God Gave Us His Practiced Promise when He Said - I Will Never Leave You, nor Forsake You - Tip! One warning you should bear in mind in the matter of prayer is the negligence of this great resource. We often neglect prayer until we get into some major trouble; and then suffocating with fear, we rush into some shallow appeal to God only to realize that our prayers are not accepted which is due to the fact that we do not even believe that those very prayers would be accepted in the first place. ". . . When they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they [spoke] the word of God with boldness." — Acts 4:31. It is interesting to note that in this prayer the company of believers did not ask the Lord to change the attitude of their enemies. God did not give in to their emotional prayer in the hour of crisis by extraordinarily changing the attitude of the determined opponents. God could have, but He did not remove the threat that endangered them; He did not even destroy the ring-leaders responsible for the persecution of the church. They, this small company of believers accepted the fact that such persecution had been prophesied and predicted in God's Word. Also Jesus had warned them this would happen while he was with them on earth. Pastors find it hard to get the people of today established in the faith because apparently we think that God should change our surroundings in answer to our prayers. It seems difficult for the young and older people to understand that a change in our surroundings is not the answer to our spiritual troubles. We should be impressed by the fact that we cannot expect our Lord to change the attitude of our unsaved friends and acquaintances. When once the new and many older converts discover this truth we will not find it so difficult to overcome the hardships in our lives. It is equally true that a change in the moral settings that surrounds the church today is not the way out of its spiritual problem. Look, this company of believers of the first church, found the solution to their problem when they lifted up their voice in one accord in prayer to God our Father. The answer they received made it possible for them to deal with the rising tide of spiritual wickedness in the high places such as the government and religious leaders. The Holy Spirit fortified and prepared them with a spiritual power that not any combination of the evil forces could survive effectively. The tormented believers were praying with a firm faith when they cried out, "Lord, thou art God." They knew beyond any doubt that it was in fact from God, this source, this unwavering assurance that motivated them to keep praying. It is amazing how powerless and unimportant the pathetic efforts of wicked people appear when we understand that God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1.) Tip! Praise and thanksgiving – This is the earnest, heartfelt prayer where we come before the Lord thanking and praising him for his mighty power and love. We may praise him in both our earthly and spiritual language. And again we can see the everlasting Word proclaims, "The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?" — Psalm 118:6 God gave us His practiced promise when He said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." When has the Lord ever deserted His faithful people in their time of conflict? Never! We need to have this blessed truth fixed in or minds and in our consciousness, and permanently written on our hearts by the hand of God. When once we have grasped this fact about our God and Father, only then will we understand that it is not difficult to pray and keep on praying. How can I pray for you and your family? Please go to my blog at byfaith-enterprises.blogspot.com and leave a comment or prayer request there. Sign-up for the free Prayer Newsletter and also Get your FREE eBook "Where Are You At?" at www.byfaith-enterprises.com/prayer_books. If you would like a unique version of this article or other articles on prayer, faith or religion for your website, justClick Here for Unique Articles. Keep praying to the Great I AM.