Philippians 4:6 English Standard Version (ESV) do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Ephesians 6:18 English Standard Version (ESV) praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Let your requests be known.

Recently there have been many media requests that have gone out for just sixty-three cents a day, nineteen dollars a month. I don’t have to announce which ones they are or do any campaigning for them. If you watch television with any regularity you already know.

Why $19 a month?

They have all settled on $19 a month because it is less than many of the indulgences we treat ourselves to without much consideration for anyone but ourselves. It is less than two packs of cigarettes, less than the average dining experience, and far less than a tank of gas. They have used that sixty-three cents per day expression to guilt you into supporting their campaign. 

“Lord I need …….!”

Fill in the blanks out of your own prayers for yourself and for others. 

Are the things you requested a need or a want?

This is not a guilt trip. We often express our wants as needs. They are not but we do.

Now here is a guilt trip. We should pray this way.

“Lord, I want your will to be done in these matters.”

When we pray God’s will, we stand a much better chance in being involved than asking for our will to be done.

If we pray to God to see His will, we just might discover we are the answer to someone else’s need.

Joab said, “I will not waste time like this with you.”

In absence of the chapter and verse above we can use a search engine to discover that this quote has nothing to do with the subject matter at hand. This is a tactic of convenience which is used in too many cases because it expresses a writer’s desire to make a point.

Every writer has a mission, a point to be made. If we look to scripture we find that the Word is God inspired. God breathed life into the Word. God breathed life into us.

Psalm 150:6 English Standard Version (ESV) Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

If we take this verse literally then every moment we spend in time should praise the Lord.

That is a tall order and from a human perspective impossible. The apostles that were the closest to our Lord fell asleep when asked to keep watch with Him in the garden. If those who knew and loved Him while He conducted His earthly ministry could not stay awake, what makes us think we can?

We are human and we waste time. Every minute we do not accomplish some obedience of faith that results in praising God might be considered a waste of time. Because He knows us and loves us and treats us with grace, we do not see what we do as a waste of time, especially if we do something for a living.

How much time do we spend reading God’s Word? Not much, some, plenty, or too much? If we are satisfied with our answer to that question, let us examine our motivation for what we study and why.

Teachers must study to prepare lesson plans, that is a given. Is that the only reason they study the Word, to serve? Pastors study the Word to prepare to feed the flock. Is that the only reason they study? Those are chosen professions and the answers might be clear for them. What about the rest of us?

Do we study to gain knowledge? To what end? Do we study the Word to find answers to questions? For what purpose? Do we study the Word to regulate our lives? How is that going?

Consider this for a moment. No one knows us better than the abiding presence of God. No one knows what we are capable of performing better than the abiding presence of God. No one knows the plans made for us better than the abiding presence of God.

His abiding presence is with every breath we take. We can run so hard that we are out of breath. That is when we stop praising God.