Prayer is More Than Requests

  By: Jenifer Metzger

Often when we pray, our prayers are full of requests. We ask God for so much. And we should! We need to bring our requests to God. So many verses tell us that we need to present our requests to God.

Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for—

believe that you have received it and it will be yours.

Mark 11:24

Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find.

Knock, and the door will be opened to you.

Mathew 7:7

You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong

motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

James 4:3

But what if our prayers were more than requests?

Think for a moment of your relationship with your spouse or maybe your child or a friend. If every conversation is full of them asking something of you, it would get tiresome. I am not saying that God is weary of our requests, but there is more to a relationship than taking. There is more to prayer than requests.

When my husband and I are together, it is wonderful to just talk, to praise one another, to thank one another, to laugh together. I love to help and serve my husband, but I also just really love to be with him.

God loves us and wants to hear our needs, He wants to meet our needs. But He also just really loves to be with us. He doesn't owe us anything. If He never meets another need or answers another prayer, He has already done enough. He has already blessed us so much.

What if we stop making prayer about asking for needs or asking for blessings, but instead make prayer about worshiping God. About praising His name. About giving Him our love and receiving His love.

Today when you pray, before asking for your needs or asking for blessings, spend time just praising Him Tell God how much you love Him, thank Him for everything in your life, adore Him, worship Him, even spend time being quiet and let God love on you.

Hallelujah!

Praise God in his sanctuary.

Praise him in his mighty expanse.

Praise him for his powerful acts;

praise him for his abundant greatness.

Praise him with the blast of a ram’s horn;

praise him with harp and lyre.

Praise him with tambourine and dance;

praise him with strings and flute.

Praise him with resounding cymbals;

praise him with clashing cymbals.

Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.

Hallelujah!

Psalm 150:1-6

I love this song by Cory Carnes. Listen and just worship Him.

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