Somedays we know we need to pray but don’t have the words. Other days we have somany things to pray about, we don’t know where to start.
When this happens, take a moment to pause and remember: God loves you. He wants to hear from you. He hears you when you pray according to His will (1 John 5:14)
Use the simple & beautiful words Jesus shared with His disciples when they asked Him, “Lord, teach us how to pray.” (Luke 11:1)
Listen to the words as you speak them, and insert people’s names, or known needs, after the applicable verses:
Our Father, Who art in heaven, Hallowed be your Name. (You are worthy of praise! You are merciful, good & kind! Nothing is impossible for you!)
Your Kingdom come. Your will be done here on earth, As it is in heaven. (Father, I’m asking for Your will to be done in my life, in my spouse’s life, my children, parents, friends….speak out the name of whoever comes to mind)
Give us this day our daily bread. (Please supply what I need today, please bless and provide for ______ ((whoever comes to mind and what their needs may be)) )
And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us. (Father, forgive me of this specific sin or issue _____ and give me the grace I need to forgive other people, just as you freely forgive me 1 John 1:9 and Matthew 6:15 )
And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. (Please keep me from being overcome by the temptation to _____ Keep ____ my children, spouse, friends from evil. Protect us with your power) 1 Corinthians 10:13 and Hebrews 4:14-16
For Yours is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen.
He provides rain for the earth; he sends water on the countryside. ~ Job 5:10
The US, and much of the world, are experiencing excessive, oppressive heat. In Texas, we are suffering with extreme drought conditions along with extreme wildfire danger designations all across the state.
On the unfortunate flip-side, there is flooding in Kentucky, Missouri, Colorado, Virginia & Montana.
Please pray for relief and ask God for mercy. God is good and faithful to answer the cries of His people:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” ~ Matthew 5:43-45
Sign seen on the Showers of Flowers shop in Ingram, TX 7.30.22
“But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” ~ Matthew 6:6
To the person alone in your room, in your apartment or in your house…God sees you. Don’t allow the current circumstances to shut your mouth even though we are shut inside for a time. Open your mouth in prayer!
If you don’t know what to pray about, look around & look to the word of God in scripture. Here are just a few things to start you off & direct your prayer path:
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us–whatever we ask–we know that we have what we asked of Him.” ~ 1 John 5:15
Are you feeling anxious, fearful or unsettled? Read God’s direction to you through the Apostle Paul out of Philippians:
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” ~ Philippians 4:6-7 New Living Translation (NLT)
Pray for our leaders, even if you don’t like them. God wants to direct their steps. He wants to reveal Himself to them as their most essential need. He is looking for humble men & women who will lead with righteous intentions, with a love for truth, a desire for justice and with an awareness of the great responsibility they have toward God and their fellow man:
“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior.” ~ 1 Timothy 2:1-3
Here is an example of how to speak to God in prayer, using the scriptures as a guide. Fill in the blanks with your concerns or fears and with the names of people who come to your mind:
Holy Father, thank you for the blood of Jesus that was poured out for me on the cross. It cleanses me from every sin and makes me able to come before you in prayer, humbly grateful for all that I have received. Jesus is your gift to us, your love letter of promise. We are acceptable to you when we come through the door you provided.
I confess that I am scared & anxious about __________. You tell me not to worry about ANYTHING but to pray about EVERYTHING, so here are the things occupying my mind___________________________. I need your help to trust you. I desperately want & need your peace. Things are out of control but I choose to believe that you are IN CONTROL. I’m like the father who came to you needing help for his poor son and I cry out “I do believe you, please help my unbelief!”
Father, please have mercy on the leadership of our country, our state, our city and our family. They need wisdom. They need guidance and direction. I pray that they will be humble enough to realize that they need you above all else. Place in them a desire for truth, and for righteousness. That __________ will have wise counselors around them, pointing them in the right direction. Give them ears to hear You. We need people of courage who are more concerned with pleasing You and doing what is right than pleasing people.
