Teaching on prayer – Page 2

2015-04-12

Statement designed to encourage prayer

Over on Travis Main’s website, Doug Dingley writes in “The Effectual Fervent Prayer of a Righteous Man”:

How tragic that a statement of encouragement by design becomes a statement of discouragement through our misunderstanding of it. As Christians, we are made righteous, not by living a perfectly sinless life, but by virtue of the fact that the Lord died for us, and His shed blood keeps us cleansed and forgiven of our sins (cf. 1 John 1:7-10). Therefore, God may hear our prayers!

Read the whole article at this link.

2015-04-12

Try gourmet prayers

How about trying gourmet prayers — where you gather many ingredients, not just one? They take longer, but are very special and rewarding.Your menu is your prayer list. People on your list don’t even have to be people who [you] know personally. They can be from the newspaper, teachers at a local school, government officials, your neighbors, your congregation. List people by name. Pray for them by name.

via Inspirations By Katheryn.

2015-03-14

John Henson on the model prayer

John Henson looks again at the model prayer given by the Lord.

Do we want to learn to pray with the same fervor we learn those things we believe are necessary to us? Are we willing to expend the same kind of effort learning to pray that we would learning our jobs? We should. via Teach us to pray | Forthright Magazine.

2015-01-24

Pray before preaching

Texas preacher Jeff Jenkins encourages preachers to pray before they get up to speak. He provides a good list of things to pray about. His advice is good, developing in a wonderful way this thought:

https://twitter.com/SermonLines/status/558567402422960128

2014-11-22

‘He prayed to Him’

These simple words were used of Manassah after his capture by the Assyrians and his turning to the Lord. Gantt Carner recalls that moment.

2014-10-28

Importance of prayer in sharing the gospel

Dewayne Bryant reminds us to pray for the lost:

All around us are people who do not know, or have not submitted to, Jesus Christ. As Christians, we understand the joyful blessings that are part of living a Christian life. We also understand the consequences of departing this life without knowing Christ. While there are many things we can do to reach the lost, we cannot forget about the importance of prayer as part of our efforts to share the gospel with others.

Read his whole article here.

2014-06-06

3 distinctive characteristics of acceptable prayer

On Forthright Magazine, Mike Brooks offered these three facets of prayer, from reading the Lord’s prayer.

Note that there is no mention of posture, dress, directional orientation, or other physical requirements in our prayers. Christians are encouraged to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) but not a certain number of times per day. Paul mentions “lifting up holy hands” in prayer (1 Timothy 2:8). However, the acceptable prayer of the tax collector in Jesus’ parable was given “without so much as rais[ing] his eyes to heaven” (Luke 18:13).

Read the whole article here.

2014-01-16

Thoughts for prayer strugglers

Chuck Webster shares some ideas for those (of us) who struggle with prayer. Worth one’s while. Among other things, he says,

Pray a really short prayer, or a really long one—it doesn’t matter. Some of your prayers will last about fifteen seconds as you walk the sidewalk to your front door in the evening. Others might last as long it takes you to fall asleep, or as long as the drive is to work or the grocery store. And then you’ll have some that are like the ones Jesus prayed when he went off into the wilderness—a time of uninterrupted, focused communion with the Lord. But whatever you do, don’t worry about the length. Pray from your heart . . . God hears the ten-second prayer just like he hears the thirty-minute one.

2013-12-18

Charles Brown’s 11 suggestions for a better prayer life

On the Smithville TN church site, Charles Brown gives 11 suggestions on prayer. Here’s the first:

01 – PRAY MORE. The average Christian spends a very limited amount of time in prayer. We often reserve prayer for emergency use only. How much time would you estimate you spent in prayer yesterday? How much time last week? More Daniels are needed today (Dan 6: 10).

Read them all at this link.

2013-06-01

What do you emphasize in prayer?

After noting what the newly crowned Solomon requested of God, Don R. wrote:

Did you take note of the things for which Solomon did not ask: riches, wealth, honor, the life of his enemies, and long life?

Those are the very things we want, and we strive earnestly to get them, but they elude us.

Yet, the Lord gave those things to Solomon because he gave the right emphasis in prayer, which truly showed his heart.

Read his short devotional at this link.