Devotionals on Prayer

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• God-given vision makes men of prayer.
• It requires vision to get prayer on to the major lines and to make it real travail.
• What a bound and range those prophets had in prayer!

• The Bible indicates that they were all men of prayer; men of praise; men of faith. Above all, it shows they were men who waited on God, and waited His timing.

• Pray and Praise For you tarnish your life with much fretting. You spoil your walk with much worry. Fretting and worry crush the treasures that the Lord has to offer, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, confess your faults and your needs, and His peace that surpasses understanding will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.

• Glorious Purpose Unity of the saints is a foundational creed emanating from Christ’s priestly prayer:- that they may be one as We are One, I in them and You in Me— so that they may be brought to complete unity.

• Prayer Warrior Habakkuk’s writings demonstrate him to be a deeply burdened man.
• Habakkuk also demonstrated himself to be a great prayer warrior.
• Let us not fall to the enemy’s deceptive ploy of deep discouragement, but let us like Habakkuk become true prayer warriors – joining our intercessions with the prayers of the just of all the ages – who in the midst of great difficulties and mountainous trials, lived by faith in the Son of God.
• Prayer of Habakkuk Let us become like Habakkuk, an “Embracer of Burdens” – for right in the very middle of the most testing time when it seemed totally lost – in faith, Habakkuk sang his amazing sacrifice of praise: although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls...  Hab.3:17-19
• Prayer of Believers Although all around me is crumbling and dying, and though the economy crashes..

• Their prayer had been that their visit would tell forth the gospel of Christ, and now Rachel and Brian were apart..
• A Mother’s Prayer Rachel’s prayer as she waited during that testing time..

• Prayer is the fellowship of an intimate, living union; as with all of the Christian life, it must be carried on in dependence upon the Holy Spirit.

• Job was a man who understood the power of continual prayer and praise.  And yet despite his ongoing, piteous pleadings for answers and vindication, yet the heavens remained closed.

• It is not just life; acceptance; redemption and righteousness that are in Him, but the creation; our hope; spiritual blessings; consolation… and consummation – and Peace and Effectual Prayer and Strength and Riches are all “In Christ”.

• STUDY in PRAYER For we know not what we should pray for as we ought… but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”Romans 8:26
• Gift of Grace Prayer is a gift of God’s wonderful grace to His children, which is open access to Him. Access to the throne of God is a free gift of grace to all who trust in Jesus Christ.
• Effective Potent Prayer Effective, potent prayer requires us to be in right relationship with God. We are to be in fellowship with Christ and have confessed our wrongdoings.
• And Paul instructs us in Ephesians 6 verse 18 that we need to be… Praying – Always – with All-Prayer – and Supplication – in the Spirit
• PRAYING Prayer must have a definite aim, which is in unity with the purpose of God.
• ALWAYS Prayer must be in every season and in all sessions of lives. Prayer should be engaged in at every opportunity we meet. Praying should in union with the Spirit of God – as we lay aside self issues.
• with “ALL-PRAYER” All-Prayer is the devoted pray of all saints, ordained by God to effect His full plan.
• God has an eternal plan and  ”All-prayer” is directed towards its final accomplishment – and All-Prayer is ultimately to be for the glory of God in the ages to come.
• God has graciously enabled us to participate in His purpose through – “All-Prayer”.
• God has sought willing vessels thru the ages who would cooperate with His Spirit – vessels thru whom  ”All-prayer” is offered – for the fulfilment of His perfect plan.
• Daniel’s Example Daniel was an example who pleaded with God in prayer and supplications:- we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies Dan.9: Intense Supplications came from the heart of Daniel as he pleaded for his nation:-HEAR….
• IN THE SPIRIT No prayer can be answered – unless it is offered in the spirit and in truth. God graciously works His mighty plans to include our pleas and petitions,  that we might be participants in bringing His plans and purposes to fruition. He made us participating partners in the plans He formed – before the world began.
• One Great Saint In the words of one great saint of God, he explains “in the spirit”  like this:- It is through God’s dealings and God’s merciful grace that He combines our chastening and our prayer with His dealings in our human spirit, which is progressively and increasingly becoming more and more in union with the Holy Spirit and which is strengthened by the Holy Spirit, as He, (ie the Holy Spirit), utters through us – that which is according to the will of God – for we know not what we should pray for as we ought… but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans.8:26
• Ordained by God “All-prayer”, in a wonderful way to be linked with the eternal plan of the ages.  ”All-prayer” is ordained by God – and we are trusted-participants in His plan.
• All-prayer is taken by the Holy Spirit and translated into the purposes of God – and we are to be those willing vessels through whom All-Prayer is offered.

• the promise of a relationship with Him through faith and prayer and worship.
• I could talk to Him about anything in prayer and cast my cares upon Him.
• What a friend we have in Jesus ALL our sins and griefs’ to bear What a privilege to carry EVERYTHING to God in prayer
• Oh what peace we often forfeit Oh what needless pain we bear All because we do not carryEVERYTHING to God in prayer

• Be Ready So how do we fulfil the continuous watch and unceasing prayer demanded here?

• In the prayer He prayed just before Calvary, Christ prayed to the Father, The glory You gave Me I have given them… that they may be one just as We are one.

• Thus the law of an effective and life, service, and prayer is a oneness with Him – a oneness with Jesus - a oneness with Christ, that we only do, but surely do what He does.

• If this was Christ’s prayer to the Father, should this be our earnest prayer as well?
• Body of Christ There is much in the body of Christ that falls far short of Christ’s prayer.

• His faith is not so strong and unwavering as he imagined; the ardor of his love soon vanishes; the power of sin, which at first he fancied was utterly broken, makes itself felt again, prayer becomes languid, and joy seems to have taken flight.

• Striving in intercession is often misinterpreted as striving against God and struggling in prayer – is often seen as forcing God to act or move on our behalf, but battling with an angry God to extract a blessing is not a scriptural concept.
• God’s Word would be discredited, should intercessory prayer be thus regarded.
• Old and New Our strivings in prayer are not against God but against our own sinful flesh.

• We are never going to be able to stand before our Father in prayer and fellowship because we are fit in ourselves.

• We have almost assumed the whole responsibility for our spiritual life, and made it as though it depended upon our labors in prayer, our labors in the Word of God, our labors in the Lord service, our effort, our stress.
• No one will think that we have made little of prayer or the Word.
• And then you go out and talk to other people about your prayer life as a kind of setting up against their own.

• STUDY in PRAYER Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.Colossians 4:2
• Acceptable Prayer Prayer is designed to accomplish God’s ends and God’s way in God’s time. Acceptable prayer can only be prayed in and through the Spirit of the almighty God – and this verse in Colossians mentions three important aspects of prayer: Devote yourselves to prayer –  keeping alert in it – with an attitude of thanksgiving.
• Commanding Verse A few simple words outline the high office and honour bestowed on all believers: CONTINUE in prayer – and WATCH in the same – with THANKSGIVING.
• This commanding verse directs us to continue in prayer – to persevere.
• This instructive scripture charges us to devote ourselves to prayer – unceasingly.
• Watch in Prayer This powerful verse also instructs us to watch in our unceasing persevering prayer.
• How vital is this – in spiritual warfare, intercessions, and supplicating prayer.
• We are to recognise the full purpose behind needful, ongoing, worshipful prayer.
• 3 Aspects of Prayer 1) Continue in Prayer2) Watch in the Same3) With Thanksgiving
• Moule’s Advice In Moule’s extended studies of these instructive verses in Colossians 2 he writes:- When you are at prayer, remember that prayer in the depth of its meaning..
• Prayer is indeed a rest and joy, but prayer is also a duty, a work, a ministry, and so it calls for purpose and PERSISTENCE.
• Watching in prayer is keeping wakeful ‘in’ the strength of the holy exercise of prayer against sin and for God – but in THANKSGIVING: Letting the spirit and action of gratitude, (as it were)…surround your watching and praying lives.
• Thankful Prayer The Lord Himself is that first and ultimate expression of watchful prayer with thanks.
• I believe in ALL prayer and communion with God, whether supplication or intercession, thankfulness is often the one main missing ingredient – gratitude is the missing component which perfumes the entire task.
• Attitude of Prayer Let us with the apostles and saints alike give ourselves to fasting and prayer.
• Continuing with one accord in prayer.
• Giving ourselves continually to prayer.
• Helping together by prayer – prayer, made without ceasing.

• If you are praying for full and final deliverance from adversity and suffering and difficulty and all that sort of thing, let me tell you your prayer will never be answered.

• as I hear of God ‘hiding His face‘ and prayer being offered to a ‘closed heaven..’ prayers that have been pleaded for years, sometimes decades!

• Prayer to God must come from God.
• There can be no prayer in the full assurance of faith apart from the known will of God in the matter.
• Personally, I feel the need of trusting Him to lead me in prayer as well as in other matters.
• I find it well to preface prayer not only by meditation but by the definite request that I may be directed into the channels of prayer to which the Holy Spirit is beckoning me (Rom. 8:26, 27). -J.O.F.

• Prayer and devotion; Bible reading and preaching; alms-giving and obedience are all good – all are good, but any one can become an impediment if we see it as a means to an end.
• Self- Surrender Study and prayer mean nothing if we use them as our means of sanctification.

• Sometimes it is simply quietly sitting still, in prayer.

• You had not meant that, of course: you wanted the Lord to do the thing there and then as a gift, as an act; but that would have been merely objective, something given, whereas He wants to make it a part of yourself, and so He answers prayer by some experience.

• He came from His home in heaven, knowing that cruel crucifixion awaited Him. How staggering that His prayer was uttered as the nails were driven into His flesh: Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.

• STUDY in PRAYER If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.1 John 1:7

• Writings of Ezekiel The glory of Solomon’s Temple was proclaimed by his great dedication prayer.

• People may receive blessings' and temporary deliverances' in answer to prayer, for God is merciful to His children and His Holy Spirit refreshes and blesses us even apart from the real walk of faith.

• Prayer of Forgiveness How true is the scripture that tells us that love covers a multitude of sins.
• Little did the martyred Stephen, as he received those vicious attacks from his aggressors, know how far his prayer of forgiveness would stretch. Little did he realise that his forgiving prayer, which echoed the One on the Cross would cover the man Saul, who stood in agreement to his murder.
• Little did Stephen realise that his prayer of forgiveness would cover the man who became the apostle to the gentiles and wrote... The greatest of all is love 1Cor.13:13

• (Study In God - All I Need-20) Don’t be anxious about anything; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God….

• What a Friend we have in Jesus What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
• Is there trouble anywhere?We should never be discouraged, take it to the Lord in prayer.Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.
• Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?Precious Saviour, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.Do your friends despise, forsake you?
• Take it to the Lord in prayer!In His arms He’ll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.
• Blessed Saviour, Thou hast promised – Thou wilt all our burdens bear,May we ever, Lord, be bringing  all to Thee in earnest prayer.Soon in glory bright unclouded there will be no need for prayerRapture, praise and endless worship will be our sweet portion there.

