Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Effective prayer”
Our Bible verse for today: “O Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief.” Psalm 143:1 (NIV)
Our thought for today: “Sometimes the best prayer is a simple cry from the heart.”
Not all prayer needs to be structured and strategic. Sometimes the best prayer can be a simple spontaneous cry from the heart. It just pops out without much thought or preparation and comes from some deep place within us. As John Eldredge notes in his book “Moving Mountains”, “Some prayers just happen; they are a cry from the heart … It’s a beautiful expression of prayer, rising from the deep places in us, often unbidden, always welcome to His loving ears.”
A cry from the heart can take many forms. As an accident is in the process of unfolding, without even thinking, you cry out “Jesus save me.” Or you have just received bad news about a loved one with a life-threatening illness and with no thought or preparation you’re on your knees pouring your heart out to the Lord about it.
But not all cries of the heart are cries of despair. A cry of the heart can also be joyful. I was hiking on the Appalachian Trail in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee just last week when I came around a bend and saw a view that took my breath away. My first thought was “Lord, you are awesome! What a beautiful world you have created.” It was a simple and spontaneous prayer of joy and worship that just popped out.
Another form of spontaneous prayer was made famous almost 75 years ago by that great prayer warrior and author Frank Laubauch. Frank developed the habit of “shooting” prayers at people as he walked down the street. As someone was approaching him from the other direction Frank would glance at them, attempt to quickly get a sense of a need they might have based upon their appearance and probable situation, and then he would “shoot” a prayer at them. He reported occasion after occasion when the recipient of the prayer would have an observable physical reaction, as if they actually felt the impact of the prayer.
A simple, spontaneous, “cry of the heart” prayer can be a very effective means of praying because it comes from your heart instead of your head. And the more your heart is in-tune with God, the more “cry of the heart” prayers that will be popping out of you. Jesus said in Matthew 12:34, “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”
So cultivate a heart that is in-tune with God; then let those prayers come popping out.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 