Last time we looked at the personal spiritual disciplines of Scripture reading, memorization, and meditation. Due to length I will only discuss the discipline of prayer in this post.

If prayer is not a major part of your life, then you are not only missing out on a tremendous blessing and revitalization for your soul, but you are living in disobedience against an expectation of Jesus. Notice how many times Jesus says, “When you pray…” in Matthew chapter six. Not only in the Gospels but in many other books of the Bible is it stated clearly that Christians are to be a people of prayer. Martin Luther once said, “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.” If Bible reading is listening to God, praying is the opportunity we have to speak to God. I must stress the fact that the only reason we are able to approach God’s throne with confidence and boldness is because of the meditational presence of Jesus Christ. Among other meanings, at the death of Christ the Temple veil was torn in two. The Temple veil separated people from the place of the Holy of Holies, the earthly dwelling place of God’s presence. Only one man, the High Priest, was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies once per year. Hebrews 10:19-20 tells us that we now only enter into the presence of God only by the Way of Jesus Christ. This is one of the greatest privileges apart from salvation itself. We have the ability to come before the presence of God and to give our praise, share our requests, and supplicate on behalf of others. As one professor of mine described it, “Praying is being face-to-face with the God of the universe.” Oh how greatly we miss this great privilege. How often do we see prayer as a sweet time with the God who loves and saves us? There is not a man I have heard of who believed in the power of prayer as Mr. George Muller. I encourage you to read his biography written by Roger Steer entitled George Muller: Delighted in God. You will read of a man who had faith in prayer and practiced this discipline often. You will also read of the miraculous ways God answered the prayers of Muller. I would like to briefly describe one instance. Muller opened several orphanages in Bristol. At one point he had over 2,000 orphans in his five facilities. One night the cook told Muller that if they fed the children there would be no food left for the morning. Muller told the cook to prepare the food anyways and rely on God’s provision. Muller spent most of the night praying. In the morning, as he arose early there on the doorstep was not only enough food for breakfast, but lunch and dinner as well. I would like to use his sermon outline from Matthew 7:7-8 as practical advice for you and your discipline of prayer.

Third, we must exercise faith in the power and willingness of God to answer our prayers.I had a friend who I was talking to once about an opportunity he had to preach to about forty youth on a Wednesday night. I asked him of the outcome and he said, “Six youth made profession of faith in Jesus Christ.” I looked at him and asked, “You look surprised?” He replied, “I know! I shouldn’t be. I mean I prayed that God would save some and had the faith. I just must have not had complete faith that He would actually do it!”

Fourth, we have to continue patiently waiting on God till the blessing we seek is granted. God will work according to His time and His good pleasure. We should expect God to answer prayers, however, according to however He wills. We often look at prayers unanswered when we do not get the answer we actually want. As long as we pray according to God’s will (in accordance with the promises of Scripture), then we must expect and wait on the Lord to do great things.

1)   Keep a journal. If you are like me, you forget what to pray for when people ask you to on their behalf. There may be pressing issues you remember, but others you forget. Along with this: IF YOU TELL SOMEONE YOU ARE PRAYING FOR THEM, ACTUALLY BE PRAYING FOR THEM. This may be one of the biggest lies Christians say often.

2)   Let Scripture teach you to pray. I have had many people come to me and say, “I just don’t know how to pray.” I can tell you that you can watch other people pray. You can read books on prayer. But there is no better way of learning to pray than to practice it (in accordance to Scripture). One a common error we make is referring to Matthew 6:9-13 as “The Lord’s Prayer.” There is no need for Jesus to pray for forgiveness because he is sinless. Rather, we should call it “Our Model Prayer as Taught by the Lord.” There are certain things we learn from this passage. First, the priority in prayer is our request to God that His name be “hallowed,” or regarded as holy by ALL. Second, we pray in accordance to the will of God as described in the Scriptures. Third, we pray for the provision of all things by God, in which we no longer are anxious about the things we need in this life (see later in this chapter starting in v. 25). Fourth, we pray in confession of our sins. Finally, we pray for God’s deliverance prior to temptation. We usually do not pray for this until after we have given into temptation. Now I am not against using the acrostic model A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication). However, sometimes the best prayer is one of only adoration, or confession, or supplication, or thanksgiving. This is a helpful model, but a terrible master. Do not feel governed by this model, but allow the model Jesus provided for you to govern your prayers.

3)   Let Scripture guide your prayers. People usually pray, as my professor puts it, “the same old way about the same old things.” And what is the result of this? Boredom. People get bored praying. Here is my advice with this matter. If you do not know what to pray, then pick a Psalm and pray word-for-word that psalm. I guarantee the more often you let Scripture guide your prayers, the more you will be reminded of things to pray for. For instance, you may be praying through Psalm 3 and you then think of a specific way you are being threatened to doubt. Also, do not feel you must only pray through the Psalms but you can pray through other books of the Bible as well. A beautiful prayer is Paul’s doxology in Ephesians 3.

4)   Pray continually throughout the day. A good way to start the day is Bible reading accompanied by prayer. It can seriously change the course of your whole day. I was talking with my wife the other day about how her day at work went. I knew she was babysitting for a child she has had trouble with. She told me, “You know I was praying in the car before I got to their house that the Lord would help me to love this child despite the difficulty he can be. It totally changed my whole day. We had a great time together.” I was so encouraged to hear God’s amazing work and grace in her life. Here is a big tip: Do not pray right before you go to sleep if you normally fall asleep during your prayers. I know some people have advised this as a great way to end the day, but the only time I read of Jesus praying at night is when he literally prays all night. If the Lord leads you to spend a sleepless night in prayer, He will give you the strength.