• Prayers too often can become dry and meaningless, when we treat prayer as a ritualistic activity, but God is with us every moment of the day and He is there to be our Helper in every aspect of our praying.
• Our great Helper in prayer is the Lord Jesus Christ, our Advocate with the Father, our Great High Priest, whose chief ministry for us these centuries has been intercession and prayer.
• Are you fainting in prayer?
• Unchangeable God The Holy Spirit has always much to do with acceptable prayer – and His work in prayer is too much neglected.
• Prayer is such a wonderful thing for in every acceptable prayer the Father, the Son, and the Spirit together are glorified – for the whole Trinity is concerned.

• Precious Commodity Joy is a most precious commodity, which can be retained by prayer and praise.

• Link With Love But what is the purpose of your desire and prayer for wisdom?

• These 7 Scriptures are the dear desire of her heart for her two young, precious children. This is the prayer that all parents would be wise to claim and pray over their own dear ones.

• Multiplied Grief Habakkuk’s writings demonstrate him to be a deeply burdened man, and he was also a great prayer warrior – and for three chapters his colloquy displays mutual and intimate intercourse with God. Habakkuk and God carried on a reciprocal Spirit to spirit, Soul to soul communion.
• Let us not fall to the enemy’s deceptive ploy of deep discouragement – but let us like Habakkuk become true prayer warriors, joining our intercessions with the prayers of the just of all ages, who in the midst of great difficulties and mountainous trials lived by faith in the Son of God

• Continuing steadfastly in prayer..

• His life work and His life prayer and His whole life-focus and joy was to do the Father’s will: not as I will but as Thou wilt.

• STUDY in PRAYER Forever, O LORD, your Word is firmly fixed in the heavens.Psalm 119:89
• When the arms of Moses wearied, Joshua and Hur supported him in his prayer. Moses’ arm of intercession was held up by two men of prayer – and God heard.
• And God in His grace is permitting us to participate in His plan – through prayer.
• All-Prayer Like Moses, we too can become faint and weary, discouraged or disillusioned, and as in the time of Amalek, the enemy watches for any weak link in our armour.
• We can use “all-prayer” with thanksgiving – against the enemy’s onslaught.
• We too can hold up each other's hands in prayer – in this battle to the death.
• Like Moses, Esther, and others – let us take up the gauntlet at such a time as this, Let us lift up the arm of prayer – for our the Lord our God is mighty to save.

• Every word and deed, every prayer and praise was in submission to the Spirit of truth.

• Prayer and intercession; praise and chastening are all pivotal cogs in this story.
• His ears are open to their prayer – but the face of the Lord is against them (that is believers)… but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 1 Peter 3:12  This is not evil in the worldly sense – but relates to anything that is not of Christ.
• It is the prayers of the righteous – the bond-slaves of the Lord that He hears, for His ears are open to their prayer - the prayers of His servants.

• God’s Grace We think more bible-reading, prayer, financial giving or good works will gain us blessings, but somehow it seems to conflict with all that we understand about God’s grace.

• For we are cautioned to be ready at all times in an attitude of unceasing prayer.

•   Picture of nature scene courtesy of Larisa A Full Study Of JOB Prayer Link Throughout his gruelling ordeal and many searching questions, Job kept his faith.
• Throughout his whole experience, Job maintained a prayer link with heaven.
• God trusted this man of prayer, who needed to die to self and be raised to the new life.

• Christian Walk From his early 'Christian' walk, Job’s relationship develops with God through prayer.
• Spiritual Man Job presents as a spiritual man, who in this world has deep tribulation and distress - an intercessor at the start, and a prayer-warrior at the end of his spiritual walk.

• a lasting prayer ministry that cries: Thy Will Be Done on earth as in heaven… until God’s Way is completed and Christ is ALL in ALL.

• Our constant prayer to the Father should be – Keep me hungry for You.

• Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of Thy servantDaniel 9:17
• Man’s Simple Plea Ahh but man takes each call, each prayer, each request as an individual plea, Father help me in this straight away”, and “Lord I need your comfort in that, now.” Man separates each prayer and petition as one single application.
• God does answer prayer.
• and not one prayer you’ve uttered will return to you unanswered – but will be answered in His way, and His time – and to fulfil His best purpose for your best purpose.

• Father in Heaven This was His final, intensely personal prayer to the Father in heaven.

• Many seek to be heavenly by prayer, reading the Word, devotedness, but the only pathway to it is to be brought by the Holy Spirit to realize union with our risen Lord.

• Our prayer life has got to be on a heavenly basis.
• The Lord would have prayer touching things heavenly, things spiritual, related to that which is not of time, but of eternity; not of this world, but in relation to His eternal, heavenly intentions.
• But supposing the Lord would lift us into something altogether new through sorrow, are we then going to pray that prayer?
• No, our prayer must be: Today, Lord, I want that which is of greatest account in relation to spiritual values and if that must be by way of trial and adversity, I do not pray to be delivered from it.
• I say, Lord, there is power to carry me through, and by prayer I come into touch with that power to carry me through the trials of every day in relation to the meaning of the trial.
• ur citizenship is in heaven.Now the life of the believer is to be, therefore, one with heavenly interests always in view, and our prayer life is in relation to those interests.

• Huegel declares: “When a Christian’s prayer life springs from a right position (a thorough adjustment to Christ in His death and resurrection), a vast change in procedure follows: Much of our begging fails to register in heaven because it fails to spring from right relations with the Father in union with Christ in death and resurrection: in which position one simply appropriates what is already his.

• This is Christ’s prayer for all that are His:- that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

• So in everything by prayer and supplication..with thanksgiving – praise Him – and trust Him – and take heart.

• But there are also idle days, days of apparent uselessness, when even prayer and service seem a burden.

• Spiritual Parable I once heard a beautiful story of three women in prayer..
• ot a true story of course, but a story with a lovely thought behind it:- Each woman knelt in worshipful prayer before the throne of grace..
• He then passed the third woman in prayer – with hardly a sidewards glance.
• Why so different an approach with these three women in prayer?
• Third Woman The third woman in prayer whom I seemed not to notice – even neglect..

• And His high priestly prayer for His disciples continued: I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me, through their word.” John 17:20

• Surely this prayer of all prayers was offered to the Father..
• High-Priestly Prayer His desire was not to receive for Himself – His sublime prayer prays for others.
• His majestic, magnificent, glorious prayer was for you and for me.

• Slipping Standards How quickly the awe and wonder of the three Persons of the Trinity, Who demand the deep reverence of bowed worship and hushed prayer - where sinners and saints alike tremble in His glorious presence... how quickly the awe and wonder has been replaced with chattering clamour and musical merriment!!

• Struggling in prayer is often seen as forcing God to act or move on our behalf, but battling with an angry God, to extract a blessing is not a scriptural concept.
• God’s Word would be discredited, should intercessory prayer be thus regarded, but God will not reward the old man, the old sinful nature.
• Man’s Strivings Our strivings in prayer are not against God but against our own sinful flesh.

• But the repeated entreaties connected with the prayer of importunity are far removed from an insisting on one's own way.
• Christ-Centred God wants men and women of prayer and faith, to seek more of Him.
• Prevailing Prayer “I will not let you go unless you bless me,” he said, but God wrestled with Jacob much more than Jacob wrestled with Him.
• Discouragement sets in and the wrestling prayer of entreaty, fails to persist..

• We have the Spirit of supplication and intercession: pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercessions for all the saints.

• A Full Study Of JOB Trust In God From our introduction to Job, we see him as a man of faith – a man of prayer.

• STUDY in PRAYER God wanted to make known among the gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.Colossians 1:27
• Effective Intercession There are many qualities that an intercessor needs to be an effective prayer warrior. Perhaps the most important is a believer’s attitude towards his Captain and Lord –  combined with a totally revised view of his own self and importance in this battle.
• Desperate Prayer Did you catch the reason why – why we preach and proclaim Christ?
• And Paul continues in his deep and desperate prayer for the Church:- 'for this I labour unto weariness, striving with all the superhuman energy which Christ so mightily enkindles and works within me.' Col.1:29 – as He will for all believers.
• Presented to God Paul interceded in prayer for others..
• Wrestle in Prayer Should we not equally, as part of His body seek to do the same – in Christ? Should we not like Paul wrestle in prayer for other believers to be perfected In Him?

• This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,o that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ. (Philippians 1:9,10 NIV)

•  In everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made know unto GodPhilippians 4:6
• Man of Prayer Paul was a great example of a man that prayed to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• faithful and diligent to keep on and on praying for all God’s people and His many ministers, for prayer is a most powerful weapon to demolish spiritual strongholds.
• Spiritual Maturity God also desires that we are faithful and diligent in our prayer-life for He knows that prayer is a beautiful channel of heavenly grace and spiritual maturity that is poured out in abundance upon those that sit at His feet, listen to His voice and trust in His word.
• Spiritual Example There is no better example of a spiritual Man of prayer than our Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
• At other times we discover Him at the top of a mountain and spending the whole night in prayer to God.
• And both in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross we discover prayer to be the beautiful channel through which our Lord maintained unbroken fellowship with the Father (until that point when He became sin for us.)
• Spiritual Choice We are the children of God and we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus, and one of the most precious gifts that we have received is the privilege of prayer.
• Let us come to the throne of grace and reverently bow before our redeemer God, in prayer.
• And let us in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thankful hearts make our requests known unto God, as we follow in the patterns of our praying Priest – Who today, is interceding for us in heaven.

• So take each prayer and take every promise at its full value and claim its full richness for your own life.

• By trial He weans us from the world, draws us to His Son, drives us to the Word and to prayer, and shows us our hearts, and makes us humble.

• Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God (Phil. 4:6).

