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3 points on prayer by the poor and needy

“Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy” Psa. 86.1 NRSV.

  • God hears prayer and wants us to pray to him in our need. He never ignores the faithful.
  • God answers prayer, so we may be confident in our asking. He never refuses to provide. He is generous and willing.
  • God receives prayer from anyone who belongs to him. He does not discriminate against those who do not belong to the elite.

(How to belong to God’s people? See this explanation. Ideas suggested from this devotional.)

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Giving up on prayer?

John Gipson writes, “Isn’t Jesus to be trusted? If we cannot rely on His words, when it comes to prayer, can we trust Him in anything else?”

Read his article here.

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Praying with the hands

George Raindrop in his book No Common Task tells how a nurse once taught a man to pray and in doing so changed his whole life, until a dull, disgruntled and dispirited creature became a man of joy. Much of the nurse’s work was done with her hands, and she used her hands as a scheme of prayer. Each finger stood for someone. Her thumb was nearest to her, and it reminded her to pray for those who were closest to her. The second finger was used for pointing and it stood for all her teachers in school and in the hospital. The third finger was the tallest and it stood for the V.I.P.s, the leaders in every sphere of life. The fourth finger was the weakest, as every pianist knows, and it stood for those who were in trouble and in pain. The little finger was the smallest and the least important and to the nurse it stood for herself.

—Wm. Barclay

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Expectant prayer

On the Mt Juliet website, Wayne Miller writes about prayer, based on Psalm 5:

I read about a Christian lady, in her deep trouble had prayed to God for help. Her requests were answered. She then wondered aloud, “Why am I always so surprised when the Lord answers my prayers!”

David made it a daily practice to lay his requests before the Lord. In fact, our text indicates, every morning he approached God with his prayer list. David seemed to possess full, total, and complete confidence the Lord would answer his prayers.

Do we, like David, pray regularly—or only in emergencies?

Read the rest of the article here.

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God cares more

“The moment you begin to blindly beg and plead with God to move on your behalf is the moment for you to take a step back and ask yourself the following questions. Do you believe God is a good God and your Heavenly Father? Are you praying out of a place of fear that perhaps he isn’t listening or that he won’t answer you unless you prove to him how desperate you are? Calm your heart, remind yourself of the truth, and pray from a place of trust that God cares about your situation far more than you do. Pray with the sure knowledge that you are a child of God and that he knows your voice, and hears your weakest whisper.” — K. Walden.

I don’t know who the person is who said it, but the words ring true, especially that God cares far more than we do.

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Dare to prove the greatness of God

Do we know the power of our supernatural weapon? Do we dare to use it with the authority of a faith that commands as well as asks? May God baptize us with holy audacity and divine confidence. He is not wanting great men and women, but He is wanting men and women who will dare to prove the greatness of their God.

We understand, of course, the reference to baptism here figuratively. The author may have other, unbiblical ideas here. But his main point is spot on.

Source: Simpson Devotional

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Questions about prayer don’t keep us from praying

Eddie Parrish wrote today on “Confidence in Prayer:”

Studying prayer can be a frustrating endeavor. While the Bible reveals no small amount of information about this great privilege, there are still questions that have puzzled great minds for millennia. How, specifically, does God answer prayer? What are the mechanics of it? How do we reconcile the sovereignty of God, the free will of man, and the role of prayer in bringing about positive change in our lives? I admit to being unable to answer those questions to my own satisfaction.

But Eddie still prays with confidence. Read his whole article here.