Psalm 66:19

 Sinclair Ferguson is quoted as saying, "If Christ abides in us and we abide in him, as his word dwells in us, and we pray in his name, that God hears us (Jn 15:4-7). But all of these expressions are simply extensions of the one fundamental idea: If I am united to Christ, then all that is his is mine. So long as my heart, will and mind are one with Christ's in his word, I can approach God with the humble confidence that my prayers will be heard and answered. "

I can't think of a greater blessing than to know the Creator of the Universe hears me. Matthew Henry wrote, "And when we pray in simplicity and godly sincerity, our prayers will be answered. This will excite gratitude to Him who hath not turned away our prayer nor his mercy from us. It was not prayer that fetched the deliverance, but his mercy that sent it. That is the foundation of our hopes, the fountain of our comforts; and ought to be the matter of our praises."

Years (I mean years) ago I went to a Bible Study on A.C.T.S. an acronym to teach us to pray.

A- adoration

C - confession

T - thanksgiving

S - supplication

Notice this type of praying starts acknowledging who God is and our need for His grace and mercy long before we ever get to our request. The psalmist understood this.

RC Sproul said, "Unfortunately, we often spell our prayer life something like S.C.A.T., because we start with supplication and spend very little time, if any, on adoration, confession, and thanksgiving."

How true that is! We are more like the Babbie Mason song,

"So gimme this, I want that

Bless me, Lord, I pray

Grant me what I think I need

To make another day

Make me wealthy, keep me healthy

Fill in what I miss

On my never-ending shopping list"

Instead of acknowledging God we just want Him to fix it (whatever it is).

Keith Green wrote a beautiful praise song that looks at prayer from God's point of view:

"For when I hear the praises start

Oh, I wanna rain upon you

Blessings that will fill your heart

I see no stain upon you

Because you are My child and you know Me

To Me you're only holy

Nothing that you've done remains

Only what you do for Me"

Oh Friend, when was the last time you spent time just praising God for who He is. I still think life with Jesus would change dramatically if we grasp a fraction of who He is.

Like the Apostle Paul, " Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:14-15)

Why does it matter? Because I want to be a pleasing child until that final day.