Psalm 17:6-7
6I call on you, O God, for you will answer me;
give ear to me and hear my prayer.7Show the wonder of your great love,
you who save by your right hand
those who take refuge in you from their foes.
Proverbs 15:29
29The LORD is far from the wicked
but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
Matthew:18:19-20
19“Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”
John 14:12-14
12“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
Romans 12:12
12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
2 Corinthians 1:8-11
8We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
Philippians 4:6
6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Colossians 4:2
2Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
James 5:13-16
13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
1 John 5:14-15
14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him.
I’ll admit… I struggle with prayer. I can’t fully explain why… part of it is that I know God is omniscient… part of it that He’s omnipresent… yet more because He’s sovereign over everything. He knows everything I need, provides for me in accordance to His will… He knows my thoughts before I think them… my prayers before I offer them.
It seems so… well… I hate to admit… pointless sometimes.
Yet in light of Scripture (such as the above)… it’s clear that God expects prayer. Regular prayer. Powerful prayer. Righteous prayer. Fervent prayer. Even prayer that feels pointless to the one offering it.
Yet, to those who offer their prayers with complete faith and trust, somehow He hears us and responds… sometimes even answering as we plead.
I just don’t get it.
Does anyone?
John,
Amazingly I found your blog through Google and I must say, it has truly been a blessing. I’ve read some of your past blogs and you have really spoken to me. I’m going through many struggles in my life right now with relationships and financial hardship.
Your words, your insight, and God’s Word has given me a sense of peace and calmness that everything will be okay. Especially the vines in the storm blog you posted before really touched me.
I will definitely be checking back in and reading some of your other blogs! Thank you soo much and may God continue to work in you and your family’s lives. :]
Anthony,
I’m glad some of the things I’ve shared on this site have been a blessing to you. Responses like yours make the time and effort I’ve put into this site all the more worthwhile.
I’ll lift you up in prayer tonight.
God bless,
John
John, check out Daniel 9-10 and read it slowly, looking at all the implications, asking God about prayer and the power of prayer. I definitely don’t get it, but I have faith. Isn’t that what faith is anyway? Taking something that we don’t understand but believing that what God says about it is true nonetheless and acting thereupon??
If you haven’t, read Too Busy Not To Pray. Or, just read Luke and look for times whne Jesus prayed and think upon the fact that Jesus prayed. God… incarnate… the One and Only… yet, He prayed.
Fantastic post btw. Thank you for your transparency. I have in the past been a horrific prayer, but I am learning. And it is so good.
Oh, if you didn’t see it, here was a similar post of mine recently: http://charisshalom.fjministries.com/2007/10/28/do-we-believe-in-prayer/
Thanks, Bryan. Faith and obedience is what this seems to boil down to, at least with me. I don’t know that I lack the former all that often (even though I sometimes live as if I do), but the latter is definitely a struggle of mine.
Anyway, I’ve actually been planning a series of posts on this subject, but haven’t gotten back to it since last Friday when I started part 2. Life gets in the way of blogging sometimes… certainly not a bad thing.
I’ll add Daniel 9-10 to my list of Scriptures to check out, and may even include it as part of the series. Hopefully I’ll get back to that very soon.
[…] see, it’s been three weeks now since I last spent some time on this site pondering prayer. Isn’t it interesting how important Biblical topics and studies always seem to get pushed […]
[…] second of the Scripture passages I posted originally comes from Proverbs 15:29. Proverbs 15:29 29The LORD is far from the wicked […]