• STUDY in PRAYER I delight to do Thy will, O my God.Psalm 40:8
• The Throne Ministry Much of scripture is devoted to intercession and prayer – the throne ministry of God. Simple, dynamic power-packed instructions – to help us withstand in the evil day. This is so that God’s plans will be fulfilled in His way, in His time and for His glory – and God’s perfect plan always results in the best outcome for all of His children.
• We are part of God’s throne ministry of prayer and we are exhorted to:- be diligent; be watchful; be thankful; be faithful; be obedient, and trust the Lord.
• Uncompromising Trust Much of Christ’s life exemplified how the man of God should live and pray. Christ’s life demonstrated an unfailing, trusting obedience to the heavenly Father.. a simple, uncompromising trust in the Father – that did only what the Father did..  a life that remained in continuous and ongoing fellowship with the Father..  a life that is in love with the Father and a heart that prays, Thy will be done – a life that translated into unceasing; persevering; grateful; obedient; trusting prayer. Christ’s life reflected a life of continuous; gracious; thankful; trusting communion.
• Prayer and Praises As the armies of Hezekiah began to praise – it was then that the enemy was routed. As Gideon army was reduced down to the impossible – it was then the Lord worked.
• Despite a hopeless and shocking situation looming ahead – Habakkuk praised God and we are called-on to be trusting, obedient, thankful people of prayer and praise.
• They all responded in prayer, praise, and trusting faith, knowing God is faithful.
• The Father’s Will In the garden, His thoughts flew to Abba - Father, His close relational bond, (a fellowship to which we can aspire – one achievable in the power of the Spirit)  It was in the place of deepest pain that He prayed, not My will but Thine be done. (an unachievable prayer when our will takes precedent over Thy will – but an achievable plea in the heart of a man – in love with the Father)
• Use me to carry out Your will in my life – Thy will be done. Such is a prayer that all God’s children can pray – when His will is central, (but it can only be uttered by a continuing, persevering, thankful, obedient heart) I delight to do Thy will, were the words that fell from Christ’s lips… (I desire, I am grateful; I am thankful – I am well-pleased to do Thy will.)
• Such a prayer can only be prayed when being led and guided by the Holy Spirit. Herein lies the spirit of a true son – demonstrated by the spirit of the Son of God.
• Prayer with Thanksgiving Power is added to prayer when no matter what – we delight to do His will, and praying with thanksgiving has a deeper meaning that expressed on the surface.
• God’s Purpose The power behind loving; obedient; thanksgiving, watchful; thankful; trusting prayer, is a heart that has learned in measure, and is continuing to learn to the full, that no matter what circumstances or trial we face, all things work together for good… and that means God’s good.
• Continue in Prayer We’re exhorted to continue in prayer, to watch in the same, to pray with thanksgiving..
• Let us continue in loving, obedient, unceasing, persevering, grateful prayer, as we wait to hear His call to His own to His church to come up here.

• It changes our prayer for them.

• It was to His Holy Father that His magnificent prayer of John 17 was offered, in gracious reverence.

• Translate your deepest desires and intense longings into the breath of prayer.

• STUDY in PRAYER Man of Prayer How important it is as intercessors to pray into God’s will.
• Intercessory prayer is praying into the will of God and it can be painful...  because intercessory prayer can only be founded on the love of God – a love that is perfected through suffering.
• Love Through Prayer Love as I love – pray as I pray.
• Love through prayer and pray through love.

• Spiritual Weapons Nehemiah’s literal wall-building mirrors our own fortification of “All-Prayer”.
• We are to dress in truth; righteousness; peace; faith; salvation and the Word of God.  We are to be praying always with All-Prayer and supplication in the Spirit.
• We should grieve and lift up our voice in prayer and supplication for Christ’s body.
• Prayer and Work When Nehemiah built the fallen city wall his weapon of war was in his hand. The labourers carried on their work with one hand supporting their load and with the other hand they held on to their weapon, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked.

• Nehemiah 1:9 Nehemiah had lived his whole life in exile, but he never forgot the word of the Lord –  and his prayer reflected a man that placed his full trust in the promises of God.

• the effective fervent prayer and intercession of the righteous man avails much.
• Man of God Nehemiah was a man of resolve – a man of action – a man of God – a man of prayer. Nehemiah was a man who loved his God – obeyed His word and trusted His promises, and so God used this man of Israel to be an instrument in His purposes for His people.
• Man of Prayer We discover Nehemiah to be a man with a great heart-burden for the things of God. He loved his homeland – his city – his people, and he was a man that loved his Creator.  And when news of the pitiable state of Israel reached his ears, his heart was grieved.
• The heavy burden he bore started in sorrow, and then progressed into prayer, The burden of his heart began in tears, which inspired his intense intercessions.
• Servant of God Nehemiah began his prayer declaring the faithfulness of his covenant-keeping God. He acknowledged God’s greatness, and His willingness to hear His peoples’ cry. Nehemiah prayed day and night in earnest trust that God would listen and hear him – and his intense intercession was for his own nation, the people of Israel.
• Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, Who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes be open to hear the prayer Your servant is praying before You day and night – for Your servants, the people of Israel. Nehemiah 1:5-6
• His prayer continued with penitential pleadings for his sins, and those of the nation.
• The prayer of Nehemiah continues: I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against You.
• He reminded God of His promise to His people – before continuing his prayer..
• but Nehemiah’s prayer finally translated into deep intercession for God’s people, “They are Your servants and Your people, whom You redeemed by Your great strength and Your mighty hand.
• Lord, let Your ear be attentive for the prayer of this Your servant and to the prayers of all Your servants who delight in revering Your holy name. Nehemiah 1:10-11
• the effective, fervent prayer and intercession of the righteous man avails much.

• The prayer should not be so much for this or that gift, or this or that result, as for Christ Himself to be made manifest to us and through us.

• Our Father often encourages the weak in faith by giving speedy answers to prayer; but the strong in faith will be further developed by God's delays.
• Delayed answers to prayer are not only trials of faith, but opportunities of honoring God by our steadfast confidence in Him.

• Thus the law of effective and fruitful life, service, prayer, etc., is that there shall be such a oneness that we only do but surely do what He is doing.

• His prayer is that we would be protected from the evil one and sanctified with the gospel of truth.
• High Priestly Intercession Christ’s prayer is that we will one day go to be with Him and see the glory that He had as the eternal son of God, before the creation of the world.

• The true saint continues long in prayer.
• Hear my prayer and let my cry rest on Your ear.
• Shall He not answer in His own way and in His own time?  Shall He not exercise His will, according to His riches in mercy?  Shall He not bequeath His benefit to His child – to the glory of His name?  No righteous prayer is ever lost to the heart of God.  No heart sigh ever misses the Father’s wrapped attention.  No breath of prayer is ever spent in vain.

• Spirit of Wisdom Having revealed to Christ’s Church the eternal riches of God’s grace towards them, Paul begins to intercede for all the saints in His powerful prayer of prayers.
• Riches of Grace This potent prayer of Paul was inspired by the Spirit to teach and edify all the saints.
• This is a prayer for you and me... that we know more fully the bounties of His grace - that we come to understand the staggering riches of God’s grace towards us all.
• Paul begins to intercede for all the saints in His powerful prayer of prayers.
• This potent prayer of Paul was inspired by the Spirit to teach and edify all the saints.

• Spirit of Wisdom Having revealed to Christ’s Church the eternal riches of God’s grace towards them, Paul begins to intercede for all the saints in His powerful prayer of prayers.
• Riches of Grace This potent prayer of Paul was inspired by the Spirit to teach and edify all the saints. This is not only a plea from Paul – but exposes the Father-heart of God Himself.
• This is a prayer for you and me – that we know more fully the bounties of His grace – that we come to understand the staggering riches of God’s grace towards us all.
• Paul begins to intercede for all the saints in His powerful prayer of prayers.
• This potent prayer of Paul was inspired by the Spirit to teach and edify all the saints.

• Glorious Prayer What a glorious prayer Paul prayed for the believers in Ephesians – and for us too.
• Precious Privilege But the wonderful thing is that this weighty prayer of Paul is for all God’s children. Paul’s desire was that all believers discover the precious privilege they have in Him, and down through the centuries of time men and women have rejoiced in his words – and his prayer for revelation is for you and for me, and for all the body of Christ.
• Let us take time to KNOW every facet of the prayer that Paul prayed for us…

• Spiritual Revelation How we love Paul’s prayer for God’s revelation to the church – in Ephesians chapter one. He prays that we understand our favoured position in Christ – and His fullness in us.
• Magnificent Prayer What a magnificent prayer to know that Paul was praying this for you and for me. What a wonderful prayer for us to pray for others dear believers in the family of God..

• And what follows with Paul, as with Job, is an intimate unveiling of the spirit of prayer.

• What peace and rest, fully and finally to give up our abiding into the care of the Father, and never have a wish or thought, never to offer a prayer or engage in an exercise connected with it, without first having the glad remembrance that what we do is only the manifestation of what our Father is doing in us!

• STUDY in PRAYER The people who know their God will be strong and take action. Daniel 11:32

• Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, shall guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.Philippians 4:6,7

• STUDY in PRAYER The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.James 5:16
• But that final strategic weapon is outlined in Ephesians 6 verse 18: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.
• Powerless Prayer Most prayers of the saints are ineffective – never reaching a peripheral target. The majority of our intercession is impotent – falling short of the desired mark.
• One reason for powerless prayer is not applying 1 John 1 9 – by first confessing sins.
• One reason for impotent prayer is not getting into fellowship via confession to God.
• Asking Amiss A third reason for unanswered prayer combines the above two – i.e.
• If you examine any prayer in scripture – you will see this vital principle in play.
• Effective Prayer Effective praying needs a right relationship with God.
• Effective prayer to the Father, is covered by Christ. Effective prayer to God, will be guided by the Spirit. The effective prayer of the righteous is potent, powerful and will accomplish much.
• Ineffective prayer If prayers are ineffective, the defect is not in God. If prayers are ineffective, the reason lies within you or me, but never with God. If prayers are ineffective, we need to carefully examine ourselves in all the above. If prayers are ineffective, it may mean your timing is not in line with God’s!
• Ultimate Fulfilment Revelation 8 shows us the time that all-prayer will reach their ultimate fulfilment.
• James 5 shows that effective prayer accomplishes much.
• Praying with all manner of prayer and entreaty.  Praying to that end that we keep alert and watchful.  Praying with strong purpose; patience endurance – perseverance.  Praying and interceding on behalf of all the saints.  Praying - Always – With – All Prayer – and Supplication – in the Spirit.

• STUDY in PRAYER Pray without ceasing..
• Prayer is also a vital and potent weapon in our complete spiritual armoury.
• Commands to Pray Pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. 1 Timothy 2:8 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer Romans 12:12 Build up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost Jude 1:20 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit Ephesians 6:18 Night and day praying exceedingly.. 1 Thessalonians 3:10 Pray in spirit, and truth, John 4:24 Pray without ceasing.. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Brothers, pray for us..2 Thessalonians 3:1
• How can we be engaged in praying night and day? How can we be instant in prayer; always in prayer; continuously in prayer? – how can we pray without ceasing?
• Scriptural Instruction I heard once of a group of pastors who met to discuss the issue of prayer. One question that stumped this reverent group was how to “pray without ceasing” Comments were passed; questions raised and heads shook at the impractical ideas.
• Ecclesiastical Problem A resolution was finally agreed: a lengthy thesis on this prayer problem must be written,  and one of their worthy members was duly appointed for this gruelling ordeal. He was to present his findings to the group when the task was finally completed.
• A period of time was set aside to wrestle with this complex issues of ceaseless prayer – and a whole month was set aside to wrangle with this deep, ecclesiastical problem.
• Enthusiastic Prayer Unbeknown to this group of ministers their discourse was overheard by young lady. She has been serving tea to the little company and could not contain herself! Why, she exclaimed, I consider that to be such a simple text in scripture. Intrigued by her enthusiasm the waitress was asked to explain herself.
• Can YOU pray without ceasing and engage in prayer day and night?
• Continuous Prayer Please tell us how this impossible task of our Lord many be achieved, they asked. How can a busy woman, spare time to engage in continuous prayer?
• Morning Prayer  As I open my eyes in the morning, I pray ‘Lord, open the eyes of my understanding. Thank You for this new day – may it be a day that I grow in grace and glorify You.
• Prayer an Intercessions When others harm me or cause pain me or falsely accuse me I pray, “Father forgive,” When I have sinned or discredited my Lord – I confess my sin at His heavenly throne.
• Daily Grace I thank Him for my life, my home, and the grace that He showers on me daily and in troublesome times I shoot out an arrow of prayer into the throne-room of God.
• Intimate Prayer It’s good to take quiet time alone with the Lord in intimate prayer behind closed doors – but it is also incumbent on us to pray without ceasing – in every part of our life.

