WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT PRAYER

Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. - Romans 12:12. Another instructive trifecta, supplementing joy with hope and ceaseless prayer with perseverance and calling anew for patience. Patience, with hope and perseverance, has already been a part of the supplementary verses we have seen.  Remember Peter's vigil at  1 Peter 5:7-8: "And when you have suffered for a little while, ...God ...will ...restore, support, strengthen and establish you." Remember the faith from Hebrews, reminding us that God is encouraging us to  "run with perseverance" (Hebrews 12:1) .  We are called to believe that God is at work. And recall God's reminder at  Jeremiah 29:11: "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord."   We may not immediately see God's future for us, but God cares about our daily welfare and wants us to have hope. Another well-known verse comes to mind, from  Psalm 23:4: "Even though I walk through th...

When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  Pray then in this way:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.  Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one. - Matthew 6:7-13 Words we all know, with a preamble that tells us why we should know them. Whenever I don't know what to pray, I turn to the Lord's prayer.  It is an old standby, covering everything: praise, promise, providence, forgiveness, salvation. But Jesus gives us even more reason to pray this way, and he is blunt about it.  It is our nature to "heap up empty phrases," to think that the more we say, the more G...

Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them for then you have no reward form your Father in heaven. ...And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others.  Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.  But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. - Matthew 6:1-6 A look at the right time and place for prayer: not in the front of the church or out in public for all to see but in private when you can be alone with God. Right after this passage, Jesus gives us a way to pray, offering us the Lord's Prayer as an example of how to pray.  First, though, he gives us this imperative.  He does not speak here of one way or a better way.  "Whenever you pray," he says, and he says it twice. Get away from the crowds....

Give ear to my words, O Lord; give heed to my sighing.  Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray.  O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch. - Psalm 5:1-3 An appeal to God to listen, a resolve to call out daily and a reminder to be vigilant. First, the appeal: Look at all the auditory words here: give ear to my words, heed my sighing, listen to the sound of my cry, hear my voice and my pleading.  It is comforting to remember the words of 1 John 2:1: "We have an advocate with the Father," but it is just as important to know that we have a voice, and God hears us.  See Psalm 18:6: "In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help.  From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears." Next, the resolve: We should make it a habit to call on the Lord.  Here David speaks of his "morning" routine, but we can easily expand this.  See Da...

Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. - Hebrews 4:16 An invitation to approach the throne of God and find the grace we need.  God's grace is amazing, approachable and available. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound!  Compare the majestic image here with the glory of the opening gospel description of John 1:14: "We have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth."   When we turn to God in prayer, we are invited to see at once the awesomeness of God's glory and the goodness of God's grace. And yet we can approach the throne of grace with boldness.  How daunting it could be to stand before the Almighty God without an invitation.  In the words of a well known Sunday School song, "I am weak but he is strong." But we are invited to boldly approach God in our prayers.  See  2 Corinthians 12:9: "But he said to me, 'My gra...

Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. - Matthew 11:28-30 A two way invitation from Jesus himself: first, to come to him for comfort: rest from weariness, relief from the burdens we carry and ease from all that troubles us; and, second, to learn from his example of gentleness and humility and to let his yoke be our comfort. This is a motion picture of prayer, and it adds a few scenes that we don’t usually think of.  When we are tired of the heavy loads we carry, we can turn to God in prayer, but here we find things turned around: Jesus calling out to us and inviting us to walk to him. And while prayer is often considered a way to ask God for help, here Jesus asks us to participate: to take up his yoke and learn how it lightens the load.  We can certainly find ...

My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.  If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind;  for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord. - James 1:2-6 A prayer circle: endurance strengthens faith and faith endures the storm.  When it seems too much to bear, thank God for endurance, and smile at what grows you up, fills you up and gives you all you need.  When you don’t know what to think, ask God for wisdom, and wait for it with a faith that never doubts and never wavers in the wind. Circular logic n...