W) Prayer (Petition)

Another word for petition in the Bible is supplication. Once we have confessed our sins and we have praised the Lord for who He is and what He has done for us, we are ready to petition or ask God what our hearts desire. He wants to know what we desire – in Philippians 4:6 we read “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Personally, I believe that we should pray or intercede for others and let others pray and intercede for us. This way, we are able to inquire of our nearest relationships what is on their minds and pray with confidence that the Lord will work out what is right for them and be accountable one towards the other. There are of course things that we can pray for ourselves, such as: wisdom in our lives, purity in our hearts and discernment for the things of the world.

A spiritual war is raging and we are right in the middle of it. The Bible, however says that “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Romans 8:37). Paul was addressing true Christians when he wrote that and it still applies today; come what may. Our God is awesome and there are no limits to what He can do in our lives; the only limitation is the faith we apply to what He is able to accomplish. Jesus said “…Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you” (John 16:23) and He also said “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.” (Luke 17:6).

On the other hand, may we be watchful not to petition God as the Israelites did in the desert when they doubted God’s provision in their lives “They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths, The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.” (Psalm 78:30, 31). God only wants what is best for His children. We trusted Him for our salvation – do we have any reason to believe that He will not provide everything we need?