• Power Behind Prayer God delights to have His children come to Him in prayer. It is often said, “There is power in prayer“, and James 5 is a much-quoted passage on prayer: The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. James 5:16 But the real power behind the prayer is God, to Whom the prayers are offered.
• No business transacted touches a life so deeply as prayer, No work undertaken throughout our life – so deeply affects those we love.
• Unceasing Prayer Paul exhorts that: men ought always to pray, and to pray without ceasing.
• Intercessory Prayer How we long for loved ones to be drawn by the Holy Spirit to a saving faith in Jesus, and our intercessory prayers can often have a part to play: for no man comes to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him John 6:44.
• Pray of Thanks We need to be thankful in prayer – thanking Him for the answer that is to come: we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, Col.1:3.
• Pray for Labourers We need to pray that God will raise up those to minister to the lost, the hurting and the bereft: pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.” Matt.9:38 We need to follow the lovely example of Jesus – Who Himself needed time to pray: for Jesus would withdraw to a desolate place and pray. He went out to the mountains to pray, and all night He continued in prayer to God.” Luke 5:16
• Prayer of Fatih We need to ask Him to remove any doubt that we may have – for He is faithful to answer prayer: truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:23

• We must not think the revelation as to the will of God is an end in itself; it is but the first phase of a prayer ministry.
• When Daniel had prayed through to an understanding of the ways of the Lord, he then set himself three times a day to persevere in prayer for the fulfillment.
• His prayer ministry took him into the lion's den, but it also brought him out again, and he was able to see the things through to the glorious end. -H.F.

• Prepared unto every good work - especially prayer.
• God was dealing with Hudson Taylor for fifteen years before He laid upon him the burden of definite prayer for the foundation of the China Inland Mission (now the Overseas Missionary Fellowship).
• We may be certain He has further service, further burdens of faith and prayer to give us when we are ready for them. -J.O.F.
• In the true prayer of faith' the intercessor must spend time with the Father to appropriate the promises of His Word, and must permit himself to be taught by the Holy Spirit, whether the promises can be applied to this particular case.
• He remains in the presence of God, till He, by His Spirit, awakens the faith that in this particular matter the prayer has been heard. -A.M.
• The one, prayer as a means by which we get from heaven what we need.
• The other, prayer as infinite grace of God, lifting us up into His fellowship and love, and then when He has thus brought us to Himself, bestowing upon us the blessing we need.
• In the former case, the gifts that I can receive through prayer are the chief things.
• Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving (Col. 4:2).

• STUDY in PRAYER Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.Ephesians 6:18
• The aged Anna waited in prayer for over 70 years to see Israel’s consolation.
• Men of Prayer Jesus demonstrated man’s need to be in prayerful communion with the Father. Paul exhorted us to pray without ceasing and prayed himself with many tears.
• James warned of unstable praying and encouraged the righteous prayer of faith, while John records Christ’s sublime high-priestly prayer – in John chapter 17.
• Unnamed Saints 120 waiting disciples joined in constant prayer as they awaited Pentecost; and Stephen reflected His Lord word, praying – “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” What more need I say of Aquila, Priscilla, Muller, or ‘praying Hyde’ or myriads of unnamed saints – who similarly are part of God’s royal priesthood.
• Godly Intercession Whether or not we understand it, the prayer of the saints contribute to God’s purpose.
• Whether conscious of it or not, all godly intercession is targeted towards His will. Whether we grasp the enormity of it or not, God uses prayer – all prayer – our prayer.
• All-Prayer Now think about it… where do we read in scripture of All-Prayer? Well, Paul instructs the church that All-Prayer is a vital weapon in spiritual warfare: for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 2 Corinthians 10:4
• The Praying Saint But read on in Ephesians to discover a further weapon that is little discussed: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.
• Pray with all Prayer.
• Persevere in Prayer.
• Pray in the Spirit Eph.6:18 This silence in heaven is connected with all the prayers of the saints of God. This heavenly hush is linked with the persistent prayer of the praying saint.
• The Heavenly Censer All prayer that is offered to God is taken and used to fulfil His perfect plan.
• The sacrifice of prayer and praise we offer to Him, fills up the heavenly censer.
• Heavenly Hush Let us seek to comprehend a little of the incredible significance of “All-Prayer”  Let us, on bended knee and in humble obedience, take up our weapon of “All-Prayer”  Let us in humbly pour out “All-Prayer” into God’s brimming bowl of blessing.  Let us in wonderment thankfully praise God for our role in that heavenly hush.
• PRAYING PrayingPraying AlwaysPraying Always With All PrayerPraying Always With All Prayer And SupplicationPraying Always With ALL PRAYER And Supplication In The Spirit.

• STUDY in PRAYER Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

• and never neglect those seasons of prayer and praise and thanksgiving.

• God our Advocate Are you fainting in prayer? Remember, your blessed Advocate has already answered your prayer. He has claimed your answer as His own. Do the claimed desires of your heart seem far removed and stillborn? Don’t give up the earnest seeking.
• Acceptable Prayer He is waiting only for you to trust in His love.
• The Spirit delights in acceptable prayer. He enlightens the mind to request HIS will to be done, in and through your life. He quickens the heart to desire His perfect will –in and for the lives of others.

• Use it, for if not it will be withdrawn, and use it ceaselessly. In all things by prayer and supplication – with thanksgiving.

• In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God (Phil. 4:6, ASV).

• When he thinks more prayer will bring it, he finds that, indispensable as prayer is, it is not enough.

• Peace Accomplished The Man of prayer and Son of God, who through His perfect life offered God His prayers and praise and supplication, gave us a perfect example, when He said, Father, into Thy hands, I commend My spirit.

• Prayer touches the ends of the earth, and the significance of our being and doing is of universal and eternal dimensions: there are no limitations.
• That should be the prayer of every true Spirit-led servant of Christ.

• Self can pray, and say, What a lovely prayer!

• Prayer Strength He’s not phased by Christian ‘advertising’, Christian ‘programs’, Christian ‘service’.
• But he shudders at the genuine; fighting; Spirit-led ‘power-of-prayer’ strength.

• There is much prayer for revival,' and much effort for the deepening of the spiritual life.' The only answer to this is a new knowing of the Cross, not only as to sins and a life of victory over them, but as to Christ as supplanting the natural man. -T.

• Communion  Through Prayer This blessed communication through prayer is the vital breath of life. Just as the body must breathe in and out, so the soul of the Christian must pray: men ought always to pray and not to faint, is a key to spiritual well-being, for He is our Source and our Sustainer.
• Continuous Provision Sometimes we are so intent on breathing out, that we neglect to in-breathe Him. We pour out our request and demands and questions and pain and supplications.. and we think our communication is all one-sided, for He seems to keep silent – and we rise from our prayer-closet disillusioned again, for heavens seems shut. And sometimes life’s pain is so immense that we fail to see His gracious provision..

• If only we can keep together in prayer, there is spiritual enlargement.

• it is a moment by moment challenge. This is a daily walk in the Spirit – this is the daily prayer that cries: Thy will not mine be done.

• Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, share the desires of your heart with God.

• STUDY in PRAYER Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.Hebrews.4:16
• faithful men and women of prayer to intercede on behalf of others..
• dedicated prayer warriors to stand in the gap and pray ‘beyond themselves.’  Believers, with a heart for God’s glory; children, with a love for the Lord; Christians who stand between life and death, for the many; warriors, to fight between heaven and hell, for fellow brothers and sisters.
• Wall of Prayer Is not the Lord seeking those that will build a wall of prayer for the church:- – intercessors that will stand in the gap?
• Nehemiah and Daniel Nehemiah wept in prayer over Jerusalem, repenting of the sins of his nation, and Nehemiah reminded God of His promises to His people.

• At best, most are trying to attain a victorious position by means of prayer, Bible study, commitment, reconsecration, surrender, and so forth.

• Conscious Weights We need to pray, 'Thy will not mine be done', but that prayer is a choice – a choice you will make or a choice you will spurn.

• STUDY in PRAYER By His death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way.Hebrews 10:20
• Praying always with All-Prayer and supplication in the Spirit.Ephesians 6:18
• Willing Vessel When a man or woman is a willing vessel, God can do mighty exploits through them, and for millennia the “All-Prayer” of such vessels advances God’s purposes.
• All such Spirit-led prayer fills up the incense bowl of “All-Prayer” on the golden alter.
• All-Prayer Such Spirit-influenced prayer will be flung to earth to fulfil God’s purpose for man.
• All such “All-Prayer” as outlined in Ephesians 6 – is part of our spiritual weaponry.
• All such “All-Prayer” – is destined to bring about God’s eternal plans and purposes – a purpose outlined from Genesis to Revelation – that Christ is all and in all.
• Defeat : Prepare : Edify Such prayer is destined to DEFEAT the strategies of the enemy. Such prayer is designed to PREPARE the way for the salvation of the lost. Such prayer is designated to BUILD UP and edify the body of Christ in holy faith.
• God’s Will All such prayer will accomplish God’s ends and God’s way – in God’s time.
• All such prayer has been uttered down the centuries thru willing earthen vessels.
• Saints of Prayer Scripture is replete with intercessors – who fell on their face before the Lord..
• Mysterious Privilege All God’s children can participate in some incomprehensible way – through this unfathomable gift and mysterious privilege of – “All Prayer”  Should we not fly to the open-access of the throne of God’s grace and plead... LORD teach me to PRAY.
• Teach me to intercede so that I may contribute to that incense bowl of All-Prayer.

• It will save years of frustration and effort for one to understand that prayer can never be learned, or developed.
• Prayer is the outflow of the new life; as one grows, as the Cross frees the new from the old, there is the growth of effective prayer.Without the Cross, prayer becomes a mere religious formality - without prayer, the Cross is arrested in its purpose.
• Prayer is the spring of power in conflict, and conflict gives the proof of the value and need of prayer.
• It cannot be too frequently emphasized that for the believer, the ground or basis of prayer is the death of Jesus Christ - the victory won by the Son of God on Calvary, just as the ground and basis of His intercession at this moment is His propitiation on the Cross.
• Away from the Cross prayer becomes nothing more than an ecclesiastical ordinance or a religious exercise expressed in devotional phrases; and I beg of you, when you read a book on prayer, to find out the place in it which the author gives to the Cross, and you will be able to estimate its value. -G.W.

• What He said in His prayer was indeed true: I have manifested unto them Thy name (John 17:6) and that name was Father.

• – a Note – a Letter – a Smile – a Visit – a Call – a Prayer; – an act of LOVE
• Shine a ray of sunlight in every smile; every word; every deed; every prayer; every act of kindness; every trifling service; every listening ear; every gift – every little encouragement.

