ASTONISHING BENEFITS OF PRAYER

 

Imagine that you are not alone in a difficult situation, and that someone is with you through it all, who is there for you every moment you need, just to comfort you, show you love, and tell you what to do next. Wouldn't it be much easier to go through the situation that you face alone? Here's how prayer helps you!

1. Prayer is one of the main ways to connect with God. Prayer promotes a sense of connection, whether with a higher power, what a person considers important in life, or their values. When you are constantly connected with the Lord, it is much easier to follow His voice and stay in His will for you! In prayer, you are talking to Him. Through prayer, God transforms your heart so that having your requests fulfilled becomes secondary to feeling truly known by God and precious to Him. You receive strength from God Himself. Prayer connects you with God and all His goodness is available to you! When you believe in God and pray to God, you are never alone! You are blessed with an endless, never-failing, constant love from Him. Prayer is a wonderful part of this connection with Him. Incorporating prayer into your life is almost effortless! You can always connect with the Lord, wherever you are, whatever you do, or whoever you are with. When you are constantly connected with the Lord, the effect of prayer in your life is endless. You are always healthier, happier and rooted in His love.

2.  Prayer develops and strengthens a relationship with God. Prayer is above all a relationship with God who loves you, is interested in your welfare, and is close to you. Through prayer, you develop a trusting relationship with God. You do not pray to an unknown god who is far away from you. You must praise God every day throughout the day for his favour. He wants a personal, intimate relationship with you so that you can know his kindness and experience his goodness. One of the best benefits of prayer is that it is simply communication with God. He is with you just as if He were here on the earth. Your relationship with Him is a relationship just like any other and the more you just spend time in His presence and talking with Him, the closer you will feel to Him and the stronger your relationship will be. The best thing about prayer with your Heavenly Father is that he always speaks to you if you are willing to listen.

3. Prayer helps you make the right decision. When you pray, you can be sure that the Holy Spirit hears you and can give you the wisdom you need for everything! The heart of the Lord should always be leading and guiding you towards decisions that will bring you abundant life and happiness! Prayer gives you direction in life. How wonderful it is to know that you can be sure that God will lead and guide you. When you hear His voice in prayer and listen to His guiding voice through the Word of God, the Lord is surely there to guide you in life! Move boldly, for there is a hand above that will guide you.

4.  Prayer allows you to be present. Miracles can happen through prayer and faith. Prayer invites God into your daily activities. Your God is personal and longs to be with you even in your mundane daily activities. But when you remember that He is always with you, that He sees your heart and wants only your communication, you can connect with Him anywhere. Avoid temptations by the effect of prayer. Remaining steadfast in prayer and the Word of God and renewing your mind in God will always help you avoid temptation. He will always lead you away from temptation and keep you abundantly in His abundant life if you follow Him.

5.  Prayer helps reduce anxiety. It's so hard to be anxious when your thoughts are on God! God has offered you a life of peace and without burdens. One of the benefits of prayer is that no matter where you are or whatever situation you find yourself in, you can always stop, pray, and ask the Lord to give you peace. Prayer combined with meditation on God's word is the best remedy for anxiety!

6.  Prayer allows your hearts to meditate on His truth. You gain more confidence through prayer. When you pray to God, you can confidently stand against whatever the world throws at you! Prayer helps to understand the will of God. When you pray, you allow your hearts to align with the will of God. His desire is always for you to be at peace, have good things and live in the abundance of His grace and mercy! Prayer and communication with Him always leads you to rely on His understanding and not your own. You are praying that you will make a commitment to both the Lord and yourself to spend more time each day in prayer. You can be sure that your relationship with the Lord will grow and that your heart will open to Him.

7.  Prayer can be a reliable source of self-soothing and self-comfort when a person is in pain, coping with a loss, or dealing with traumatic circumstances. Prayer can also be useful as a form of concentrated mental motivation to achieve personal goals. Prayer can also help people focus on the welfare of others. And, of course, when a person finds himself in a hopeless or helpless situation, with no real options, no clear solution and no workable form of relief, then prayer is the thing to do in order to make one feel like one is doing at least something in the face of dire circumstances. It is clear that people pray because it makes them feel better, or gives them hope, or makes them feel love. But when it comes to prayer as a form of asking for something from a divine source and then receiving it, there is simply no empirical evidence that such a mental message to an invisible deity works.

8.  Prayer is the process by which you learn to trust God. He patiently listens to you. He takes your requests seriously. He then puts everything in the context of the bigger picture that only He can see. In prayer, you use your will to come into alignment with the will of God. God knows better than you what the end results of each situation will be. It's easy to accept this idea when it doesn't involve a personal situation in your life, but the test of faith comes when God asks you to trust Him with something or someone that matters to you.

9. Prayer changes lives because it calls on the power of God to manifest itself in a given situation. It can change your life, because even if you don't see divine providence coming from it, the very act of praying sets your heart on God's. You can start seeing things through His eyes. With an open heart, you may even be receptive to an answer that isn't exactly what you asked for, but that's all you need to strengthen and improve your spiritual walk and move into a deeper relationship with Him. Unanswered, delayed, or otherwise met prayer is an opportunity for learning, sometimes even more rewarding than getting the desired answer.

10.     Prayer creates a safe space to process your thoughts and feelings. You communicate your real feelings about the situation. You are under the shelter of God — under His protection. Over time, when you pray, you will feel that in moments of fellowship with God, you can become your true self. You believe that God is with you. If you are not happy to admit that you are talking to the floor or ceiling when you pray, you believe that someone is listening to you. The more you trust the presence of God's Holy Spirit when you pray, the more you will learn to trust Him for results.

To sum up, Prayer is a way to invite God to join you in life's challenges. You are inviting the Holy Spirit to do what He was placed in you to do. You understand that the world does not begin or end with you. Depending on someone else for your needs is humiliating. When babies cry or scream, usually someone will come and meet their needs. It is easy to allow prayer to become too focused on registering complaints or requests or demands.