No doubt, prayer is a powerful conduit to communicate with our benevolent God. It is through prayer we become closer in developing a relationship with the Most High and in strengthening our faith. The practice of prayer is universal and a requirement in any major religion. Praying is personal and consists of thanking God for the many blessings in our lives.
Through prayer, we seek God’s empowerment and guidance in navigating us in this world—beseeching Him for our needs and wants, asking forgiveness for our transgressions and learning to adhere to His will. Prayer brings us closer to God, showing us how much he loves us, while also helping us to magnify our love for Him.
All too often, we look for God to bring about justice in conflicting contentious situations. But we must understand that God blesses us with the tools to rectify our own troubles, while so many of us are waiting for Him to magically make our problems disappear. There within lies the problem for so many who constantly pray, but do nothing personally to bring about the things they pray for or request.
Prayer is a major mandate in any religion in building and enhancing spiritual growth. Prayer can bring about discernment in understanding spiritual concepts, even with many worldly interpretations you find man cannot agree upon. Usually, when all fails and we feel hopeless and defeated, we commence to pray, hoping for miraculous results. Unfortunately, you find more people taking to prayer for selfish reasons or situations that will benefit them personally. Too many times, we expect our wants to be met contrary to what may be God’s will (which is always in our best interests), although we may not understand at the time.
I would imagine God prioritizes unselfish prayers that are benevolent catering to one’s love for humanity, catering to the suffering, downtrodden, poor and the least of us. The prolonged practice of prayer makes us more attuned to the spiritual world, devoid of this mundane world with all its distractions which keep us from following our benevolent God’s will. Make no mistake, you will be held accountable for your actions or lack of action once you die—and death is inevitable.
It is interesting how some people’s understanding of prayer varies. I believe some of us make praying difficult and complicated and believe that following prescribed patterns and rituals properly counts more than following what is in your heart. Prayer is simply your communication with God, bringing about a growing relationship that brings you closer to God. Therefore, prayer for the most part should be honest and unrehearsed.
I was inspired to write about prayer because of the continuing massacre of lives which has become a regular occurrence in our nation. Each time a mass killing occurs, it is given a lot of media coverage. We are then outraged, angry and saddened. We talk about stricter gun legislation laws and banning assault weapons, but this wish falls upon the deaf of our elected officials; therefore, the carnage continues. The masses weep for the dead and pray for change from legislators who appear to prioritize the RNA over God.
While we are praying for God to intervene, maybe God is waiting for us to take action and vote politicians complicit in these mass murders out of office. My take is that God loves prayer but he loves righteous action by those who love him more. God is opening doors looking for his people to take appropriate action to help eradicate this unnecessary slaughtering of innocent lives. At times prayer should necessitate action.