(continue to add prayers for family members, people you know, people you don’t know but who are suffering. Pray GOOD things over people)
Now back to the first scripture in this post: Matthew 6:6. God sees you when no one else does. It pleases Him when we come to Him with our needs and with our requests on behalf of others. This is evidence of faith on your part because it shows that you believe God is real. That you believe He hears you. Please know that God wants you to have the rewards of your faith in Him. You WILL see answers to your prayers. The greatest reward will be your deepening relationship with God as you come to know Him through prayer & through His word: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” ~ Hebrews 11:6
“Now, will God not judge in favor of his own people who cry to him day and night for help? Will he be slow to help them?I tell you, he will judge in their favor and do it quickly. But will the Son of Man find faith on earth when he comes?”
~ Luke 18:7-8 Good News Translation
The parable leading up to this question posed by Jesus is the story of the widow & the corrupt judge. The widow goes to him day after day, demanding justice for a wrong committed to her. The unrighteous judge gives in and sees that she receives what is right, not because he has a heart for oppressed widows, but because she kept pestering him!
The Lord equates persistence with faith. That’s why the beginning of this parable in Luke opens with, “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to teach them that they should always pray and never become discouraged.” Luke 18:1
The devil wants us to give up. He is betting, hoping, planning that the delays in God’s answer will cause us to quit and throw in the towel, spiritually speaking. Discouragement is a powerful weapon in his evil arsenal.
God doesn’t want you to give up. He wants you to stay connected to Him in prayer. He loves hearing from you. And He doesn’t mind if you come to Him day after day asking for what you need. But don’t stop there, pray for others needs as well. We serve a big God…He can handle it.
I want to close with a couple of passages that speak to the power of persistence in the kingdom of God. They demonstrate faith in action. One is another parable shared by Jesus. The other is the Lord’s response to a mother who would not leave Him until she received help for her tormented child.
Luke 11:5-10
And Jesus said to his disciples, “Suppose one of you should go to a friend’s house at midnight and say, ‘Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. A friend of mine who is on a trip has just come to my house, and I don’t have any food for him!’ And suppose your friend should answer from inside, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ Well, what then? I tell you that even if he will not get up and give you the bread because you are his friend, yet he will get up and give you everything you need because you are not ashamed to keep on asking.And so I say to you: Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.For those who ask will receive, and those who seek will find, and the door will be opened to anyone who knocks.
Mark 7:24-30
From there Jesus set out for the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house there where he didn’t think he would be found, but he couldn’t escape notice. He was barely inside when a woman who had a disturbed daughter heard where he was. She came and knelt at his feet, begging for help. The woman was Greek, Syro-Phoenician by birth. She asked him to cure her daughter.
He said, “Stand in line and take your turn. The children get fed first. If there’s any left over, the dogs get it.”
She said, “Of course, Master. But don’t dogs under the table get scraps dropped by the children?”
Jesus was impressed. “You’re right! On your way! Your daughter is no longer disturbed. The demonic affliction is gone.” She went home and found her daughter relaxed on the bed, the torment gone for good.
Faith pleases God. Ask and keeping on asking, He will be faithful to you.
Since the focus of my posts have been on prayer, I want to share this nugget of gold from Francis Frangipane:
“When a Bible promise is made real to us by the Holy Spirit and we, in faith, pray God’s promise, we are seeding the unformed essence of reality with the Spirit of God Himself. This was Ezekiel’s mission when he prophesied over the valley of dry bones — he spoke prophetically over the bones and they became an army! Such is the nature of prophetic prayer: we not only know God’s promises, we proclaim them over our lives, our families and our churches.”
– In Christ’s Image Training, Prayer Track
Prayer for today:
Thank you for speaking to me in your word, Father. Your promises are great and precious, and I hold onto them in faith, confidently proclaiming them over my life, because You are faithful to bring them to pass. You will not fail me or forsake me, so if I start to weaken, revive me with your word. Thank you for the Holy Spirit who strengthens me and leads me into the truth, who reminds me of your words when I forget. Above all, thank you for the precious blood of Christ which sealed our redemption and made the way for us to be receive every good thing from your mighty hand. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Praying that you will have a word in this season to hold onto!
I am including a link to a past AOH post regarding this very topic. Read it if you have the time. It’s called Hope Against Hope
An Outstretched Hand 