When a man really prays it is not a question whether God will hear him or not, He must hear him; not because there is any compulsion in the prayer, but there is a sweet and blessed compulsion in the promise. God has promised to hear prayer and He will perform His promise. As he is the most high and true God, He cannot deny himself. Oh! to think of this; that you, a puny creature, may stand here and speak to God, and through God may move all the worlds. – C.H. Spurgeon
Dangerous Prayer
Dangerous Prayer
Paul said, "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." One of the ways this happens is by us trusting the LORD in prayer and praying in a way that is dangerous to the devil.
Pray!
Pray!
Prayer is signally the holiest and most spiritual exercise of mortal men. Carnal flesh shrinks and flees from it. It is cause for spiritual alarm when we find ourselves...
The Vital Importance of Prayer
The Vital Importance of Prayer
Here are six reasons on the vital importance of prayer. 1) Prayer as communion to God, is the goal of the Gospel. 2) Prayer as asking...
How to Pray like an Apostle
How to Pray like an Apostle
I’ve often considered it to be a significant measure of a person’s spiritual maturity to simply ask somebody, “How much do you pray for others?”
Homiletics: The Preacher’s Prayer Life (Part 3b)
Homiletics: The Preacher’s Prayer Life (Part 3b)
Those who are not disciplined and do not give priority to prayer in their life should not be preaching. Their prayerlessness is a statement that they have not yet grasped...
Asking in Prayer
Asking in Prayer
John 14:13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Effectual Prayer Empowered by the Spirit
Effectual Prayer Empowered by the Spirit
I am all for sharpening our minds... and a greater theological understanding, but we cannot afford for it to stop there. Does your theology make your heart dance?
Seek God and Go From Fear to Faith
Seek God and Go From Fear to Faith
How did King David go from being full of fear to being full of praise and adoration to God? It was by seeking the Lord through prayer.
God’s Sovereignty and Our Prayers
God’s Sovereignty and Our Prayers
A concept that some people have difficulty with is trying to reconcile the sovereignty of God with our prayers. Does God's sovereignty make our prayers unnecessary or irrelevant?
Effectual & Ineffectual Prayers
Effectual & Ineffectual Prayers
The Bible encourages us to pray, and even when our prayers are ineffectual we shouldn't be discouraged because God uses them.
The Spirit’s Help in Prayer
The Spirit’s Help in Prayer
First, notice that the Spirit is a helper. Jesus calls Him that. He is not "our little helper", but it is more like the king helping...
Draw Near to God: The Supreme Need
Draw Near to God: The Supreme Need
What is the answer to all of the unfulfilled desires that eat away at mankind? The supreme need for mankind is to draw near to God and to know Him.
Effective Prayers Because of a Righteous Life (Part 4)
Effective Prayers Because of a Righteous Life (Part 4)
One thing the Devil fears about the righteous life of the believer is the effective prayers...
Praying at All Times in the Spirit
Praying at All Times in the Spirit
As we put on each piece of the armor of God we need to remember that each piece needs to be put on as we're praying. As important as each part of our armor is...
Praying For All The Saints
Praying For All The Saints
As Christians, we are in a spiritual war against the Devil, and we constantly feel the attacks from Satan that come upon us.
How Can We Pray in the Spirit?
How Can We Pray in the Spirit?
The Bible tells us to pray in the Spirit. What does that mean and how can we do that?
Serpents, Scorpions, and Prayer
Serpents, Scorpions, and Prayer
In all of the accounts of the Bible that concern prayer, one of the most encouraging sections is what Jesus teaches in Luke 11:9-13.
God Is Creating Weakness In Your Life
God Is Creating Weakness In Your Life
Your problem is never that you are too weak. As a matter of fact, what God does in our lives, from the moment we are born again and until we die, is He is constantly working to create weakness in us. The problem is no...
Lord, Teach Us to Pray
Lord, Teach Us to Pray
You may know theology, but do you know how to pray? We need to remember that the disciples didn't ask Jesus how to preach, perform miracles, walk on water, etc.
