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.

Good Morning Everyone,
There is nothing like beginning the day in the Word of God. There is something about reading a passage in the morning that is energizing. It is a great discipline to start. You will find yourself throughout the day remembering the passage you read through in the morning, and ways it will apply to your life. One of my favorite things to do is to read the psalms of the day (Adapted from Dr. Donald Whitney, author of Spiritual Disciplines of the Godly Life). It's simple to find the psalms of the day. What you do is take today's date (24th), add 30 to this number four more times, thus having five numbers. Psalm 24 (+30), 54 (+30), 84, 114, and 144. If the month has a 31st (for example, January 31), then you read Psalm 119 (the big one!). Another good discipline is to pray through the psalm. One of our problems is "not that we pray for things like family, finances, or work, but that we pray the same way about the same old things" (DW). Let the Psalm steer what you pray for. If you can't think of what to pray for, just turn the Psalm into prayer. I will give you an example after we read the Psalm of the day:

Psalm 24
1 The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,
2 for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
5 He will receive blessing from the Lord
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
7 Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle!
9 Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory! Selah

An example prayer would go something like this:
"Lord, the earth and everything in it is yours, you have created everything. Who could enter into your holy presence? You tell us the one who has clean hands and a pure heart (good time to do confessional prayer), who does not connect himself to lies or deceit. From you Lord, I receive blessings and righteous, O God of my salvation..."

You will find as you pray through the Psalm the Holy Spirit will bring to your mind things to pray for.

In the Words of Martin Luther, "As soon as you get out of bed in the morning, you should bless yourself with the sign of the Holy Cross."

There is no greater encouragement, in my opinion, than to hear that someone is praying for you. It exemplifies several things. First, the person praying is thinking about you. It is encouraging to know that at some point in time during this person's day they thought about you. Second, it communicates the person's belief in prayer. It is one thing to have someone pray for you. It is another thing, however, to have someone you know that believes in prayer praying for you. Third, you know that through prayer you are given assurance and support. God knows all things, but He has called us to "call upon the name of the Lord." He hears our request and cares. Therefore, it is essential for members of the body of Cline Avenue Fellowship to raise their voices in private and corporate prayer for your pastor. I know you are now in a transitional time where you are searching for the pastor God has prepared for you. Let me ask you this question: How do you think a pastor will feel when he comes to Cline knowing the people of this great congregation are already in prayer for him? I know it would blow my mind and melt my heart. If you do not know what you should pray for your pastor about, here are a few suggestions. I have taken these from a list assembled by a pastor in Jackson Mississippi, by the name of Ligon Duncan

1. That [your pastor] would know and love the living God, would have a saving interest in Christ, being purchased by His blood, and thus would be bound to the Lord by the indissoluble bond of the Holy Spirit.
2. That [your pastor] would know, embrace and ever more deeply understand the Gospel and be shaped by it in life and ministry.
3. That [your pastor] would be useful servant of the Lord, that he would know and love God's word, God's people, and God's kingdom; that he would be used to build it up and so that it prevails even against Hell's gates.
4. That [your pastor] would study, practice and teach the Word of the Lord, by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
5. That [your pastor] would love to pray, because he loves to commune with his God, and that he would be a man of prayer, characteristically.
6. That [your pastor] would be ever dependent upon and filled with the Spirit; and that he would possess true Spiritual wisdom.
7. That [your pastor] would be holy unto the Lord. That his tongue and heart would be wholly God's.
8. That [your pastor] would be kept from pride, and especially spiritual pride. That the Lord himself would be gracious to slay pride in him, and that your pastor would endeavor to always be putting pride to death, by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
9. That God would give [your pastor] guidance as to where to focus his efforts in ministry.
10. That He would protect [your pastor] from himself, from the enemy of his soul, and from all earthly enemies.
11. That no decision which [your pastor] ever makes or desire that [your pastor] ever pursues would restrict his ability to pour his whole soul into the Gospel ministry.
12.That many would be converted and many built up under [your pastor]'s ministry, to God's glory alone.
13. That the Lord would bless [your pastor]'s wife, [. . . ], with holiness and happiness, Gospel assurance and Gospel rest.
14. That God would make [your pastor] a decent husband and father.
15. That [your pastor] would be a good friend to his wife, and love her self-sacrificially,
16. That [your pastor] would be a good daddy to his children. That they would love God, their parents and the church.
17. That [your pastor] would be a testimony in the home so that his wife might be able to respect him when he is in the pulpit, and so that [your pastor] will be able to feed her soul, along with the rest of the congregation.

Dr. Donald Whitney, one of my professors at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, was lecturing on giving God reasons for our prayers. He pointed out how Psalm 79:9 is a model of the majority of our prayers. "Help us" is usually the phrase we use most in our prayers. It is expressing our need for God because of our human limitations and God's limitless and sovereignty. "Deliver us and forgive our sins" expresses our need for a great Savior because of our great wickedness. It is a call for repentance, your desire for sin to your desire for righteousness. However, there are two phrases that follow each one of these common prayers of ours. The psalmist gives reasons why God should do both of those request. First, he says, "Help us FOR THE GLORY OF YOUR NAME." Do we make this our prayer? Do we even give God a reason to answer our cry for help? The psalmist makes it a point to say, "God I need your help, but not only for my good, but more importantly your glory." Our prayers should give reason for God to answer them. Our concern for God answering our prayers should be more for His glory as opposed to our good. It is too often our prayers are motivated by our selfish gain. "Lord, help me get this job so I can have money to buy all of the things (I really don't need)." Instead we should pray, "God, help me get this job so I may be a light to those whom I work with that are dying without you." I must pause here and make sure we understand what God's glory is. God's glory is his inexhaustible love, righteousness, beauty, holiness, power, kindness, graciousness. It is who God is. We were created for His glory and are called to show His glory to the nations. The second part of Psalm 79:9 says, "...deliver us and forgive our sins for your name's sake." Why does the psalmist ask for God's deliverance and forgiveness? It is for the name sake of God. We want others to see our God is a forgiving and loving God. We call upon God's promise of 1 John 1:9 that "if we confess our sin" the He is "faithful and just to forgive us of ALL unrighteousness." Then we promise our future obedience, which is why John says he wrote the book of 1 John (1 John 2:1). Are you giving God biblical reasons why He should answer your prayers? You should. It is biblical.

To God Be the Glory (1875)

To God be the glory, great things He has done;
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life gate that all may go in.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He has done.


Check out Dr. Whitney's website at:
Biblical Spirituality
There are many helpful articles, as well as much more.