how to live in the last days, part 1

this past sunday our pastor preached from 1 peter 4:7.  the title of the sermon was 

"how to live in the last days, part 1: prayer."   

it was such a challenging sermon.  

"the end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded 

for the sake of your prayers."  1 peter 4:7

it was such a needed reminder that my prayer life needs so much work.  

here were the three points:

1.  don't trade your prayer time for distractions

how many times have i been in the first two minutes of prayer and my mind wonders onto what i have to do later in the day or what i want to buy when i go to the grocery store or that i need to clean up that small milk spill on my kitchen table.  whatever the distractions may be, satan will try to use anything he can to keep me from spending time in prayer.  the only thing the disciples asked jesus to teach them was to pray.  that says a little something doesn't it??!!  it may seem like something so simple, but it can be so difficult a task.

2.  stick with it so you can get better at it.

our pastor gave this great example:  have you ever heard a teacher tell a child he just might as well put the book down because he'll never learn to read...all because he pronounced a word incorrectly?? you would never hear someone say this.  in fact, you would hear the teacher give more encouragement to keep at it.  the same can be said of prayer.  if at first you don't succeed...try, try again.  really though...just because i was distracted in prayer one day doesn't mean i am going to give up on it forever.

3.  don't go through your day backwards!

read your bible and pray EARLY or when you're UNDISTRACTED.  jesus set up a model of not only how, but also when we should pray.  he would first spend time alone with god, then go to his disciples and then "tackle" the crowds.  how many times have we done this model backwards?  we "tackle" the world first (and get beat down), then go to our "disciples" (and still find discouragement as we complain to our friends, family, spouse, etc), and then finally, we go to god to find relief. 

the challenge i took from this was to keep working on my prayer life and 

to seek god early in the morning.  

some suggestions for staying focused:

*keep a pad of paper by your bible, so as you become distracted with ideas you can quickly write them down

*try using a prayer journal...this is what i do.  i write down my prayers.  i love doing this because i can go back and read my thoughts and see how god has answered prayer over time.

*wake up early (while the kids and hubs are still asleep if possible)

*find a good place with few distractions to park yourself.

lastly, here is a good model i like to use for praying (the ACTS model):

Adoration is to adore God, to worship him and to fulfill the commandment to love him with all of our heart, mind and soul. As we spend time in adoration, we praise God for who He is - our Creator, our Sustainer and our Redeemer.

Confession allows us to clear away the things in the relationship between you and God which are displeasing to Him.  All of us have sinned. St John writes in his epistle "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (I Jn 1:8,9) 

Thanksgiving.  From childhood we are brought up to say "Thank You" when someone does something for us, or gives us a gift.  Each moment God is blessing us, every minute we can recall the wonderful things that God has done for us, and the gifts that we have been given. And so, we need to be constantly thanking God for his blessings. In writing to Timothy, Paul makes it clear that we also need to be giving thanks for everyday, worldly things " I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—  for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." 1 Tim 2:1. 

Supplication or Intercession. Finally we come to ask God for our needs and the needs of others. There are many demands on our prayer time - many topics and issues that we could pray for, so we need to choose, and to be specific.

Pray for others.   In the epistles of St Paul, we read of him praying for those he has led to faith, and asking them also to pray for him. So, you too can pray for other Christians, and encourage them to pray for you. Pray for your familiy members, and for neighbours and friends. It's also good to pray for those who don't know Jesus to come to faith - many Christians have come to believe in Christ through the prayers of others.

Pray for world issues : for peace in difficult situations, for leaders and those in influential positions, for global issues such as care of God's environment, justice for the poor, relief of suffering in less developed countries, and other issues that come to you.

Pray for your own needs too. It's easy to neglect this, but Jesus encourages us to do so in the Lord's Prayer - the model for prayer that He gave us.