Prayer is not a matter of convenience, but it is borne out of necessity. … But … before we go any further, we must address the purpose and our need for prayer. … Common belief is that we only pray when we are in trouble or we want something. … but again, that is not the genuine intent of prayer. … truthfully … we should pray in good times as well… Of course! … God gives good gifts to his children, but our relationship with God is not reciprocal, where we give him something, for him to give us something. It is … contrariwise the admission of us all, that we can do nothing of our own accord. … Prayer represents our bond of fellowship, … bringing in line our needs, wants and desires with God's will. Not treating him, … for lack of a better term, as an ATM machine … making plenty of withdrawals, but seldom any deposits. … I am ashamed to say, when it comes to prayer all of us are operating in the “red”, at a deficit. … Prayer is about proper positioning, not physically (in the flesh), but of the heart (spiritually), … we cannot pray or expect our prayers to be heard if our hearts are filled with animosity, … jealously, … hate, … vengeance, … bitterness and so much more, … we cannot ask God to correct someone else when we are reluctant to allow him to complete his perfect work in us (Matthew 5:23). … Suppose during prayer God asked; “What do you want?” … What would our response be? … Would we have the audacity to look upon his face and declare anything … I am afraid not. … Therefore, our prayers should always begin with an acknowledgement, a declaration of sorts, that we truly and genuinely recognize who he is; “He is Lord” (Philippians 2:10-11).
