The profitability of prayer

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion: Words fail to explain how necessary prayer is, and in how many ways the exercise of prayer is profitable. Surely with good reason the Heavenly Father affirms that the only stronghold of safety is in calling upon his name (Joel 2:32). By so doing we invoke the presence […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles: “Rescuing the Rupps: A Christmas Parable” (Clint Archer) One balmy Summer day in 1997 Rita Rupp (57) from Tulsa Oklahoma, was on a lengthy road trip with her husband Floyd (67). For no reason in particular, she began to sense that they may be in danger. She started thinking, ‘What if someone […]

Why pray?

This morning’s Old Testament reading recounts the story of Assyria’s threat against Judah. It seemed that Judah was hopeless. But Hezekiah, having received the threat from the king of Assyria through the words of his servant Rabshakeh, went to pray. The content of his prayer was direct: You are the God, you alone (Is. 37:16) […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles from around the internet: Jon Bloom offers “Seven Ways to Pray for Your Heart.” David Murray reminds us, “All things for good.” Sin too? All sin is evil. No sin is worth it. It’s always better that we not sin. However, sin is also part of the “all things” that God works together […]

Our God who hears our prayers

Virtually every believer will acknowledge that he does not pray enough. We don’t pray for a variety of reasons. And one of those reasons is that we do not think highly enough about God who hears our prayers. We have a deficient functional theology. Oh, we would likely say the right words about God and […]

When we don’t feel like praying

R. A. Torrey: Oftentimes when we come to God in prayer, we do not feel like praying. What shall one do in such a case? cease praying until he does feel like it? Not at all. When we feel least like praying is the time when we most need to pray. We should wait quietly […]

Praying for others

Have you ever been unsure about how to pray for others? Perhaps someone’s name comes to mind and you feel compelled to pray, but you are uncertain what to pray. Or maybe someone has asked you to pray and you know you should even pray at that moment, but no words come to mind. Your […]

A Trinitarian prayer to guide the day

Paul’s benediction in Ephesians 3 has been on my mind much this week. It is an expression of Paul’s overflowing gratitude for and dependence on the Triune God who is producing salvation in Paul. It is an exalted view of what the Father, Son, and Spirit are presently at work doing in the believer and […]

A Prayer for New Year’s Day

This morning, Tony Reinke quoted this prayer from one of my favorite devotional books, The Valley of Vision. It is fitting for the advent of a new year: O Lord, Length of days does not profit me except the days are passed in thy presence, in thy service, to thy glory. Give me a grace […]

As you prepare for worship, give thanks

This morning you may be in a hurry to get to church to worship. Your clothes may not look or feel right; your children may be complaining; you may have had some conflict with your spouse; you may have slept too late and now you are rushed. But in your haste to leave the house, […]

“Pray for me”

“Now may the God of peace [who is the author and the giver of peace], who brought back from among the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood [that sealed, ratified] the everlasting agreement (the new covenant), strengthen (complete, perfect) [and] make you what you ought to be [and] […]

Praying for today’s election

Sunday, I reprinted the pastoral prayer I offered that morning for our congregation and country. Since then, I have seen Al Mohler’s list of ten components of a prayer for our nation and this election. Here is a summary… First, we should pray that God will bless America with leaders better than we deserve.… Second, […]

A prayer for election week

“To You I lift up my eyes, O You who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the LORD our God, Until He is gracious to us. […]

Why go to a prayer meeting?

With our church having begun a weekly prayer meeting again, I was encouraged by reading this post about the significance and importance of weekly times of prayer: Privilege… Community… Edification… Training… Serving… Reminder… Read the rest of Why Should You Go to A Prayer Meeting?.

The primacy of prayer

Having lived during my college years in a military community, I’ve seen the stress of a husband and father separated from his family for six-month intervals. Such absences weigh heavily on all members of the family. One thing that becomes very important, then, is mail. It is the life-line of information and communication between these […]