Category: Prayer
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A Prayer for the Fourth of July
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” ~ Galatians 5.1 Lord Jesus, it’s the Fourth of July – a holiday set aside to remember and revel in the freedom we enjoy as citizens of America. As…
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A Guide for Personal Prayers of Confession
Perhaps the most common expression of a prayer of confession is the following: Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our…
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A Prayer for the New Year
I launch my ship into the unknown waters of this year, with you, O Father, as my harbor, you, O Son, at my helm, and you, O Holy Spirit, filling my sails. Guide me to heaven with my lamp burning, my ear open to your calls, my heart full of love, my soul free. Give me your grace to sanctify…
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A Christmas Blessing
God grant you … the light of Christmas, which is faith; the warmth of Christmas, which is purity; the righteousness of Christmas, which is justice; the belief in Christmas, which is truth; the ALL of Christmas, which is Christ.
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Prayer of Re-Orientation
Dallas Willard on the importance and centrality of the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “Hallowed be Your Name”: “This request is based upon the deepest need of the human world. Human life is not about human life. Nothing will go right in it until the goodness and greatness of its Creator and Sustainer is…
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Hallowed Be MY Name
The first petition Jesus taught his disciples to pray is “Hallowed be YOUR Name”. (Matthew 6.9) In other words, the priority of our lives – of the lives of all who are followers of Jesus – is to love God, enjoy God, and to seek his glory above all else. J.I. Packer, in his book…
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Lord, Make Me Like You
I don’t recall where or when I first heard following story, but it has often caused me to stop and ask myself about my attitude and motivations: A man prayed to the Lord: “Lord, make me like you; may my words & thoughts be like yours; may my actions produce great fruit…” This was his…
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Prayer Group Participants
Earlier this week, for a change of pace, and to set our orientation, I had our staff open our weekly meeting with a period of liturgical prayer. This kind of prayer is not really part of our tradition. It appears, from what I occasionally read, that some from our tradition are intensely opposed to such…
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Generic Prayer Request Generator
Sad. Funny. Too often true. But still sad. Sad mostly because this seems reflective of too much of contemporary prayer and the common substance of too many prayer meetings.
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Oklahoma On My Mind – and Heart
It has been way too long since I have written here. But this morning, as I think and pray about the devastation that has hit Oklahoma… It is only appropriate to post. Yet, what can I say? As a former Oklahoman (I spent my Freshman & Sophomore years of high school, and my first two…
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Practical Prayer Ideas from D.A. Carson
Here are some ideas for prayer practices adapted from D. A. Carson’s A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Apart from any printed guides I may use, I keep a manila folder in my study, where I pray, and usually I take it with me when I am traveling. The first sheet in that folder is a…
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Kingdom-Centered Prayer
Tim Keller writes: Throughout the Old and New Testaments and church history, every spiritual awakening was founded on corporate, prevailing, intensive kingdom-centered prayer. We cannot create spiritual renewal by ourselves, but we can “prepare the altar” and ask God to send his Holy Spirit to change our hearts, our churches, and our communities. Read Tim’s…
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A Key to Vibrant Prayer
We are not desperate to pray because we are self-deceived. We are blind to our depravity. We don’t see ourselves as we really are. Do you want to learn to pray more? Learn of your sin. Ask God to show it to you, to give you a glimpse of your need. Ask him to show…
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The Prayers of Paul
In one sense, prayer is the simplest thing in the world. People have been talking to God from the beginning, without instruction and without method. We have praised Him, cursed Him, begged Him, and bargained with Him. We tell Him to send the rains, heal the sick, give us jobs, prove He exists, and explain…
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Prevailing Prayer
Prevailing prayer that draws us near to God, shapes our hearts to be more like Christ’s, and seeks the power of God to strengthen us and sustain us in faith, to sanctify us to think and act more like Jesus, and to intercede on behalf of friends, neighbors, and our culture.