• first – from an early Christian walk of prayer and praise to secondly,  the vital trial of our faith which is more precious than gold, to thirdly – the time when we shall know as we are known, and shall see Him face to face.

• Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.Philippians 4:6-7

• Answered Prayer So be careful what you pray for.
• God is in the business of answering prayer.

• When he thinks that more prayer will supply, he finds that, indispensable as prayer is, it is not enough.

• It is one thing to come to a situation from the outside, and link ourselves on with it, and take it up, and make it our work for life, our life-interest; it is quite another thing for the Lord to put into our hearts, in secret, an almost unbearable, intolerable burden which is His own heart-burden, and for us first of all to bear that thing secretly in the presence of God upon our hearts in a deep out-pouring of travailing prayer; quite another thing to come to the Lord's interests in that way.
• It is his own burden, and he takes the thing in responsibility upon his own shoulders before God in prayer, and prays vicarious prayer over this situation.

• We do feed upon Christ in prayer.
• To put that in another way, there is an imparting of Himself to His Own in prayer.
• We may go to prayer in weariness, and rise in freshness; we may go to prayer exhausted, and rise renewed.
• Is it that we have simply uttered some form of prayer, prayed some prayer?
• But really seeking the Lord, reaching out, taking hold of the Lord, giving ourselves up to the Lord in prayer, never fails to have renewing, uplifting, strengthening results.
• You say prayer may wear you out?
• Yes, but there is a wonderful strength that comes by wearing out prayer.
• There is vitality given to the spiritual life even in prayer that tires us physically, and we go in the strength of it.
• Yes, prayer is a way in which Christ is ministered to us by the Holy Spirit.
• Prayer is a way in which we feed upon Christ; He becomes our Life....

• He guards us from danger; He directs the way we take; He listens to our whispered prayer, and He hears our humble worship. The watchful eye of the Father is upon all those that reverence His name.
• Rule of Life For the ways of a man are always before the eyes of the LORD for He ponders all their paths, and He watches their walk. The eyes of the Lord are upon all the righteous and He hears their prayer.
• We’re to live by His precepts and be encompassed by His promises in prayer and praise – for He is our Father.
• Wonderful Comfort Is this not a wonderful comfort to know that God is ever watching His own – guarding us from danger; directing the way that we take; listening to our whispered prayer and hearing our humble worship?

• The Time to Trust When is the time to trust?Is it when all is calm,When saves the victor's palm,And life is one glad psalmOf joy and praise?Yes but more time to trustIs when the waves beat high,When storm clouds fill the sky,And prayer is one long cry Oh help and save!

• He proclaimed full and free pardon instead of pronouncing the required penalty, and in the brief prayer He taught His disciples, Jesus included forgiveness.
• In that exemplary prayer, He included a profound statement:- Forgive – Forgive as you have been forgiven.
• Pursuit of His Love should be a conscious part of our prayer-time.

• Be careful for nothing –Be anxious for nothing –Don’t be concerned about anything –Don’t worry about anything whatsoever, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto GodPhilippians 4:6

• Wilderness Glory The glory of the Lord, Which led His people safely through the wilderness by pillars of fire and smoke departed from the disobedient nation of Israel and God’s presence left the holy temple in Jerusalem, which was to be a house of prayer for all the nations – but which had become a den of thieves for the unscrupulous religious leaders of the day.

• Changeless Nature Any lack results from your misinterpretations of the truth of His changeless nature. Any deficiency is because of your change-FULL-ness – never His change-LESS-ness. But God will not compromise nor be coaxed into changing His changeless decrees. He’ll not be persuaded to wink at rebellion or answer a prayer of self-centeredness. He will not withdraw His correction from the wilful child of disobedience. He will never be coaxed or seduced into sharing His throne with King-Self. I am the LORD.  I change not.

• Even though there seemed to be no glimmer of precious hope, Habakkuk summed up deferred hope in his astonishing prayer: Though the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be on the vines, the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat..

• A man of prayer – a woman of wisdom.
• As we read through Scripture, we discover one here and we find another there… But in the fulness of time God sent His only Son in the form of man, in Whom would dwell all the godly attributes of Deity bodily – for He is the ultimate Man of faith and virtue, the perfect Man of prayer and praise, the godly Man of wisdom and worship, the loving Man of obedience and humility, the gracious Man so beloved of the Father, Who was chosen to be our Saviour for He is the true Man after God’s own heart.
• Daily Prayer But we have to come to the place in our lives where our daily prayer is..

• In receiving the Word of God by faith, there is first, light; then exercise of conscience; third, prayer - you are cast on God; fourth, the work of the Spirit to lead you into it.

• Evangelism, Apostolic teaching and practice (?), Pentecostal experience (?), prayer force, and even exorcism can all be merely psychical.

• The prayer life is the expression of the Spirit of Christ through the believer to the Father in Heaven.
• As there is growth in Christ, there will increasingly be prayer in the Spirit (Rom. 8:26).
• Efficacious prayer is to the glory of the Father (John 14:13), in the Name of the Son (John 14:14), and in the enabling power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:26, 27).
• Transforming things, mighty indeed, are wrought by prayer, but only such things as comport with the will and purpose of God. -L.S.C.

• He may as well have called out your very name and mine, in that mighty list of absolution, for His prayer traversed the centuries.
• His Story of Forgiveness His prayer encompassed you and me as His life-giving love flowed..
• streaming like great drops of blood and water. His prayer washed our bloodied, bruised, battered, ugly, sin-stained hearts.
• Prayer of Forgiveness We too should pray for those that despise and reject us. We too should pray for those that hurt and abuse us. We too should pray for those that grieve and harm us – and we too should love as He loved. This is not mere choice.

• No action or attitude; work or words; pleading, penance or prayer is sufficient.

• There is very much prayer being made, and appeal being pressed for revival.... If the Spirit of God either ignores or transcends so much that marks the Christian system, and makes it as though it counts so little, (and the Holy Spirit never compromises on what is vital and really of God), does it not mean that He calls for a reconsideration of very much that obtains?

• Christ’s Prayer Christ did all this so that His Body might eat of the sweet fruit of the Tree of Life.
• Christ desires to be with His Church, and the prayer He prays to the Father about us, passes all understanding.
• I am not praying for the world, but My prayer is not for them alone (the disciples in the upper room). I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message – that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. I have given them the glory that You gave Me – that they may be one as We are one: I in them and You in Me.

• Demanding Sacrifice All sacrifice is demanding.. whether the sacrifice of praise or the sacrifice of a broken, contrite heart – or placing your own beloved Isaac upon the alter of His dear love. But the Sacrifice of silence requires the greatest mental battle in prolonged prayer. The Sacrifice of prolonged prayer necessitates great struggle of your will.

• Christ’s Likeness And for years I have made it my daily prayer to ask the Lord to search out every nook and cranny of my life, that’s displeasing to Him..

• God has set His vital criterion for effective prayer, which is to pray in spirit and truth.

• My daily prayer for years has been: align my mind to the mind of Christ, because I know that in my own mind there dwells no good thing.
• Breath of Life Many neglect the vital breath of Life, which is daily and unceasing prayer.

• Spirit and Prayer Believers may be divided by thousands of miles – separated by land and sea… but we can gather together in love and encouragement – in spirit and in prayer, reminding each other that the time is short and we are to look up. Christ is returning soon and our redemption draws closer with each passing day.

• I think it is quite clear that the Lord Jesus carried in His heart a great longing and a prayer for the glory that He once had.
• In the seventeenth chapter of his gospel, he records that great prayer of the Lord Jesus: Father, glorify Thou Me with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was (vs. 5).
• The Mount of Transfiguration had become an answer to His heart's prayer and cry and longing at least a touch of it.

• I am quite sure that I have the agreement of most of the Lord's people when I say that one of the most difficult things, if not the most difficult thing, is to be able to get to prayer and give ourselves to prayer.
• When we contemplate prayer we meet a host of unsuspected and unforeseen difficulties which suddenly rise up as ambush forces breaking out upon us.
• Anything to prevent prayer!
• I am not saying something that you do not know, but I am saying it in order that you may recognize it clearly, definitely and deliberately, and face the fact that it is not just ordinary circumstances, but a designed, well-laid scheme of the enemy to prevent prayer.
• The enemy, instead of objecting, will promote occupation with a thousand and one things for the Lord if thereby he can crowd out prayer.
• He knows quite well that all the work for the Lord which is not founded upon triumphant spiritual prayer will count for little or nothing in the long run and will break down.
• Work for the Lord as hard as you can, but if you leave out prayer you will not accomplish very much.
• One of the subtleties of the enemy is to get us so busy, so occupied, so much on the go and on the rush with as we think things for the Lord and the work of the Lord, that our prayer is cramped and pushed up into a corner and limited, if not almost entirely ruled out; and the Lord will never accept the excuse: Lord, I am too much engaged in Your interests to pray.
• Immediately you begin to contemplate or purpose a fuller prayer-life, the enemy launches a new scheme for keeping you more busy and occupied, heaping up the work and crowding in demands so that you will have no time or opportunity for prayer.... But we must recognize this: that the enemy will construct his best arguments about responsibility, duty and conscience to stop us praying, and there is a place where, if we see prayer is utterly ruled out, or brought down to such a limited place that it is completely inadequate for a life of spiritual ascendancy and victory, we have to say: Lord, I am going to trust the responsibility with You while I pray, that You will not allow my breaking away for this time to have detrimental results, and that You will protect this prayer-time which I seek for Your glory from the inroads of the enemy.

• a sacrifice of prayer and praise. Give your heart as a sacrifice..

• a spiritual conflict that is directed against those committed to intercessory prayer.
• Prevailing Prayer Such intercession becomes a progressive reality in the life of the man-of-faith.
• Such prevailing prayer is the power behind the life that is 'hid in Christ'.
• And later God identified Job’s value as an intercessor, in Ezekiel 14  where he places Job with two other effectual prayer warriors.
• 3 Prayer Warriors And God’s revealed Word establishes Job in the company of 'these three men….' – Noah, Daniel, and Job.
• Noah, Daniel, and Job were Ezekiel’s – These three men….  These three men travailed in prayer. These three men worshiped the Lord. These three men lived by faith. These three men pleased the Lord. These three men were effectual prayer warriors. These three men were found interceding in the fiercest of times. These three men were found pleading for family; for friends; for their nation

• But there are also idle days, days apparently useless, when even prayer and holy service seem a burden.

• The Ten Commandments require no life of prayer, no Christian service, no evangelism, no missionary outreach, no Gospel preaching, no life and walk in the Spirit, no union with the Lord Jesus Christ, no fellowship of saints, no hope of salvation, and no hope of heaven. -L.S.C.

• Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God (Phil. 4:6).

• Probably friendship is second only to prayer in its importance in soul-winning.

