Prayer is what we use to communicate with God. Prayer is not a monologue, where we are the only ones speaking and God is doing all the listening. No, this is not all there is to prayer. There is a lot more to this form of communication than that. Prayer is actually a conversation that we have between our heart and God. It is not just a one-way conversation where we do all the talking. Prayer with God should be like having a conversation with your mother, with your father, with your brother, with your sister, or even with your best friend. We should be able to communicate with God in a similar way.

Recently, we mentioned that there was a “right way” and a “wrong way” to pray. In that commentary, we also mentioned that for us to enjoy the benefits of prayer, we needed to learn how to pray. Besides learning how to communicate with God, we need to learn to allow God to speak to us. We also need to learn to listen to God as we allow him to minister to us. Bottom line, we need to learn how to pray.

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“Temporary” is defined as “lasting for only a limited period of time; not permanent.” That is exactly what this life is, temporary, lasting for only a limited period of time. That is exactly what this world is, temporary. That is exactly what the things of this world are, temporary. That is exactly what the offerings of the world are, temporary. Those of you who love this life, who love this world, who love the things of this world, and who love what this world offers fail to understand that all of these things are but for a limited time period. They are all temporary, not permanent.

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (I John 2:15-17).

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Jesus is Lord. Yes, that is right; we said that Jesus is Lord. Scripture tells us that there is power in the name of Jesus.

“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things (those) in heaven, and things in (those on) earth, and things (those) under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

We see that when God raised Jesus up to the heights of heaven, he highly exalted him and gave him a name that is above every other name. God gave him a name that at his name that every knee, the knee of those in heaven, the knee of those on the earth, and the knee of those under the earth would bow. God gave him a name that every tongue would confess, acknowledging that Jesus the Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. Basically, God bestowed a name to him that at the mere mention of the name Jesus, every knee, no matter where that knee may be, would bow and every tongue would confess that Jesus is Lord, all to the glory of God the Father.

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It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High (Psalm 92:1). I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth all thy marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High (Psalm 9:1-2). Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise (Psalm 3:1-3). It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord.

I will also praise thee with the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed. My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt (Psalm 71:22-24). Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the name of the Lord; praise him, O ye servants of the Lord. Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God, Praise the Lord; for the Lord is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant (Psalm 132:1-3). Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely (Psalm 147:1). It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord.

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Our Bible tells us that salvation is in Christ alone. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission (forgiveness) of sins (Acts 10:43). Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of (rejected by) you builders, which is become the head of the corner (chief cornerstone). Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:10-12). Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6).

And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things (those) in heaven, and things (those) in earth, and things (those) under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:8-11).

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Our God is a “faith God.” Everything pertaining to God involves “faith” on our part. There are many definitions for faith, but the one we are drawn to most for the purpose of this commentary says, “faith is trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof.” For the believer, faith is trusting in, believing in and/or depending upon God and accepting that he exists when there is no physical proof of its existence or of its reality.

Now, before any of you get upon that righteous horse and start responding with all of the things that you have found that proves God’s existence, know this, it is “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Hebrews 11:3). Though we can see this physical world, it is only through faith that we believe that “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6).

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Prayer is always an interesting subject because of the many aspects of it. In its most basic form, prayer is nothing more than how we communicate with God and is one of the greatest privileges on earth for the believer. It is also one of the most misused and most abused things in a believer’s life. We have become a “microwave society,” where we want what we want immediately. We do not want to wait for anything or anyone, especially God. We try to package him up like “a cheap TV dinner” that we can microwave into an instant relationship once the timer goes off. We are seeking the easy way out of our situations and quick fixes to all our problems. We continually try to receive these quick fixes, expecting God to hit us with some magical wand, and instantly fix whatever problems we have. We think that God is “a cosmic bellhop” who will do whatever we want, whenever we want, but that is not how the system works. Most people believe that just as long as they can somehow pray, everything will be fine. What they don’t realize is that there is a “right way” to pray and there is a “wrong way” to pray.

“Prayer” is defined as “the act or practice of praying, as to God; an earnest request; entreaty; supplication; a humble and sincere request to God or a god; an utterance to God in praise, thanksgiving, confession, etc.; any set formula for praying, as to God; in some religions, a devotional service consisting chiefly of prayers; any spiritual communion with God; something prayed for or requested, as in petition.”

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Did you know that we are supposed to imitate God?

“Follow God’s example in everything you do just as a much loved child imitates his father. Be full of love for others, following the example of Christ who loved you and gave himself to God as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, for Christ’s love for you was like sweet perfume to him” (Ephesians 5:1-3 TLB).

Yes, we are to imitate God. But in order to imitate someone or to follow their examples, one would have to know all there is to know about the one being imitated or followed. According to scripture, “God is love.”

“Dear friends, let us practice loving each other, for love comes from God and those who are loving and kind show that they are the children of God, and that they are getting to know him better. But if a person isn’t loving and kind, it shows that he doesn’t know God—for God is love” (I John 4:7-8 TLB).

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We live in a fallen world, where we are constantly bombarded with negative things. We live in a time where the ungodly appear to get more and more prominence. We live in a world where nearly all of the reports we hear through the news media are all negative. We live in a time where one has to make a deliberate effort to be positive and counter this negative culture that we live in.

“A Psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together” (Psalm 34:1-3).

Praising God is something that we are supposed to do all the time. When we check our praise life, it is like checking our spiritual pulse. If we are not praising God and if we do not have a life that is constantly giving thanksgiving and praise unto God, then we are not spiritually healthy. From a spiritual standpoint, there is no excuse for anyone not to praise God. This is not to say that there may be a reason why one does not praise God, but there is no excuse as to why one should not praise God. Most people want to wait until everything is perfect before they give God praise, but the problem with that notion is that they will not be praising God often or they will not be praising God at all.

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