Introduction
For many people, prayer is an abstract experience or an escape valve. They pray – however they don’t see any answers. Why? Because they pray doubting their prayer will ever be heard by God. Despite the many times God has said in the Bible to ask, pray, call on Him and he will answer (Jeremiah 33:3), many Christians don’t have a prayer life. However, they attend church and even call themselves believers, but in reality they are as far from God as any unbeliever. To be a good reflection of Christ and see answers to our prayers, as followers of Jesus we must stay close to vine, so as branches we can produce the fruits of the spirit, which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness ,faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
Prayer
So what is prayer? A dialogue between two people who love each other. Sharing one’s heart with God and listening to His heart. Prayer does not really change things; no, it changes us. Many believers say that they pray and then say things like, “I really don’t have a clear understanding of what is God will on my life right now.
Why do we see many believers so confused about their faith and overwhelmed with their everyday life? I believe the answer rests in the fact the when we pray we do all the talking and forget the fact the God always has something to say to us. Through the years, I have learned a few valuable lessons: to base every prayer on the Word; to apply my faith and refuse doubt and fear after I pray; and to give thanks to God, even if what I am asking for has not come to pass. How does this look? My husband is serving his fourth tour in Afghanistan.
When he left, I asked God in prayer to teach me how to pray for my husband. He took me to Psalm 91, and throughout it said for me to insert my husband’s name (this was God instruction – after I finished praying and sat quietly in his presence). My husband called the other day to tell me thank you for praying for him, because even though his life is constantly in danger, and some of his soldiers got injured by his side, nothing happened to him. I prayed according to God’s scriptures. I apply my faith by believing that, even if I ay not hear from him for a couple days, I know he is okay, because I pray God’s word and not
my own prayer. When we pray according to God’s will and His word, we should not only expect answers, but we will reap other benefits like peace, joy etc. Prayer allows God to shape our character, our personality and our life. Fruit of the Spirit What is the fruit of the Spirit? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control (Galatians 5:22-23). When I think about the fruit of the Spirit, I am taken back to John 15:5 – “I am the vine you are the branches.
If a man remains in Me and Me in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing. ” You see, the fruit of the spirit is who we are, our character, and our personality. It is our testimony. This is one of the biggest issues that affect Christianity today. We often focus so much on religion, but not enough on showing God’s character to others. So how do we get the fruit of the spirit in us? When we accept Jesus into our heart, the Holy Spirit takes residence inside of us, and together with Him is all the fruit, because he dwells in us.
We are representatives of Christ in this earth and when the world sees us being selfish, impatient, unkind, unloving and struggling to enjoy life, why would they want to become followers of Christ? So before the fruit of the Spirit can flow through us, we must learn to receive it from God (Joyce Meyer). Practical application: If I want to learn how to operate in love, be kind and have peace in my heart, I need to have experience with God showing these things to me. The great men and women of the Bible received their personalities developed by the Fruit of the Spirit.
Conclusion
Let what is important to God be important to you (Joyce Meyer). This should be our number one priority in life – to have relationship with God and not only talk to Him but listen to what He has to say to us. The reason why most Christians don’t hear God today is not because He is not speaking. It is because we are too busy to pray. Recently this was a topic of one of my class’s discussion boards: how can the church be a better reflection of Christ? By letting God show His character and who He is to us. The fruit of the Sprit is nothing more than who God Himself is.
He is patient, kind, loving, and good to us, faithful even when we walk away and don’t obey him. Prayer and the Fruit of the Spirit are two things I may not always be perfect at, but I thank God because even if I am not where I need to be, at least I am on my way there. Reflection Paper Grading Scale(include as the last page of your paper.
