King Jeroboam said to the prophet, “Please pray for me to the Lord your God, and ask him to heal my arm!” The prophet prayed to the Lord, and the king’s arm was healed. – 1 Kings 13:6 GNT

Here is someone who was confronted by the power of God while he was conducting an act against Him. He was into altar worship with sacrifice and incense. I am amazed that he did not turn to his own god for healing but rather knew there was only One. I am thinking that there will come a day when those of us who believe in God will be swamped with prayer requests from those who need God to deliver them. However, I also note that they will not be coming for their sins to be pardoned. May the Holy Spirit be engaged in convicting of sin for their hearts are only open to prayer so that they may be healed, restored and delivered. Even for those who want to persecute me, I need to pray for them for they too deserve the blessing of Jesus.

What I did notice is that there was a sense of gratitude. Enough gratitude to offer hospitality as a means of paying him for his prayers – interesting. God saw to it that He already left instructions for that not to take place.

Most of us, including me, would be too afraid to stand up against a person in authority. It is my time in prayer that helps give me a different perspective. I know that I see things differently – I do not look through my eyes anymore, I am guided by my spirit as to where and what to do next.

Don’t worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart. And God’s peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:6-7 GNT

I am to stay thankful – the secret to my walk with God. Stressed? – pray – worried? – pray – anxious? – pray.

I pray, I ask God for help, I let Him hold everything in His hands, I am thankful for His help, and I leave it with Him.

I pray and I ask with gratitude.

This is the effect of faithful prayer – protected from a life that is robbed and drained – it is accomplished by God’s peace.

So I pray all day about everything and I find myself worshipping the God I serve.

I pray by asking for help, I pray with a thankful heart, and I know when I do that He is listening to me and will give me what is best for me.

In the devotion of prayer comes the peace of God.

I feel the joy and the wonder and the power and the privilege and the peace of a life of prayer.

“Calvin quotes Cicero, who asks, ‘Where is there to be found a race or tribe of men which does not hold, without instruction, some preconception of the gods?’ Neither Calvin nor Cicero is saying it is impossible to sincerely and vigorously profess atheism. Cicero’s statement occurs in a book where he has a dialogue with Velleius of the Epicureans, who denied the existence of the old gods. Rather, both Cicero and Calvin are saying that, because of this inherent sense of God, prayer is a natural response unless repressed. And the instinct is difficult to eradicate. ‘Indeed, they seek out every subterfuge to hide themselves from the Lord’s presence, and to efface it again from their minds. But in spite of themselves they are always entrapped. Although it may sometimes seem to vanish for a moment, it returns at once and rushes in with new force … The impious themselves therefore exemplify the fact that some conception of God is ever alive in all men’s minds.'” – Timothy Keller