• God will hear prayer, but He may not answer it at the time which we in our minds have appointed!
• Man’s Prayer Hence the need for perseverance in prayer. Hence the need for importunity in supplication. In the days of flint and steel and brimstone they needed to be struck and struck.. again and again – dozens of times, before a spark would light up the tinder box.
• I do not believe that there is such a thing in the history of God’s kingdom, as a right prayer offered in a right spirit that is forever left unanswered.

• and this important lesson is a lesson most of us need to perfect – perseverance in prayer rather than giving up in despair.

• Think through me, thoughts of GodThat always, everywhere,The stream that through my being flowsMay homeward pass in prayer.

• Prayer and Faith No doubt discouragement hit each at times as we see in Elijah.
• The bible indicates that they were all men of prayer; men of praise; men of faith. Above all, it shows that they were all men who Waited on God, and waited His timing.

• STUDY in PRAYER Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.Hebrews 4:16
• The man or woman of prayer has God’s interest as their sole and sublime concern.
• A Prayer Ministry Intercession often starts with praying for the souls of men – those dead in trespasses and sins. Intercession frequently progresses with prayer for the problems of all the saints of God.
• Servant Heart The ministry of intercession probes into God’s desires; God’s will; God’s purpose. The man or woman of prayer has God’s interest as their sole and sublime concern. The intercessor has a servant-heart that looks away from self to the purpose of God, The intercessor is cleansed daily from all unrighteousness.

• Paul entreats the prayer warrior.
• And much of what we request in humility of heart perplexes us in its delivery... for answered prayer rarely comes packaged in the wrapping paper that we designed.
• Prayer Anomalies We pray for patience as we picture a babbling brook in a sunny garden of ease... and yet He causes us to bang heads with those who tax us to the point of exhaustion, until He brings us into that place of submission, and moulds us into His likeness.
• Result of Prayer We really do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us, and He knows what is best for us.
• Vision in Prayer As we look away from the world, His definition increases in our vision’s clarity.

• This is not a prayer for today, for every believer has been given the permanently indwelling Spirit, whereas before the cross, the Spirit only ‘came upon’ certain chosen people and could be withdrawn.

• The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. (James 5:16 NIV)
• The will of the Lord is not always an easy thing for our flesh; and so very often, we have to have a real battle to get adjusted to the will of the Lord on some particular matter; and prayer is the time in which that adjustment has to be done.
• Our prayer times give us the great opportunity of getting right into line with the will of God on all matters....
• True prayer is the prayer of confession and humiliation!
• True prayer is the time of absolute committal and surrender and submission to the Lord!
• True prayer is the time for getting right into line with the will of God on all matters!
• But when we come to the fourth thing, we move over a bit to another side; and I am sure that this first time of prayer in the case of Paul was a time of deep worship.
• That was surely the consciousness of this man during his prayer.
• It was the prayer of deep worship for the grace of God, and that must have a place in all true prayer.

• Job 13:16 And the prayer of Habakkuk is a timely reminder to hold fast to the faith we posses, for despite the temptation to lose his faith in God – He rejoiced over God’s faithfulness.
• Habakkuk’s Prayer This is what Habakkuk wrote: My body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me.

• Sanctification Prayer Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

• His prayer for his readers is that God's grace and peace would flood their hearts in the fullest measure.

• Is it possible that Jesus might have been ready to return and consummate all things... but that Stephen prayed - and his prayer caused the Lord to withhold His wrath for a season - to postpone Christ's return for a further two thousand years as the grace of God began to flood the Gentile world?

• Later, in the Psalms, we read that the heavens and earth declare His glory and to Him, all prayer and praise should be offered.

• Timothy was sent to find out how the believers there were getting along, to establish them in the faith, and give them spiritual support and godly encouragement.Paul rejoiced when Timothy returned with the joyful tidings that they were being established in the faith and well-grounded in the Word, despite the many difficulties and distresses they were facing: May the Lord cause you to increase in your faith and abound in your love for one another and for all people, was Paul's heartfelt prayer for them all, just as we also do for you.Paul continued in prayers and loving intercessions for the saints at Thessalonica, beseeching God the Father Himself and Jesus our Lord to direct and govern their ways.May we be like Paul, and remember to lift up our fellow Christian brothers and sisters in continuous and loving prayer and heartfelt intercessions.

• Christ only did those things that he heard from the Father, and in everything Christ's prayer was translated into the desire of the Father; for He prayed: Thy will not Mine be done.
• Abiding is closely linked with the prayer of the righteous man and maintaining close fellowship with the Lord.

• How wonderful to know that Christ's prayer continues to be answered and that God's promises to believing Israel of an earthly inheritance still stand.

• Faith is expressed in prayer and prevailing prayer is an expression of faith - and David pleads God's righteousness as the legitimate reason for his own cry of deliverance: For the sake of Your name, You will lead me and guide me.
• Although this entire psalm catalogues his overflowing grief and grievances, nevertheless his prayer begins and ends with a proclamation of God's trustworthiness, and an entreaty for God's deliverance.

• He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those that sold doves, with scathing words from both Isaiah and Jeremiah: It is written, My house will be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.

• The early verses in David's prayer, are a cry to the Lord for support, expressing his helpless condition, his bitterness of heart, and the pain that seems to be searing his soul.

• Knowing that his hour had come, Jesus took His followers into the Garden of Gethsemane where He agonised in prayer as the time for His sacrificial offering on the Cross drew ever nearer.
• For hours Jesus agonised in prayer, knowing that the hour of His death drew ever closer: Father, He prayed, If it is Your will, take this cup away from Me.

• He knew that many blessings and benefits follow those who continue earnestly to pray in faith and for those who are vigilant in their worship, praise, and thanksgiving.Paul knew that it is God's will that His blood-bought sons and daughters rejoice in the Lord always, and so he encouraged each one to rejoice continuously, to pray without ceasing, and in everything to give thanks and praise to our Heavenly Saviour.But Paul also knew that prayer is a God-given privilege that has been awarded to every Christian, and those that walk in spirit and truth and pray into the Father's will, are assured that their prayers will be heard and answered, for His greater praise and glory.Paul therefore coveted the intercessions and prayers of these saints in Colossae.

• When David pours out his heart into one of his many psalms of prayer and praise to the Lord, his words often quicken an air of rejoicing in our own lives, for we too can identify with some of the many hardships he faced, and we too can also bear witness to the wealth of joy that he proclaimed, for joy in the Lord and the joy of the Lord was the strength that David received from the Lord, as it is for so many of His children.

• Jesus was the Anointed of Israel Who suddenly came to His Temple and overturned the money tables and Who fiercely accused them of desecrating the Temple: My Father's House is a House of prayer for all people and you have made it a den of thieves.

• Once calm had been established, the apostles were enabled to devote themselves to prayer and ministering the Word, instead of being hindered by these unfortunate, internal squabbles.
• They were imitating His practice of prayer, and dealt with internal conflict wisely, graciously, and speedily.
• May we not only devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word, but also to listening to God's instructions and obeying His Word.

• Christ uses the parable of the widow woman and the unjust judge to encourage us to be continually in prayer, to pray without ceasing, and to remain in constant communion with the Lord as we petition Him for the blessings we need from His gracious hand, especially when those blessings seem to be delayed.
• We are to be continually in prayer, to pray without ceasing, and to remain in constant communion with the Lord, knowing that God answers our prayers.

• David had proved that God is a faithful and forgiving God, and whether in prayer, praise, or petition, his song of worship and thanksgiving testifies of his trust in God and his acknowledgement that God is the Lord, and his hope is in Him alone: For there is no God like unto our God, nor are there any works that compare with His wonders.

• But how dearly the Lord Jesus would have loved to have had their prayer-support at this crucial time.
• Let us not sleep as others do, but let us remain alert and be sober, for the purpose of prayer.
• Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, Whom to know is life eternal, and let us take heed to watch expectantly for the Lord's soon return - and also to watch with Him, in His continuous ministry of prayer and intercession.

• The pleading prayer of the captive remnant of Israel will one day be answered beyond what they could think or imagine, but first they must go through that terrible time of Jacob's trouble and endure the day of vengeance of our God, for Christ must finally destroy His enemies and place all rule under His feet.

• The House of the Lord was purposed by God to be a place of prayer for all nations, but the priests and rulers of the people had desecrated this holy place and turned God's dwelling into a den of thieves and a hideout for bandits.

• Solomon was a man who had observed God's faithfulness in his father's life and because He trusted in Him, the Lord heard and answered his prayer of faith in an astonishing way.

• The very men who became Christ's disciples were the very people about whom the Lord Jesus was praying in this second section of His great High Priestly prayer: While I was with them, I have kept them in Your name.

• It is often the case that a carefree life of ease, abundance, and prosperity can cause us to take our focus off the eternal and on to the temporal, our prayer life can become less fervent and more mechanical, and the reality of Jesus' return does not burn in our heart.

• Samson prayed his meaningful prayer of repentance and brokenness on the day that the Philistines were enjoying a feast and offering up sacrifices to their god, Dagon.
• Indeed, there were about 3,000 men and women on the roof watching Samson while he was entertaining them and God, in His grace, answered the prayer of his servant and he was filled with godly strength and brought the great building down, killing the whole company.

• Peter's prayer was that Christ's followers would be firmly established in both faith and duty, despite the difficulties that would inevitably arise in our lives, for Peter knew that all those called by God's kindness and grace will one day partake in His eternal glory and joy.

• John's prayer was that the physical health of this beloved saint might 'prosper' in the same way that his spiritual health was prospering.The word, 'prosperity' today nearly always refers to material wealth… but in context, we see that it is this dear man's physical health and bodily condition that John is praying will prosper.
• John's prayer is that Gaius' physical health will reflect his obvious spiritual strength and Christian maturity.This verse clearly contradicts the distorted teaching of certain 'prosperity teachers' and 'faith-healers' who insist that if sick people do not recover, it is due to a lack of faith, or that if you are materially poor, you are not a spiritual believer because God wants all Christians to be materially wealthy!

• Often in the Book of Psalms, we see David lifting up his heart to the Lord in prayer and praise, and calling out to Him for guidance and pardon.

• May we seek to be vigilant in prayer, courageously stand firm in the faith, be obedient to God's call on our life, equip ourselves with a knowledge of the truth, and live a life that honours our Father in heaven.

• The authority of Christ's prayer to the Father, rests on the authority of His position as Incarnate Deity, and the other Helper Whom the Father would send would be the Spirit of Truth - the third Person of the Holy Trinity - Who would be with them forever and eventually would permanently indwell each one.

• It is David who is credited with these beautiful words, and the reason behind his exultant praise is that he sought the Lord, and God answered His prayer.

• Jesus had called His weary disciples to be earnest in prayer so that they would not fall into temptation.
• May we be earnest in prayer so that we will not fall into temptation. May we learn obedience by the things that we go through in life so that we too may be enabled to pray in spirit and truth: Father, not my will, but Yours, be done.

• I am sure that Solomon, who probably authored these wise words, had heard the contrite prayer of his father David, who confessed that the sacrifice that God so desires is a broken and contrite spirit, for the king had learned that God will not reject a truly penitent and repentant heart, a heart that in turning from sin changes direction to look to the Lord.