Have Faith in God: Laying Ahold of His Promises in Prayer
Have Faith in God: Laying Ahold of His Promises in Prayer
In Mark 11:22 and Jesus answered, saying to them, "Have faith in God." This is a command, isn't it? He does not say, ask for faith. He does not say wait for faith.
The Christian’s Life in Secret (Part 2): When You Pray
The Christian’s Life in Secret (Part 2): When You Pray
Do you pray? And if so, how do you pray? In Matthew 6 Jesus gives us three categories of people and how they pray.
The Christian’s Secret Life (Part 3): How To Pray
The Christian’s Secret Life (Part 3): How To Pray
Is the "Lord's Prayer" a mindless liturgy to you? Did Jesus mean when we pray, we must use these exact words?
Did Jesus Pray Using Vain Repetition in Matthew 26:44?
Did Jesus Pray Using Vain Repetition in Matthew 26:44?
What should we make of this, especially considering Jesus' teachings on prayer and not praying using vain repetition?
I learned by experience that much prayer is the only means to success.
Ministers, in order to be burning and shining lights, should walk closely with God, and keep near to Christ; that they may ever be enlightened and enkindled by Him. And they should be much in seeking God, and conversing with Him by prayer, who is the fountain of light and love.
We must deliberately seek to meet with God absolutely alone, and to secure such aloneness with God we are bidden to ‘enter into the closet.’ God absolutely insists on this ‘closet’ communion with Himself. One reason, no doubt, that He demands it is to test our sincerity. There is no test for the soul like solitude. Do you shrink from solitude? Perhaps the cause for your neglect of the ‘closet’ is a guilty conscience? You are afraid to enter into the solitude. You know that however cheerful you appear to be you are not really happy. You surround yourself with company lest, being alone, truth should invade your delusion.
The aim of Satanic power is to cut off communication with God. To accomplish this aim he deludes the soul with a sense of defeat, covers him with a thick cloud of darkness, depresses and oppresses the spirit, which in turn hinders prayer and leads to unbelief—thus destroying all power (instead of seeing Hebrews 11:1).
Praying without faith is like trying to cut with a blunt knife—much labor expended to little purpose. For the work accomplished by labor in prayer depends on our faith: “According to your faith,” not labor, “be it unto you.”
Come, my soul, thy suit prepare,
Jesus loves to answer prayer;
He Himself has bid thee pray,
Therefore will not say thee nay.
Thou art coming to a King,
Large petitions with thee bring;
For His grace and power are such
None can ever ask too much.
Ask God for anything, but let Him judge as to the manner, measure, and timing of the giving.
Satan, the Hinderer, may build a barrier about us, but he can never roof us in, so that we cannot look up.
George Muller was conscious of being too busy to pray as he ought. His outward action was too constant for inward reflection, and he saw that there was risk of losing peace and power and that activity even in the most sacred sphere must not be so absorbing as to prevent holy meditation on the Word and fervent supplication. The Lord said first to Elijah, “Go, hide thyself”; then, “Go, show thyself.” He who does not first hide himself in the secret place to be alone with God, is unfit to show himself in the public place to move among men.
You and I, in the last analysis, are what we are when we are alone. I confess that in a sense it is easier for me to preach from a pulpit than it is to sit alone in my study; it is probably easier for more people to enjoy the presence of our Lord in the company of other Christians than when alone. Paul would have us enjoy what he himself was enjoying. He had a love for the Lord that rendered him independent of all that was happening.
When a man is speaking to God, he is at his very acme. It is the highest activity of the human soul, and therefore it is at the same time the ultimate test of a man’s true spiritual condition. There is nothing that tells the truth about us as Christian people so much as our prayer life. Everything we do in the Christian life is easier than prayer.
Some women spend hours preparing physically for church. What would happen if we all spent the same amount of time preparing spiritually for church with prayer and meditation?
If I had spent more time alone with God rather than preaching and planning how I was going to change the world, I would be a very different man.
A Prayer For Abounding Hope
A Prayer For Abounding Hope
Bob Jennings | Topic: Prayer
We have in the immediate context three usages of the word hope (v. 12 could read hope) and thus it could be entitled “A Prayer for Abounding Hope.”