“He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;” (Psalm 104:14)
My lovely wife and I pray before our meals, both in private and public places. Usually something short, to the point, and I suppose over the years they could be considered somewhat repetitive. But we mean what we say.
We thank Him for providing for us, protecting and guiding us, and for the time He allows us to spend together, and I will offer you a small, perhaps insignificant fact about myself here. When my beautiful wife says those prayers for us, heads bowed, my left hand holding her right hand, in my mind I envision myself in a very long, very wide hallway with massive white columns on either side, with my face to the ground.
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” (James 4:10)
It is, in my mind, her that He is listening to, and I, in a sense, just happen to be there. And my friends, those are just the times before our meals.
To enter into your closet means that everything and everyone is outside of that closet, there are no distractions, save our wandering minds, which we try to rein in, and He knows that. There is just you and the Lord Jesus Christ.
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” (1st Tim. 2:5)
There are only two avenues of prayer that I am aware of, praise and asking. Praise my brothers and sisters in Christ should always come first, although at times asking does, the Psalms are filled with examples of this truth. We praise Him because He alone is worthy of all praise, honor and glory, we ask because we either need or want.
And since we are promised that He will provide all our needs, that we have more value than sparrows, that He knows better than our own family what we need, then much of our prayers in the category of asking by default must fall under the category of wants. And if you are praying for wants, then you need to know how to ask in accordance to His will for you.
The end result, so to speak, for all of us who have been born again, the chosen of God, is for the entire flock to be gathered into one place, which we will one day. But your wants are probably not the same as mine, or many others. You may seriously want to be a missionary to a foreign land, but you may not have the propensity to learn different languages, so your want will need to be modified. Peter wanted to protect the Lord from being taken, but the sword was not the right way.
The following words do not need to be said in your prayers when it comes to your needs, only in your wants, your desires. “Thy will be done.”
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” (Phil. 4:6)
Requests are wants and wants need to be in line with His will.
We should want what we have been promised, but it is the Almighty’s design for us to ask. If you lack wisdom, you need to ask for wisdom. If you want to discern between the good and the bad, you need to ask.
“For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” (Psalm 84:11)
Every need you will ever have in this life will be provided for you if you are His, every want must carefully be considered, contemplated, searching the Scriptures to see if indeed it is in His will.
Praising His Holy name is easy, or at least it should be for you, expecting your needs to be provided for is never taken for granted, He has promised. Wanting, the request you make in your prayers, should be well thought out, every time.
