Practical Prayers

"The spiritual discipline of prayer should be a given to anyone with even a cursory understanding of the Bible. After all, the heroes of the Bible constantly demonstrate lives of prayer.  From the patriarchs to the prophets, from the kings to the military champions, from Jesus Himself and His apostles, prayer is presented as an absolutely indispensable practice for the faithful.  

We are also specifically (and frequently) commanded to pray.  We are even given specific prayer targets: the Lord’s will, one another, our daily needs, thanksgiving, our enemies (even those who persecute us), the peace of Israel, laborers for the kingdom’s harvest fields, and so many more.  Prayer, we are carefully taught, is the antidote to anxiety, to losing heart, to selfishness, to worldliness. It is a key path by which the believer finds God’s guidance, protection, and intimacy. 

Yet even with this matter established in our minds, Christians regularly confess that prayer is too often a matter of weakness, frustration, and guilt. Why?"

Read the rest of this brief article in the September letter of Vital Signs Ministries right here.