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Emphasis Mine In Bible Verses
Some Thoughts On Prayer
"God does nothing but in answer to prayer." John Wesley.
"When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don't they don't." William Temple
"Probably the number one reason why prayer malfunctions in the hands of believers is that we try to turn a wartime walkie-talkie into a domestic intercom. Until you know that life is war you cannot know what prayer is for. Prayer is for the accomplishment of a wartime mission.... But what have millions of Christians done? We have stopped believing that we are in a war. No urgency, no watching, no vigilance. No strategic planning. Just easy peace and prosperity. And what did we do with the walkie-talkie? We tried to rig it up as an intercom in our houses and cabins and boats and car, not to call in fire power for conflict with a moral enemy, but to ask for more comforts in the den." John Piper (Let the Nations be Glad, 46).
“Do you ever come to God and say, "Lord, I have worked this all out, I want you to bless it"? What is that saying? "It all depends on me. I want you to make it work, that's all." That is trying to mix the old and the new, and it will never work. You cannot do it. God will never go along with that process. He just folds his arms and says, "If that is the way you want to do it, you do it. I'll watch you." And he watches us until we fall flat on our face. But when we are discouraged, after finding out it did not work, and cry out, "Lord, help me," he says, "Here I am. I have been here all along and I am willing to work through you right now, as long as you quit working, depending on yourself." Ray Stedman. Authentic Christianity.
Verses Well Worth Heeding
Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for me. I cried out to Him with my mouth and praised Him with my tongue. If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God has surely heard; He has attended to the sound of my prayer. Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld from me His loving devotion! (Psalms 66:16-20 BSB)
We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will. (John 9:31 BSB)
For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (1 Peter 3:10-12 BSB)
Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail. (James 5:13-16 BSB)
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth yielded its crops. (James 5:16-18 BSB)
Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God, and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight. (1 John 3:21-22 BSB)
INDEX
Jesus’ Blueprint For Prayer
"The Lord's Prayer." Actually, the prayer is misnamed because the Lord Himself could not have prayed this prayer. As the Son of God without sin, He could not have joined in the petition, "Forgive us our sins." Perhaps the prayer should be labeled, "The Disciples' Prayer," since it is a primer on prayer for people like us. It serves us in praying as an outline serves a minister when he preaches a sermon or as a blueprint serves a builder when he constructs a building. It guides us as we go.
What Does It Mean To Pray Without Ceasing? - Many Words vs. Persistent Praying
How do we reconcile the both sets of instructions found in Scripture... We should not use "many words" in prayer and that we should be persistent in prayer? Paul’s command in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray without ceasing,” can be confusing. Obviously, it cannot mean we are to be in a head-bowed, eyes-closed posture all day long.
Is Every Prayer Answered?
How many times have you said, "God just doesn't hear my prayers"? Are you are among the many Christians who pray with fingers crossed, "hoping against hope" that God will hear you?
When We Don't Know How to Pray
The signs of our weakness in prayer are all around us. We repeat the Lord's Prayer every Sunday, but we have mastered the art of letting the words roll from our mouths without their meaning ever crossing our brain. We say our ritual grace before each meal with such magical and legalistic ritualism that it differs not at all from rubbing a rabbits foot.
Can My Prayers Help Some one Else?
Can my prayers actually reach out and touch another person? "I’ll pray for you," I promise so easily. But what if I forget? Does that mean the help never goes to them at all? Does God, who loves that person so much more deeply than I ever could hold back, waiting for me? Surely God’s great creative love is not tied to the reliability of a human friend. Surely someone God loves is cared for - with or without my involvement.
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