Though prayer is an inherent part of the child of God it is a Holy art and I approach with fear and trepidation. More than ever prayer today is abused with many in the church world, thought they mean well, offering up prayers not pleasing to God due to the lack of knowledge on prayer. It IS the chief part of thankfulness!

It is an inherent part of the child of God. It is impossible to meet a child of God who does not know how to pray (though it may be with staggering words) or that does not pray.

All our "good works" come out of the heart of the child of God in their new beginning though the flesh attaches itself when we implement. That's why Satan attacks prayer...because it is from the heart. It is why it is used and abused!

It is self evident that the child of God prays. It IS his native breath. Why discuss then? Because we are still in the body of the flesh. It is not like the heart beating, but we need to be admonished in spiritual things being in our flesh which lusts against the Spirit. And it begins in prayer as if Satan can get the child of God NOT to pray or to pray improperly you've "nipped" a sanctified life. Not a custom that we do but our whole lives are prayer, even as at certain times we need to draw close to God. It IS and ESSENTIAL part of our life! The CHIEF part of good works is the need to pray BEFORE we start our endevours to seek God's glory in them. They start on the foundation of prayer! Many question us in regards to this stating our belief in God's sovereignty...BUT they overlook the fact that we live in LIVING FELLOWSHIP with the living God that He may give His grace and Holy Spirit to us as history (that we do not know) unfolds itself in our lives. NOT to change history but "Thy will be done" addressing the needs as He unfolds our lives and situations. Our prayers DON'T strive with God's will. Sometimes His will is contrary to what we want (and it shows in our lives in various situations) and we must "flush out" our prayers!

There are however certain principals that govern prayer:

*Prayer is from the HEART! A deep, spiritual exercise from the heart that sometimes results in the Spirit making utterance for us without words even being spoken. Where the fellowship with the living God begins...the HEART! Prayer IS THE HEART!!!

*Prayer is ALWAYS to God. NOT to Jesus. Always to GOD through Jesus Christ! And to the God who has revealed Himself in His Word. The child of God must have this knowledge and NEVER set aside ANY of God's virtues. Prayers as such are abhorant to God when they strive with His virtues!

*God is in control of ALL things and it may not strive with His will. We must submit to His will until He reveals why.....which sometimes we won't know until glory! Make sure the things we pray for are for HIS GLORY! Not for what you or I want.

*We can pray for Jesus sake to God and always append this to our prayers. Prayer is through Christ who laid His life for us and is our advocate to the Heavenly Father. And made like us He understands and can be touched with our feelings.

To what end? For God's glory. This includes our daily bread. Not desert, but we ask daily for our daily needs. And our spiritual needs for Him to help me overcome temptation and live to His glory. And God will give us these things.