There are many things people might feel sorry for and has the need of confession. For example someone stealing something from a shop and later regretting it. Or it could be that someone has lied to their parents and feel bad. It could also be as serious as committing a murder and later the murder is truly sorry. Christians confess knowing that if they are truly sorry God will forgive.
These are just some of the prayers people can use:
PSALMS 51 A prayer of forgiveness
“Be merciful to me, o God, “Forgive us the wrongs we
because of your constant have done, as we forgive the
love” wrongs that others have
done to us”
Old testament
Mathew
6
Confession: Confession gives people a sense of hope knowing that God will forgive them and maybe a comfort for people, Christians or not.
THANKSGIVING
Christians thank God by praying. They may thank God for helping someone/themselves recover from an illness, passing an exam or for just been successful. This makes people feel grateful and appreciate the gift of life and not take things for granted. This also prove that you should always ‘give’ back and not always take, because it is better to give than take.
Christians thanking God has been traced back to the Old Testament. People believe that Christians have always thanked God.
If I was going to thank God, I can thank him for my great family, for helping us through illness and for looking after my idols.
Here are just some of the prayers of thanksgiving;
Old testament
The Lord’s Goodness to His people
PSALMS 106 “Praise the Lord!
Give thanks to the Lord,
because he is good;
his love is eternal”.
New testament
Paul’s prayer for his readers
PHILIPPAS “3 I thank my God
for you every time I
think of you”.
Conclusion:
Thanksgiving is always good because this let people know how grateful they really are. So thanking God will make people a whole lot better knowing that God knows about their gratefulness.
SUPPLICATION
Supplication means asking for help from God. People may pray to God asking him to send them strength to go through something. They could also pray hoping that their friends or family can overcome a sickness Christians believe that praying for selfish reasons are wrong and those prayers will not be answered.
If Christians believe that God is some kind of force, and a prayer is not answered, they think it’s because the prayer hasn’t reached him or because God did not want to change things.
If Christians believe that God is a being inside them, then they see praying as a way to help people through minds. For instance, you can pray for someone and the person you are praying for will feel better knowing that someone care for them.
Supplication has been a tradition in the Bible and Christians throughout the ages.
JOHN17 20“I pray not only for them,
but also for those who believe
in me because of their
messages. 21 I pray that they
may all be one. Father!”
I could pray to God asking him to help or give strength to all those people going through so much pain, torture and complete hell. And ask him to give them a better life.
Prayers still continue among our society. Christians think prayer is important because they get a sense of peace, strength and faith. Christians say that when they are praying they feel God within them and give them “deep inner joy”. But of course you can only pray to God if you believe that God exist and have a lot of faith.
When a Christians prays to God and the prayer gets answered, their faith in God increases. This will make them an even stronger believer. For example you pray for someone to get well, and they do. Or when you pray and ask God to give your friend strength to go through hard times in life.
Christians believe that the more you believe, the more chance of God answering your prayers. For example: “when a Roman soldier asked Jesus to heal his servant. Jesus was pleased with man’s faith, and heals the servant”.
LUKE 7 3“ When the officer heard about Jesus,
he sent some Jewish elders to ask him
to come and heal his servant”
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven,
Give us this daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive them that trespass against
us
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the Kingdom, the power, and
the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
This is the Lord’s Prayer and is very important for Christians. It is called Lord’s Prayer because Jesus Christ had taught his disciples of this prayer. This prayer is said at many different occasions. For example if someone were just about to face death, they would usually chose to say the Lord’s Prayer.
“It’s meaningless to pray the Lord’s Prayer, the same words, at every Sunday service”.
I do not agree with this statement. Prayers are known to give people a sense of hope and peacefulness and as you keep repeating the same words over and over again, the more you believe in it. They (words) help you understand the true meaning behind the prayer and help you see the light.
Some people are known to pray just to show off to people. This will not give them hope or strength. It will only increase people’s selfishness and stupidity. Jesus had also acknowledged of these people and had said to follow their footsteps. Among these people there are quite a lot of true believers.