In the last article on prayer we began considering a few thoughts and scriptures concerning prayer. We laid a foundation of basic fundamental assumptions that are necessary for a discussion of prayer life. We'll continue now with some more practical suggestions regarding prayer.

We need to pray with an attitude of resignation. This is a willingness to do whatever God requires of us. Jesus, in Gethsemane is a perfect example of this (Matt. 26:42). He prayed such that He was resigned to do God's will even it meant there was no way for the “cup” to pass from Him. Jesus not only prayed “Thy will be done”, He lived it

Sometimes we pray “Thy will be done” but we are not willing to carry out God's will in our actions. If it is God's earnest desire that those of my friends and families who are not saved, would be saved (such should be my desire also), why would I not be willing to be obedient to God in carrying the message of Christ to them? I may pray that the Lord would bless a certain missionary with enough financial support to accomplish his work. To what avail is my prayer if I have not resigned myself to personally supporting this missionary.

Next we must learn to adopt an attitude of thanksgiving. Paul told the Thessalonian Christians that it was God's will that they would “pray without ceasing, giving thanks to God.” Truly, we are the most blessed people in the world and therefore we need to be the most thankful people in the world.

One of the most distasteful attitudes we ever experience is that of ingratitude. We teach our children to say “thank you” when they are given something. Have we outgrown this? If we were to begin counting our blessings one-by-one we would never be able to finish the list. God has been good, let us be thankful.

Finally, our prayer life needs to be characterized by perseverance. Again, Paul told the brethren at Thessalonica to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thes. 5:17). Jesus also teaches this in the parable of the importunate widow. He wants us to “pray always and faint not.”

Perseverance means not only to pray often but it also refers to the frequency of particular requests. We have many examples in the Bible of people who prayed repeatedly for the same thing. Sometimes they were given the answer they were seeking (Hannah) and sometimes not (Paul). A repeated request indicates a sincere desire and not a passing whim. God loves us and desires to bless us. He is not, however, a genie in a bottle granting every whim and desire at the blink of an eye.

Let us adopt the proper postures and attitudes in our prayer life. Let us be resigned to do God's will as expressed in scripture. Let us be thankful for all of His blessings and let us be persistent in all of our prayer requests and thanksgivings. Next week we'll look at the types of things we should include in our prayers.