• This was at this critical moment in Christ's ministry when Jesus offered the most beautiful prayer of thanksgiving to His Father, the Lord of heaven and earth.
• I am sure that Christ offered this glorious prayer of thanksgiving and praise audibly to start teaching his devoted followers, truths that would have to be more fully revealed later, for He continued, All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father.

• Many self-righteous Christians take this verse out of its Biblical context to mean that God has effectively signed a blank cheque, which allows His children to fill in a simple prayer request to ensure that they get whatever they want in order to fulfil their fleshly lusts.
• Such an attitude is unbiblical, and such an interpretation not only contradicts the gospel of grace but is inconsistent with the correct interpretation and context of this passage on prayer.
• Righteous prayer emanates from an obedience to God's Word and a mental attitude of love for Him, which was initiated by God Himself Who first loved us by giving His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
• James reminds us that if we do not ask aright then we will not receive, and even the godly prayer of the righteous man or woman may be used by God to teach some deeper spiritual truth.
• Keeping His commandment to love as He love, living in humble submission to the indwelling Holy Spirit, walking in spirit and truth, and praying in alignment with the Word and Will of God, are some of the biblical prerequisites of answered prayer that John is talking about in this passage.
• Being aligned to the Word and the will of God, ensures that the believer who is walking in spirit and truth will pray as led by the Holy Spirit - and their prayer will indeed be answered.

• Paul often prayed for the comfort, encouragement, establishment, and strengthening of the Body of Christ, which is the Church, and in this great prayer, we find Paul's fervent intercession addressed equally to the Lord Jesus Christ and to God the Father.
• But Paul's prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ and our Father in heaven, travels down the centuries and is as relevant to us today as it was in those early days of the Christian church.

• Today and every day, may we unite our hearts and voices in prayer and praise to our good and gracious God Who has established His throne in the heavens and Whose kingdom rules over all.

• How important, therefore, in these last days, to buckle on the whole armour of God, to stand fast in the faith, to persevere in tribulation, to be vigilant in prayer, and steadfast in praise with thanksgiving: For the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.

• Paul explains how we can experience the peace of God: Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

• Oh, we are not to neglect our own needs, for we are called upon in everything, by prayer and supplication, to make our requests known to the Lord.

• Jesus became a Rock of offence and a Stone of stumbling to unbelieving Israel, which grieved the apostle Paul who longed that His fellow-countrymen would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved: Brethren, he wrote in this first verse of chapter 10: Brothers-in-Christ, my heart's desire and earnest prayer to God for my Jewish brothers, is for their salvation.
• I wonder if the yearning in his heart for the salvation of his fellow-Jews was heightened, when he recalled the stoning of Stephen and heard his Christ-like prayer, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. (Lord, lay not this sin on Saul of Tarsus).
• The dear pleasure of Paul's heart and his deep spiritual burden was for Israel's salvation. His personal longing and pleading prayer was that God's chosen nation would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and place their collective trust in His sacrificial work for the forgiveness of their sins.

• But our times are in His hands, and because God can see the end from the beginning, we should be ready to bathe every plan we make in prayer and place each desire of our heart into His safe-keeping.

• And Moses faithfully led the children of Israel through the wilderness for 40 years with prayer, and fasting, and much heartache - for like Christ Moses was also faithful in all his house.

• And so, as David's exuberant praise for the Lord climbs into an ever-increasing crescendo of worship and exaltation, his heart is suddenly moved into a hushed prayer of submissive surrender and deep devotion, as he recognises his own human limitations in contrast to the magnificent glory of God and cries out to the Lord, Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer.

• We also discover he was a man of prayer, who had a deep faith in God.

• Prayer has been called 'the breath of the soul' and expresses the very essence of faith in our Heavenly Father.
• Prayer is the fruit of a humble and helpless heart that comes before the Lord in loving trust.It is the means of two-way fellowship between the Lord of heaven and earth and His helpless child, and it is a most precious tool that God has given to each of His children.
• Prayer is the tool that encourages our continuous appeal to His Father-heart of love, for through it we find grace to find help in time of need.
• Prayer develops in each of us, an attitude of heart and mind that delights in continuous communion with the Lord Jesus.
• The closer one grows to the Lord in prayer and praise, the more we rely on our prayerful communion with Him to supply all our needs, according to His riches in glory.
• Jesus was the perfect example of a Man of prayer, by which He maintained unbroken fellowship with His Heavenly Father, from Whom He received strength, comfort, and direction.
• We have His assurance that the Lord our God hears, and answers, every cry of the heart and each prayer that is offered in faith.
• The apostle, Paul, was one whose prayer-life demonstrated a man who found His sufficient strength in the Lord.
• But Paul also knew that he himself needed prayer – and in a number of his letters we hear the request: 'Pray for us – Brethren, pray for us!'
• In this verse, we do not have a mirror into Paul's reason for this specific appeal for prayer, and yet we discover elsewhere, that his request for prayer is connected with the furtherance of the gospel – for the glory of God.
• May we develop a right attitude towards prayer, and a purpose in our praying, which is in accordance with God's perfect will.

• Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Godly peace-makers are indeed blessed folk who seek to live peaceably with all men, through prayer, and to actively intervene to make peace, when strife and animosity raises its ugly head.

• But as we look at the many places in Scripture that encourage us to pray, it is often prayer for brothers and sister in Christ...

• Paul was with them in spirit and in truth, and he not only lifted them up in prayer but put pen to paper in order to exhort, encourage, teach, and train.

• He details the importance of a believer's prayer life and testimony for the Lord.
• We are to perfect our private, public, personal, and prayer life, with joyful praise and grateful thanks, and we are to conduct ourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunities that we have.

• The unity of spirit, soul, and body that Christ (in His humanity) had with His Father in heaven, is His prayer for each of His children too.
• We are to be deeply in love with our Lord Jesus in principle and in purpose, in thought, word, and deed, just as He was with His own Father when He walked the dusty roads of Israel, for He did only those things that He heard from His Father and His prayer was always, Your will be done so that You may be glorified.

• Whether this is Christ's encouraging response to the pleading prayer of those Tribulation Saints that are thirsty for the water of life (at the end of the Tribulation) OR whether it is the fulfilment of His precious promise to Church-age believers, who are longing for His any-day appearance at the Rapture (before the Tribulation) or both; these final words in holy Writ should be our daily prayer and our blessed hope.
• He has promised to recompense, with bountiful gifts, each labour of love, each work of faith, each heart that is watching for His soon return, and each prayer that cries out: Maranatha!

• But the prayer of this little remnant does not reflect despair, dejection, and demoralisation... but rather a spark of hope that God will certainly hear and answer their cries for help.

• It was John, the beloved apostle who spent over three years living with the Lord, walking in His gracious footsteps, watching His godly actions, and observing His dependent prayer-life, who told us: God is love.

• They met close to the riverside, in fellowship and prayer, where they sang songs of praise to His holy name.

• Certain groups proclaim that we all worship the same deity while others promote a social gospel and embrace polytheism, eastern mysticism, transcendental meditation, centering prayer, or 'Chrislam'.

• He was patient in tribulation, devoted in prayer, and full of grace and truth, and Jesus learned obedience by the things that He suffered.

• In his desire to warn believers of the increasing numbers of false teachers and heresies that were bombarding the Church of his day, Jude wrote an epistle of encouragement and advice, but he begins with a beautiful greeting; a prayer that has travelled down the centuries to the Body of Christ, and an entreaty to God that mercy and peace and love be multiplied to all those who in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• In his desire to contend earnestly for the faith, Jude's prayer and pleading to the Father was that multiplied blessings be bestowed on all those who are in Christ Jesus.
• This prayer for multiplied blessings of mercy, peace, and love is equally needed today.

• After having been struck dumb for nine months because he doubted God's power to give him and his elderly wife, Elisabeth, a child – Zechariah's son, John, was born amidst much rejoicing and praise.Zechariah was an elderly priest who was given a wonderful answer to prayer.

• It had been the desire of Paul's heart to visit the Church at Rome for many years, and God answered his prayer - but in a very unexpected way.

• A victorious life that withstands Satan, not only humbly submits to God but draws closer to the Lord with an attitude of thanksgiving and praise, combined with ceaseless prayer, ongoing fellowship, and a trusting heart that walks in spirit and truth.

• Hear my prayer and let my cry come unto You 'in case my enemies think they have prevailed against me and start to rejoice!'
• David came to understand that we are to rejoice in the Lord and in the power of His might, and that in everything by prayer and supplication we are to look to Jesus and make our requests known to the Lord.

• We are called to intercede for sinner and saint alike, and are privileged to partner with our God and Saviour, by holding back the flood-waters of evil through prayer and supplication.

• They are often read as a morning devotion or used to motivate a believer's prayer life.

• Their prayer began in the previous chapter, where they mistakenly blamed God for their backslidden ways!
• But as they continued in prayer, they confessed the rebellious-unbelief into which the nation had fallen and acknowledged their disobedience had grieved the Holy Spirit of God.
• He will come to answer the prayer offered by this little remnant so many years ago.

• And Paul's heart-desire and earnest prayer is that we understand the riches of His grace towards us and that we stand firm in the faith, grow in grace, trust in the Lord with all our heart, and become rooted and grounded in the love of Christ.

• Our choice should be to submit to the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit in our life, and our prayer should be that we are willing vessels to be used by our Heavenly Father for His will and to His glory.

• In times of disappointment and distress, he raced into the safety of his strong Fortress and hid under the shadow of God’s protective wings: Hear my cry, O God and give heed to my prayer, is David's urgent request: From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint.
• When exercising faith through petition or intercession and by standing on the promises of God as undeniable certainties, we have that inner assurance that God hears and answers our prayer, for His ears are ever open to our cries for help and He responds to the faintest sigh of His elect people.

• It was Paul's prayer that the believers at Philippi were filled to overflowing with the fruit of Christ's righteousness.

• The hour had arrived for Christ's betrayal and crucifixion, and the Lord Jesus gave His disciples an amazing glimpse into the intimate fellowship and precious communication which took place between the Father of all mercies and His dearly beloved Son, as Jesus prayed His High Priestly prayer in their hearing.
• Christ's sovereignty over all flesh was referenced in His prayer, as was His authority to grant the gift of eternal life to those whom the Father had given to Him, to those who by faith would trust in His redeeming work.
• But His tender heart towards His dearly beloved disciples did not go unnoticed, for His prayer to the Father included those whom He had chosen to be His closest friends who had received Him, followed Him, and believed on His name.
• The love of God for the world was so great that He sent His beloved Son to be the sin-sacrifice for the whole of mankind, but Christ's prayer was not for the world, but for the men who would represent Him to the world.
• Christ's prayer would later expand into intercession for the whole Body of Christ who would come to faith in Him through the word of their testimony and their faithful witness to the truth.

• But this is a prayer of thankful praise and joyful appreciation for the Lord healed him and extended the life of king Hezekiah, by 15 years.

• And because of Christ's sacrifice, we can come fearlessly before the Father to intercede for others and offer up our spiritual sacrifice of prayer and praise.

