Praying According to the Instructions - One Year Devotions for Women

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So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. - Hebrews 11:6

One of the things that discourages some from praying is the fear that they won’t do it right. For example, it says in Hebrews 11:6 that whoever comes to God must believe. But what if I feel I don’t believe enough? How do I measure my faith, or how does God measure it? Do I have to do it right in order to get my prayers answered?

If you buy a cake mix and then ignore the instructions on the box, you can’t blame the manufacturer if the cake flops! It’s a little the same with prayer. We need to read the instructions:

• We must come in faith, believing that there is a God who will hear us and reward us (Hebrews 11:6).
• We must willingly let God examine our heart (Psalm 139:23-24), confess our sins (1 John 1:9), and then repent (Acts 3:19).
• We can pray even if we feel that our faith is small (Matthew 17:20).
• We must consider if there are any of our relationships that need mending. Then we need to go and try to make them right (Matthew 5:23-24).
• We must come to prayer by asking in Jesus’ name and for his sake.
• We can ask ourselves, “Will the answer to this prayer glorify Jesus and extend the work of the kingdom?” (John 14:13).

As you practice the discipline of prayer and try to keep these basic things in mind, you’ll find yourself on the way to doing it right. What’s more, the more you practice, the nearer to a “perfect cake” you’ll get!

For Further Study: Hebrews 11:1-12

Excerpted from The One Year Devotions for Women, Copyright ©2000 by Jill Briscoe. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

For more from Jill Briscoe, please visit TellingtheTruth.org.

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