Psalms As Prayer

Psalms As Prayer

God is Great, God is Good

Let us thank Him for our food. Amen

Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

If I should Die before I wake, I pray the Lord my Soul to take. God Bless Mommy, Daddy, Grand ma, Grand Pa, The dog, the cat …..Amen

Prayers of children, I guess I like to think that God enjoys them the most. They can be so honest and open.

We teach our children to pray. When they are little. “Put your hands together, bow your head, Close your eyes.

We teach the smallest of children to show a reverence for God in their prayer times.

We teach them simple prayers handed down for generations. The meal prayer come form medieval times and it has not changed in form perhaps because f it’s simplicity.

It teaches through repetition three things.

God is Great - A big concept for children and adults alike. I think it is much easier for a small child to understand a Great God because they understand that almost everyone they know is greater and more powerful than they are. We all grow into a level if questioning independence which makes our view of God more complex.

God is Good – An important fact the offers all of us comfort. If a great God is bad or harsh or evil then we are all in big trouble. Again, a child’s concept of God’s goodness will come form their environment, what is the family like. As Adults we often question God’s goodness.

Thank him for our food – God provides. This statement indicates ultimately where food comes from. In mid evil times the children may have been the ones to tend the garden and animal and know the complete history of the vegetable or meat they are eating but the prayer teaches that God is ultimately responsible.

The bed time prayer…the more I look at it the more I wonder what kind of fear did the writer want to give children?

That child hood prayer is also stamped in my memory.

As a bed time prayer, I think it is pretty scary. The idea that I might not wake up in the morning. It brings the If you died tonight question to the bed side of small children. But, most don’t really here it do they. If is simple repetition memorized form a loving parent. The words may not mean much.

A couple were our shopping and found a wall hanging of the Now I lay me down to sleep prayer and bought it for their son’s room. They hung it on the wall over his bed and waited for a response.

As the son knelt by the bed to say his prayer and seeing the new decoration, said, “Well God, There it is” and hopped into bed.

For some people, their prayer life is as simple as that. Lord, we are thought that you know everything about us. So answer my prayers, fill my desires and my needs.

We all pray different depending on how life is going …Right?

When things are going well we probably pray a lot less that when things are painful and hard. When the loved one is in the hospital and the test are not good…don’t we do more praying without ceasing?

For humans, especially Christian, prayer should be as normal as breathing. But science and technology make us struggle with some of the hardest questions of life. Like why doesn’t a loving God answer our prayers offered in pain and suffering…to the world it means that there is not God.

Prayer requires faith and faith tells us that we are not just talking to ourselves when we pray.

Prayer is probably the most comforting part of religion in general. The idea is common to all religions but not everyone has a communication channel with God. For many the act of ritual prayer several times a day reciting memorized phrases is a way of appeasing God for his blessing. It is the act of worship that brings blessing.

As Christians we believe that our prayers are heard by God. But I am not sure that we all really believe that God is willing to answer our prayers. Some believe that Every thing has been set up by God and will all happen according to his plan so, prayer as not affect...I can’t change anything.

As adults we sometimes think that it is important to say the right words in order to get God to act. We use catch phrases and memorized perhaps for confidence or maybe searching for the magic words to get God’s attention.

But, it is not the words that are important. Romans 8:26 -27

26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.