you know one way to pray is to bring up the promises of God and say God here's
what I want you to do for me you promised this Lord and I want you to
please make good on that promise in this situation you've said that you would do
XY and Z so Lord please do that in this situation right and also you could pray
and say Lord you know let's say you're sick and you want to get well you know
you could pray things like Lord please help me to get well so I can serve you I
can do more for you out there than in this sickbed right give me out there
Lord doing your will you know that's the kind of prayer that God is responding to
here where it's all about God's will God's work going forward God getting the
glory and it's a reminding God of his own promises because what what's the
first word of verse 13 God remember remember now look you say well that's
silly because God knows everything you know God it's not as if God holds that's
right you know what you're right I did promise that do you really think that
God forgot that for one second no but this is how we communicate with God okay
even though we know God knows everything the Bible says don't get too smart for
God where you think you're smarter than God or smarter than the Bible you know
what does the Bible say you have not because you asked not so don't sit there
and say well God already knows everything anyway so I'm not even gonna
bother praying what's the Bible say you have not because you asked on don't get
so smart and philosophical where you talk yourself out of any reason to pray
God wants us to pray and when we come to God in prayer prayer actually changes
things I don't I don't believe for one second that praying is just this
exercise we go through and God's gonna do whatever he's gonna do anyway sort of
a fatalistic or Calvinistic view that just well whatever's gonna happen is
gonna happen I don't believe that I believe that you have not because you
asked not and that if we ask we shall receive if we seek we shall find if we
knock the door shall be open guess what if we don't knock it's not gonna be
opened we don't ask we're not gonna receive okay the number one way to get
nothing is to not pray right and if you pray you're accomplishing something
there's value and just like when we go out soul winning we're not just out
spinning our wheels when we read our Bible we're not spinning our wheels when
we pray what we what we're doing matters