (v. 6).
Is our prayer life important to our worship and devotion to God. Well, DUH!! … Of course it is. For no other reason than Jesus specifically taught His disciples/followers on the importance and the “how to” of prayer in His Sermon on the Mount (see highlight passages). And the Apostle Paul exhorted fellow Christians to bring their (our) prayers to God with a thankful/humble heart … ANYWHERE and ANYTIME … we had anxious concerns (see reference passages).
So, does this ODB entry say anything to you about our prayer life? It does for me; and PRAYERFULLY it does for you as well.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for You hearing our prayers … ALWAYS!!
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that we all have a deep/abiding prayer life, humbly bringing our concerns to you today and tomorrow and ALWAYS. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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