Prevailing prayer

There was a great revival in the Hebrides Islands in the North of Scotland in the mid-twentieth century, the effects of which are said to still be evident. This revival has been linked to the earnest prayer of two sisters named Miss Smith and of a group of seven young men in a church. The latter group covenanted to meet three nights a week in a barn to pray for revival. They committed themselves to pray in keeping with Isaiah 62:6, 7 (NIV): “I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.” They believed God had a plan for their islands, and they decided to storm the gates of Heaven—to give God no rest—until that plan was realized. One day as they prayed one of them led them in an act of confession and consecration. Heaven broke loose, and the revival that began with that small group spread to the whole island and then to many of the other islands.

Fernando, Ajith (2012-05-15). Deuteronomy: Loving Obedience to a Loving God (Preaching the Word) (p. 331)

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How should we pray for an abortion doctor?

Here are two biblical requests to pray for men like Kermit Gosnell: pray for justice and pray for mercy.  Stephen elaborates here.

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Failings, weaknesses, and our prayers

The saints’ failings and infirmities can never make void those gracious promises by which God stands engaged to hearken to the prayers of his people, Psalm 50:15; Isa 30:19, and Isa 65:24. God’s hearing of our prayers does not depend upon sanctification—but upon Christ’s intercession; not upon what we are in ourselves—but upon what we are in the Lord Jesus; both our persons and our prayers are acceptable in the beloved, Eph 1:6; 1 Pet 2:5. When God hears our prayers, it is neither for our own sakes nor yet for our prayers’ sake—but it is for his own sake, and his Son’s sake, and his glory’s sake, and his promise’s sake, etc.

~Thomas Brooks

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How should I pray for others?

How about using the template Jesus provides in the “Disciples’ [or as commonly known The Lord's] Prayer.  Or how about praying like Paul prayed for others? Did you know you could listen in on the Apostle Paul’s prayers centuries later? Here are a few of them compiled by Terry Enns:

• Romans 1:8-12
• Romans 10:1
• Romans 15:5-6
• Romans 15:13
• 1 Corinthians 1:4-9
• 1 Corinthians 16:23
• 2 Corinthians 1:3-7
• 2 Corinthians 2:14-16
• 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
• Galatians 6:18
• Ephesians 1:15-23
• Ephesians 3:14-21
• Ephesians 6:19-20
• Philippians 1:3-6
• Philippians 1:9-11
• Philippians 4:23
• Colossians 1:9-14
• Colossians 4:2-4
• 1 Thessalonians 1:2-4
• 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16
• 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
• 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
• 1 Thessalonians 5:28
• 2 Thessalonians 1:3-12
• 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
• 2 Thessalonians 3:2-5
• 2 Thessalonians 3:16
• 1 Timothy 1:12
• 1 Timothy 2:1-4
• 2 Timothy 1:3-7
• 2 Timothy 1:16-18
• 2 Timothy 4:22
• Titus 3:15
• Philemon 4-7
• Philemon 25

Terry encourages us to keep this list of prayers handy and add to them as you come across biblical prayers in other places by other Biblical authors as well.

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The golden key

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Prayer is. . .

“Prayer is an earnest and familiar talking with God, to whom we declare our miseries, whose support and help we implore and desire in our adversities, and whom we laud and praise for our benefits received.”

- John Knox, Treatise on Prayer

“Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God hath promised, or according to the Word, for the good of the church, with submission, in faith, to the will of God.”

- John Bunyan, A Discourse Touching Prayer

“Prayer is a venting of our desires to God…”

- Richard Sibbes, Divine Contemplations, 163

“Prayer is the solemn and religious offering up of devout acknowledgments and desires to God, or a sincere representation of holy affections, with a design to give unto God the glory due unto his Name thereby, and to obtain from him promised favours, and both through the Mediator.”

- Matthew Henry, A Method for Prayer

“Prayer is the breath of the new creature.”

- Richard Baxter, Practical Works, Vol 1

HT: Joe Thorn

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Sharing more biblically oriented prayer requests

David Powlison has some very wise words here:

The Bible’s prayers are rarely about health, travel mercies, finances, doing well on a test, finding a job, or the salvation of unsaved relatives. Of course, these are legitimate things to pray for, but they are a minor emphasis in Scripture. Even so, these topics typically dominate most church and small group prayer requests. They easily miss the real action of God’s dealings with his beloved people.

In contrast, the driving focus of biblical prayer asks God to show himself, asks that we will know him, asks that we will love others. It names our troubles. It names our troublesome reactions and temptations. It names our holy desires. It names our God, his promises, and his will. When someone asks you, “How may I pray for you?,” imagine the impact of responding in a manner such as this: “I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, and have been inattentive and irritable to those nearest and dearest to me. Please pray for me, that I will awaken and turn from my preoccupation with work pressures, recreations, health problems, or money. God promises to help me pay attention to him. Ask him to help me remember and focus. Ask him to help me to take my family and other people to heart. Pray that I will take refuge in him when the pressure is on. The Lord is my refuge, but I’ve been taking refuge in TV and food.” This kind of prayer gets things that matter on the table—things that matter both immediately and eternally. It so happens that these are the daily versions of the issues that serious counseling deals with.

How can you help people change the way they make prayer requests? First and foremost, model what it’s like to be in touch with where you really need God’s mercies, strength, and wisdom. Second, help God’s people to study what the Bible shows and tells about prayer. Learning to pray is not mainly about how often we pray, or the techniques and elements that go into prayer. It is about how to need the right things, and how look in the right direction for what you need. What is the Lord’s Prayer asking for?  What are the Psalms asking for? What about God comes into view in the Lord’s Prayer and the Psalms? This is what we ought to be asking for from others, and how we ought to be praying for each other. The focus is on what people really need—not just the external blessings we crave.

Read the whole article here.

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What prayer is to the Christian

“Prayer is the soul’s breathing.  What breathing is to the body, praying is the soul.  We absolutely cannot survive without it.”-Thomas Watson

“{Prayer is} the soul of faith.  Just as the body dies when the soul leaves, even so faith itself dies when prayer is gone.”–John Calvin

“Prayer is the protection of holy souls, the preserver of spiritual health.  It is the column of all virtues; a ladder to God and the foundation of faith.”-Augustine

“As it is the business of tailors to make clothes and of cobblers to mend shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray.”-Martin Luther

“{Prayer is} the chief exercise of faith by which we daily receive God’s benefits.”- John Calvin

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Three simple prayer requests for missionaries

Pray on their behalf for

1. Gospel Opportunities and advancement
2. Protection and deliverance
3. Personal holiness and refreshment

More here by Dave Prickett at Cripplegate

 

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Approach, my soul, the mercy seat!

Approach, my soul, the mercy seat,
Where Jesus answers prayer;
There humbly fall before His feet,
For none can perish there.

Thy promise is my only plea,
With this I venture nigh;
Thou callest burdened souls to Thee,
And such, O Lord, am I.

Bowed down beneath a load of sin,
By Satan sorely pressed,
By war without and fears within,
I come to Thee for rest.

Be Thou my Shield and hiding Place,
That, sheltered by Thy side,
I may my fierce accuser face,
And tell him Thou hast died!

O wondrous love! to bleed and die,
To bear the cross and shame,
That guilty sinners, such as I,
Might plead Thy gracious Name.

“Poor tempest-tossèd soul, be still;
My promised grace receive”;
’Tis Jesus speaks—I must, I will,
I can, I do believe.

— John Newton “Approach, My Soul, The Mercy Seat”

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