Praying

Dear Lord,
Thank you for listening to my endless prayers. I know, sometimes they are just vain repetitions, but I feel as though I need to pray for these same people over and over again. I know in the book of Ecclesiastes, it states let your words be few when before the Lord, but my heart often overflows with things to say to You. Also, it is hard to be short in prayer for I feel like the more I say, the more I plead my case, the more inclined you will be to hear me. I know, this is dumb human logic, but it is hard to break free from human wisdom. For You know the thoughts of my heart even before I mutter a single word to You. And for this, I cannot tell You how grateful I am. The endless prayers which have been answered even before the prayer left my lips overflow my spirit with great joy. Thank You!

And now Lord, help me grow in prayer. I have read in Your Word many times to be mindful of what I pray about. For example, never pray for patience because the answer to that prayer is a very long time of waiting. I also know from Your Word, to be mindful of what you pray for because often the answered prayer is not always what one had in mind. I often think about Hezekiah and his prayer for health. Lord, You granted him his wish; however, what terrible sorrow came from that answered prayer!  Hezekiah turned away from You, had a son, Manessah, and raised him in a godless manner. The end result: when Manasseh became king, he was the bloodiest king in the history of Judah. He killed so many people, historians write, that the streets of Jerusalem continually flowed red blood from Manasseh's constant slaughter of his people.

So, Lord, as I lift up my prayers up to You tonight and on all occasions to come, let my prayers come before You with a sincere heart. May no evil consequences come from the utterance of my ignorance. May everything which proceeds before You be pure, as only a mere human can make anything pure. If I utter things which are full of malice or wickedness, please forgive me. I am constantly falling short of Your glory. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. May those I lift up before You receive mercy and grace. Thank you for listening to Your servant. In Jesus' precious name I pray. Amen.