Be Proactive!

We always need to enter in to his courts with thanks giving and ackowlageing that he is a truly Great God.. We have a saying that honey catches more flies than vinager!!!! HUMMM!!!!We will acomplish more if praise and thanksginving is given to God librally... He wants to give us Blessing in such abondance that our house can not hold it all, so why shouldn't we do the same for him in praise a honor!!!!!

I think there are so many times we truly don't believe what Jesus says in this portion of scripture. That he truly wants us to come to Him with everything not just our great triumphs & needs. He wants to be a part of the little decisions in our lifves as well. I think the more we open our communication to Him, the more we are open to the Spirits prodding in our lives. In everything from saying something nice to those around us to being able to see the needs of the hurting every day to maybe I really shouldn't have gone up for that extra platte of food. There is always so much give when we submit to Christ in lil ways, but we in America have been accustomed to only give so much to Him in every area of our lives that we miss out on His Greatest Blessings.

It's so comforting & reassuring to me to know that our Heavenly Father is interested in my life and wants me to commune with Him in prayer. This to me, is the greatest reason I come to Him regularly. If there's anything holding us back from this privilege of prayer......we can be sure it's with US!...... and we need to search our hearts to find the reason why.

Last night I was thinking just how fortunate and blessed we are. How much our God loves us. If I wanted to speak with the Queen of England or the President of the United States or the Prime Minister of my country I would just not have a chance. The reason being because I am nobody of importance, because of heavy security and maybe I will have to say why I needed to see them, because they are too busy and have no time for trivialities and the list could go on.

The most important person in the whole world, our Heavenly Father, Our Creator of the heavens and the earth and all that is there in, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the Great I AM bids us to come to Him. The "Boss" of Kings and Queens, Presidents and Prime Ministers. We do not have to go through any red tape to communicate with Him, even though I am a sinner and a nobody He makes time to hear me, all I have to do is come to Him reverently and penitently and do as He says in Luke 11:9 "And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

So when we read His Word and believe and trust Him we will find the Way, the Truth and the Life. We will see in the Holy Bible the many ways He beckons us. We will see there is no love to be compared with His love.

I don't know about anyone else but I don't think I've ever truly been this direct with God.

I ask for things all the time but in one way or another I'm either playing the if you do this I'll do this game or even worse I just don't really belive I'm going to get it. I've never thought of prayer from the perspective of a father.

When my daughter asks for something I usually give it to her. Unless what she wants is dangerous or I have a very good reason for her to not have it I give my daughter what she wants. If I do that despite being human and having an imperfect form of love why do I expect less from my heavenly father?

I was thinking about what Dr. Kroll said. It's not about us, it's about God first. We should spend time listening to and praising God before we ask for anything.

By the way, would you please be praying for my cousin. He has been given 6 months to live. He has severe liver disease [info removed]. I'm concerned about his spiritual status {info removed].
Thanks

God keeps it pretty simple- 'ask, seek, knock'. I love that we don't have to go through a whole bunch of complicated steps to perform and prove worthy to Him. It's so simple that I overlook how easy God makes Himself available to us. I'm so focused on telling Him the needs of others and wanting immediate 'results' that I don't take the time to take it back to the basics of the Lord's prayer. So Lord, thank You for being a caring/loving God and allowing us to approach Your kingdom with a simple knock on Your door!

Joan R. makes a good point...it's amazing how the creator of the universe takes the time to listen to little me.

I think these verses can be applied to asking God for things, but more importantly they give me hope that I can become closer to Him. I can seek and find Him. I can knock, and He will meet me.

When my main focus is Him, the desires of my heart change. Yes, I want that dream home, fantastic career, and forever love from my prince charming.

However, in the light of intimacy with my God, THE God, all else seems to fade and melt away into the distance.

I know we can't live in the real world completely immune to our needs, but they definitely seem to become a little less important when I am told that GOD will meet me.

Since my vision is so limited, my "part" is to be still. My part is to read His Word, be ever praising Him for what He has done for me and given to me as it is everything (no good or bad about any of it as it is ALL good!), and to give major thanks for it all too. He does know our hearts and he does know that we will play games, but perhaps once we step out of fear and grasp onto His holiness, His righteousness, His presence, then we are only able to ask for open doors, as we have no clue as to what to really ask him for. Sometimes stuff that seems important for us to have, some other things have to happen in God's timing (as it is perfect!) before something will be accomplished in order for us to see Him working or giving to us in bounty...and to have the faith that He knows what we need and desire. That is the kicker...the faith part. To truly believe...that He is there for us...boom...he is there when we ask for Him to be and that is our open door to Him.

This is my first time of P4. Wow, am I amazed that I get to share with others on a "real time" basis. What a comfort from our Lord to be able to talk with other christians and share. Reading His Word and prayer are the two major components through which He changes us. I pray that this is a beginning of a long and grateful relationship with all. Thanks, there are very few places & people left that really want to talk about a relationship with Jesus and read the living, breathing Word of God.
"Ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking"

When I pray sometimes it is too quick and to the point. I know I must be humble, respect, honor and give thanks for the cross and Resurrection before I boldly enter the throne room in prayer. For God alone is worthy. Jesus is more precious than silver more costly than gold. May I never forget how much He loves me.

Sometimes I think I take The LORD's Prayer too literal. I have to stop and pray exactly like it. But I too read that first to pray for all people everywhere. Then for our rulers that they rule with love and peace. So I like to do that first. I think I need to get back to talking to HIM more too. I maybe harder on myself then I should be. I do talk with HIM. And yes it truly is amazing isn't it. The creator of all the universe we have a direct line to him. Not the President, the Queen etc. So true. :)

Carol, I'll be praying for your cousin. Thanks for sharing. Tami W.