Scripture:
Matthew 6:9-13 NLT
Matthew 7:0-11 NIV
Matthew 21:22 NIV
James 5:15 NIV
Matthew 7:7-8 NIV
Philippians 4:6 NIV
Quotes:
Petitionary prayer should always remain the primary mode of prayer because we never can outgrow our dependence on God. Just as we long for our own children to share with us the petty details of their day at school, so God longs to hear from us the smallest matters of our lives. It delights him when we share. - Richard Foster, Prayer
Love loves to be told what it knows already. It wants to be asked what it longs to give. - PT Forsyth, Soul of Prayer
Then there are times when our prayers are simply self-contradictory, a “grant me patience” quickly kind of prayer. And finally sometimes our prayers if answered would do us in. We simply are not yet prepared for what we have asked. It is God’s grace that prevent our prayers from being answered. God withholds his gifts from us for our good. Studies have found that the act of forgiveness can reap huge rewards for your health, lowering the risk of heart attack, improving cholesterol levels and sleep, and reducing pain, blood pressure, and levels of anxiety, depression and stress, and research points to an increase in the forgiveness-health connection as you age. “There is an enormous physical burden to being hurt and disappointed,” Chronic anger puts you into a fight-or-flight mode, which results in numerous changes in heart rate, blood pressure and immune response. Those changes, then, increase the risk of depression, heart disease and diabetes, among other conditions. Forgiveness, however, calms stress levels, leading to improved health. - HopkinsMedicine.org
Points:
Give us what we need today
Forgive us our sins as we forgive others
Deliver us
