WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT PRAYER

And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. - 1 John 5:14. An amazing assurance (if we ask, he hears us) and an invitation to boldness (ask anything), qualified by a necessary awareness (ask according to his will). It may seem like a dichotomy to pray boldly yet with an awareness of what God wants of us, but perhaps it will become easier to understand if we look at some related verses. First, we can rejoice in  Matthew 7:7: "Ask, and it will be given to you; search and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you."   We truly can give it all to God and find God wherever we look. But we should also remember how Jesus prayed, at  Luke 22:42: "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup form me; yet not my will but yours be done."   We truly can ask boldly for anything, but we have to keep it an "ask," not a tell. And we can, and should, turn to Jesus in the same way; see  John...

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving. - Colossians 4:2. A call to devotional, vigilant prayer.  And once again, keep it thankful! There are two parts to this verse, the devotion and the vigil.  Both have become recognizable rituals in many faith communities in which prayer is central, but we tend to think of devotions as a daily routine while the prayer vigil is typically reserved for an extreme instance, when someone is missing or sick or at death's door.  But why not combine the two? I will be the first to admit that my set-aside time for devotions is not as daily as it should be, but maybe more vigilance, more awareness of the daily presence of God, is what I need to make it so. We are encouraged by no less than the Lord's prayer.  In teaching us to pray, Jesus intended our prayer to be daily, at  Matthew 6:11: "Give us this day our daily bread." The early Christians made it routine, too, and with a decidedly thankful s...