Good definition for prayer

Psalm 4:1  Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

Hear me when I call - No man has a right to expect God to hear him if he does not call. Unfortunately, there are multitudes who expect the blessings of God as confidently as if they had prayed for them most fervently; and yet such people pray not at all!

James wrote: “ye have not, because ye ask not” (Jas 4:2). Our Lord wants us to ask: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matt 7:7).

Prayer is the natural language of faith. Prayer is the expression and exercise of our personal relationship to God. Those who have faith also love to pray. One of the reasons that some complain they are not close with God is that they do not pray. Prayer is about communication with God. Couples who are in healthy relationship communicate daily. They love the company of each other and they love to talk. Husbands and wives who do not talk are most likely having a relationship problem.

The devil is happy when a Christian ceases to do these two things:
1. Does not pray.
2. Does not read the bible.

Every day, if you are travelling in a train or a bus, what do you observe about the passengers? Their eyes are fixed on a smart phone or a tablet. What are they doing with that electronic gadget? They are playing a game, watching a video, or at their Facebook?

Yes, Facebook! Almost everyone who has a phone has a Facebook account. How much time do you spend on Facebook? Some check it hourly. Many Christians are on it daily and without fail. But many Christians do not know that God wants them to seek Him out in His Facebook.

 We have another Facebook. God wants us to:
1. Seek His FACE: “Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually” (1 Chron 16:11)
2. Seek His BOOK: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Josh 1:8).

God wants us to seek His face and seek His book. But many are not listening. The Psalmist wrote this psalm when he was under persecutions. It is easy to praise the Lord when you are happy. But what happen when life seems to be a series of catastrophes, disappointments, and vexations? Will you blame God or will you sit down and pen a psalm of praise to God?

David will seek the face of God because God said so: “When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek” (Psa 27:8).

The command was to seek God. David complied immediately with that command and sought God. It became a principle of his life: “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day” (Psa 119:97).

The devil smiles when Christians are ignorant of the word of God. The devil laughs when Christians do not desire the face of God. What do you think made David a man after God’s own heart? (1 Sam 13:14; Acts 13:22). It is because David seeks the face of God and His word daily.

Do you seek God’s “Facebook”? David cried to God: “Hear me when I call.” David did not call on God only when he was in trouble. He called on God daily: “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice” (Psa 55:17).

Let us seek God’s face and God’s book daily. The spiritual Facebook is the only face and book we need to seek daily. Are you seeking it?

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Jimmy Lau
Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.