Tag Archives: prayer

Pray Always and Often!

What was the last prayer God answered for you? Do you remember? Are you listening for His voice during and after your prayers?

He hears us when we pray. He knows His plan for us but He wants us to talk with Him about it and listen for/to His answer. (1 John 5:14) He listens carefully when we call. (Jeremiah 29:12)

We are to pray fervently and often. Set aside a specific place and time to spend in prayer. (Matthew 6:6) Put it on your calendar. Tell anyone who is near not to bother you. Take Your Bible and pray back what you are reading. Intercede for all who need praises or problems taken to God.

Our words are very important to God. If we don’t know what to say or how to say it, He still hears us. Paul, in Romans 8:26, tells us the Spirit will help us. He, the Spirit in us, takes our prayers to the Throne with ‘wordless groans’. Jesus told the disciples to be careful and thoughtful with their words. Not to just babble on and on but to focus on what they are saying and asking. (Matthew 6:7-8) Then He gave them an example of how to pray:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name,
 Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
 Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.

Matthew 6:9-13

Friends, keep praying. It matters now, perhaps more than ever. Take every thought, plan, idea, problem, desire… to God. He wants to hear you. He wants you to hear Him!

Abba, Father, hear our prayer! You know all we need before we even ask. Guide, direct, provide, and protect us now and in the days ahead.

Click on the picture to hear Babbie Mason sing about prayer.

Never Alone

We live in a world of more than 8 billion people (7.87 billion in 2021). With that many people, why is it so common to feel alone at times?

God creates loneliness in us so we will seek Him. When we do this He gives us wisdom and understanding. (Proverbs 4:5) When we are troubled, stressed, and just plain tired He gives us strength. (1 Chronicles 16:11)

Merriam-Webster defines this feeling as being without company/cut off from others. In Hebrew, it can also mean solitude and desert.

Yet, this (God) was something Jesus sought often. In nine different passages of the Gospels, He goes to a solitary place to seek God. (I’m sure there were more!) Why? Because He needed to set apart alone time, to be away from other people and distractions, to seek His Father’s will. (Luke 9:18)

We are rewarded when we diligently seek God. (Hebrews 11:6) When we spend set apart time with Him what we ask we will receive, what we seek we will find, when we knock He will open the door. (Matthew 7:7-8)

Abba, Father, help us recognize that our feelings of aloneness are invitations from You to talk. Open our hearts to Your welcoming voice. Comfort us and give us the peace that comes from being in Your Presence.

Ask For Prayer

Never be ashamed or hesitant to ask another Christian to pray for you!

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16

Paul was a firm believer in the power of prayer for one another. In seven of his letters, he requested prayer from fellow believers. In Romans 15:30-32 he asked the church to join in his struggle and pray for protection from those who persecuted him. To the church at Ephesus, (Eph. 6:18-19) he asked them to pray that he would be given the right words to share so others would understand the Word. He asks other Believers to pray – for deliverance (Phil. 1:19), for open doors to share the Word (Col. 4:3), without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17), that God’s Word will be honored ( 2 Thess. 3:1), for safe travels (Philemon 22).

There are 650 prayers mentioned in the Bible and 450 recorded answers! That tells me that prayer is important to God. He wants us to talk to Him about every part of our lives. That includes all our joys, sorrows, successes, problems, people, requests, EVERYTHING!!!

Set aside a specific time to pray and do it every day. It will eventually become a habit and the day won’t be right without it.

Find 2 or 3 friends who will pray for and with you. Ask God who He wants to be your prayer partners. Build the kind of strong, trusting relationships where you can feel safe, be totally honest, and completely comfortable in your requests.

Abba, Father, hear our prayers, incline Your ear, and grant us Your peace. (Psalm 17:6)

Every Day Matters

What are you doing today?

How do you spend your days? Is every moment busy with a to-do list that is stress-producing and overwhelming? Do you know we are being held accountable for every minute we’ve been given on this earth?

 Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Ephesians 5:15-17

We have no idea what tomorrow will bring. Asking God to show us how to live each day filled with wisdom and not foolishness should be part of our prayers every day.

Abba, Father, grow us and show us the purpose You have for our lives. Help us live each moment with Your Word as our guide.

Sufficient Grace

What is grace?

The very best way to answer this question is to search the Word. In doing that I found there is more to grace than the standard answer of ‘undeserved favor’.

Paul, the Apostle of Grace, uses the word 86 of the 131 times it’s used in the ESV of the Bible. It is used more than the word forgiveness. (109 times in the ESV.) To me that says it’s really an important concept.

As for underserved favor, it is certainly that. It is basically a free gift, from God, that we did nothing to deserve. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:15 NLT

There is another part of grace that we don’t always think about. Grace is God’s power to change our ability to live an obedient life. Paul explains it really well in 2 Corinthians 9:8 – And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. This aspect of grace is not only about treating people better than they deserve (Yes, we’re supposed to do that, too.). It’s about the ability to accept practical help, from God, when we need it, to use for the purpose He has for our lives.

Think about His love, think about His goodness, think about His grace, that’s brought us through. (Click on the blue letters to link to Don Moen’s beautiful song.)

Abba, Merciful, Wonderful Savior, thank You for the gift of grace. Show us where You want us to do the work You have planned for us. Send us out to share Your undeserved favor.