• However, prosperity teachers detach their teachings from every other biblical instruction on the normal Christian life in general, and the conditions for answered prayer in particular.
• We are reminded, in Psalms, that if God regards iniquity in a heart, He will neither heed nor hear a man's prayer. 
• Other conditions for answered prayer is that requests should not be selfishly motivated, but must be in line with the will of God.
• Hebrews outlines another principle of answered prayer, which is a far cry from the 'name-it-and-claim-it' teaching of the Word-of-Faith movement and prosperity teachings: Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
• When all the biblical criteria for prayer are met, God will most certainly answer prayer and in these precious verses, the Lord lays out the principles in His model prayer.
• When we carry out His will and seek first His kingdom and righteousness, He will hear our prayer, because we will be praying into His will.
• When we honour our Heavenly Father and proclaim His sovereign authority, His power, and His glory, we have an assurance that He is a God Who hears and answers prayer.
• The impossibly high standards of the Sermon on the Mount and the call to prayer, are designed to teach us that the principles and practice in Christ's teaching can never be achieved in our own strength and power. They can only be realised supernaturally, as we allow the Holy Spirit of God to work His work in our lives. 

• Jesus condemned their vain, repetitive prayers and their blatant hypocrisy and began to teach a model prayer which we call 'the Lord's Prayer'.
• And in this prayer we are taught to follow the Lord's gracious example of godly forgiveness.
• Indeed, lack of forgiveness has an impact on both our prayer life and our fellowship with the Lord.

• It is as we talk with Him at every opportunity, through prayer and praise, that the desire of our heart is realised because His perfect desire has become the dear desire of our heart.

• Was it Christ's prayer on the Cross that delayed the judgement which should have taken place six months after His Resurrection?

• May we be faithful stewards, faithful in prayer, faithful in our work, and may we also be faithful to the point of death, so that we may receive His promised Crown of Life.

• The character of Abraham is revealed through his prolonged, persistent, intercessory prayer.

• Hannah was blessed by the Lord and was permitted to fulfil the vow that she made to God.Many consider that Hannah's beautiful prayer of praise and thanksgiving influenced the song of Mary whose supernatural conception, centuries later, would bring forth the Messiah of Israel: My heart exults in the Lord.
• My horn is exulted in God, was Hannah’s exultant prayer of praise and thanksgiving, My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation… The bows of the mighty are shattered, but the feeble gird on strength… The LORD will judge the ends of the earth.

• Instead, we gain a greater understanding of the importance of prayer, the nature of God, the reason behind much human suffering, and how the Lord deals graciously with His servants.

• His teaching touches on the role of men and women, the qualifications necessary for elders and deacons, and the desired conduct of people within the church... but first of all, Paul touches on the important issue of prayer.
• We saw in the Gospels, the necessity of prayer in the life of the Lord Jesus, and Paul's epistles contain many inspired prayers that have encouraged saints down through centuries of time.
• Old and New Testament saints alike have discovered the power of prayer and the importance of prayer in the life of a child of God - and here in his letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul urges believers to Make entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, on behalf of all men.
• Paul lists four types of prayer that should be used in both a communal prayer group and in one's individual prayer life: 1) entreaties 2) prayers 3) intercessions and 4) the giving of thanks.
• Whether praying in public or communing with the Lord in private, prayers should be offered for all men - and as believers we should recognise the distinct privilege and value in approaching our Heavenly Father in prayer.
• The first type of prayer Paul lists are entreaties or supplications which talk of earnestly, yet reverently pleading with the Lord for some very specific purpose.
• The next on the list is simply called 'prayer' which may refer to general prayers or be a reminder of the incredible privilege believers have - in that we have the right to approach the throne of grace and enjoy fellowship with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ - our Lord and Saviour.
• The third type of prayer in Paul's list is intercession, where we employ our God-given position of priests and mediate on behalf of others who, for one reason or another, may not be able to lift up their needs to the Lord in prayer... and finally Paul entreats us to offer up thanksgiving and praise to the Lord at all times and for all things.
• Our whole approach to God in our prayer-life should be one of reverence and thankfulness, humility, trust, and love.
• As born-again children of God, we have access to our Heavenly Father Who is a God Who hears and answers prayer.

• How often our pleading prayer is for an escape from the fiery trials that we may be facing, without recognising that there are important lessons in all circumstances of life which God desires for us to learn; lessons which teach us spiritual truths that we might otherwise have missed.

• The psalmist desired a complete revival and restoration for Israel, which can be seen throughout the prayer he offered. 
• But his opening hymn of rejoicing quickly turned to a pleading prayer and heartfelt petition for more of God's grace and mercy.
• The psalmist made it clear in his prayer that he would listen obediently to the Lord's instructions, knowing that God, in His grace, would speak peace to His people.
• As he brings his prayer to a close, the writer leaves us in no doubt that God is ready to hear the cry of His people who trust in Him, for He is ready and willing to answer the prayer that is made in faith.
• He was also a man who recognised the importance of prayer, praise, and thankfulness, and confessed that a righteous God must punish sin.

• Paul was a man of prayer who believed that, although everything in life was subject to God's divine will, eternal purpose, and sovereign permission, God also hears the intercessions of the saints and answers the prayers of His servants.
• And so in this section of Scripture, we discover Paul asking for prayer, while resting on the fact that God is the strength of our heart and our portion forever.
• Paul was not only a man who requested ongoing prayer for himself, but He also kept the saints of God in the various churches continuously in prayer.
• Paul's prayer for all who have found their eternal salvation in Christ, is that God would direct each of our hearts into the love of God so that in Him we would reflect His patient endurance and steadfast love, as we are being conformed, day by day, into the image and likeness of Christ.

• We are in Christ and He is in us and we are to fight this enemy with the spiritual weapons that He has provided, through the Word of God and all-prayer.

• Peace with God, through faith in Christ, can never be lost, or left, or stolen away, but the peace of God, which is Paul's prayer for these saints in Rome, is an inner peace that is readily available to all who walk in spirit and truth.
• Paul tells the Philippians how to keep the peace of God ruling our heart; we are to rejoice in the Lord continually; we are to let our gentle spirit be known to others; we are not to be anxious, but in everything by prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving, we are let our requests be made known to God.
• As we analyse the conditions that keep us in fellowship with the Father and safeguard His peace in our hearts, we find it comes down to trusting God for all things, however difficult, through prayer and supplication, with a heart of thanksgiving and praise, and a life that honours our Father in heaven.

• Paul said that the intimidation and trouble Christians face because of our faith in Christ, is sharing in His suffering: That I may know Christ, was Paul's prayer.

• The Lord hears and responds to every spoken and unspoken prayer, every whispered cry, every word of grateful thanks, every prayer petition that is pleaded in the inner sanctuary of the heart.
• He hears every intercessor who pleads the blood of Christ in his prayer closet and every little prayer arrow that is quickly shot into the throne-room of grace.
• The prayer that is offered to God in faith proceeds from a heart that is pleasing to the Lord.
• David's prayer was uttered to the Lord from a heart that was open and clean before Him, for he had faith in the God to Whom he prayed, and he expected God to hear and answer his prayer.
• It is not faith in prayer that is powerful, but faith in the God to whom he prayed that caused the prayers of David to be effective, for David trusted the Word of the true and living God.
• He did not offer his prayer from a heart of disbelief, nor a heart that was hiding a secret sin or any unconfessed offense.
• David could cry to the Lord; Father God, hear my just plea, pay attention to my cry, listen to my prayer since it does not come from lying lips.
• Empty prayer from a heart of unbelief or the insincere prayer of pretence avails little, for without faith in the God to Whom we are praying it is impossible to please Him, for whoever comes to God in prayer must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently search for Him.
• Similarly, pleas that flow from a double-minded man who uses prayer as a good-luck charm or as a means to manipulate the Lord, are displeasing to Him.
• Our prayers to the Lord should come from a heart that is an open book to our Father, for the prayer of a man or woman after God's own heart is powerful and effective.

• Prayer is the privilege of people who are saved by grace thorough faith in Christ, for by His sacrificial death and glorious Resurrection, He tore down the dividing wall between God and man and gave us access to His throne of grace, for mercy to find help in time of need.
• We are not to be anxious about anything, but are to bring everything in life to the Lord in prayer.
• Any inward-focused worries are to be replaced with God-honouring, God-focused, God-dependent prayer.
• In prayer, we talk to God.
• When we worry, we focus on the circumstances of life, but in prayer, we focus on our Heavenly Father.
• Worry is self-centred and selfish and is rooted in the sin of unbelief, but prayer is God-centred and pleasing to Him, for prayer is built on a heart that trusts His Word and depends upon Him for all our needs.
• True prayer comes from a worshipful heart of thanksgiving and praise that is looking to the Lord by faith to supply everything we need, according to His riches in glory.
• When the prayer of faith sees the Lord as the sole supplier of our every need, we should be anxious for nothing but trust Him in everything.

• Just as Christ's life witnessed of His oneness and unity with the Father, so His prayer for you and me is that our lives are to be one with Him and in unity with each other so that the world may know that You sent Me and that You have loved them as you loved Me.

• Prayer is a direct line into the throne-room of God, and how often when we face the onslaught of the enemy and seem submerged in difficulties and dangers, do we cry out to the Lord and earnestly beseech Him to show us the way we should go and tell us the things we should do?
• God looks on the heart, and He knows the motive behind each prayer request.
• Whether their plea was a genuine desire to follow God's leading or the insincere prayer of a rebellious people, God only knows, for He alone is able to read the thoughts and hearts of His people!
• While the eyes of the Lord look to and fro for a man whose heart is right before Him, there are often times when dishonest prayer requests and insincere intercessions are made to the Lord from an unbelieving and rebellious heart.
• Some suggest that this prayer request was genuine, while others suggest they wanted God to endorse their own ungodly decisions as an 'insurance policy'.
• It is quite likely the prayer request came from some genuinely frightened people who had seen the fulfilment of Jeremiah's warning words, watched their fellow Israelites being taken into captivity, and did not know what to do.

• He describes the unique, interdependent relationship that exists within marriage and points out that any sexual abstinence should not deprive the other another of their conjugal rights, but should be mutually agreed when they engage in seasons of fasting and prayer.

• May it be our daily prayer that those who do not rejoice in Christ Jesus as Saviour, come to a saving knowledge of His grace and mercy, while it is still today.

• Paul was also a man of prayer, and we know that he prayed specifically and continuously for the needs of the saints of God who lived in various regions of Asia minor.
• But Paul's earnest desire to visit the saints in Rome was uppermost in his heart and this yearning desire was reflected in his prayer: I unceasingly make mention of you, always in my prayers, he wrote, making my earnest request - if perhaps now, at last, by the will of God, I may succeed in coming to you.
• But there is one very notable thing about which we should take account - for despite the earnest desire of Paul's heart to visit the great city of Rome and give mutual encouragement to the saints who lived there, his prayer was that his journey would be in accordance with the will of God.

• And Paul reminds us that the best way to react to anxious thoughts is to cast all our care upon Jesus and to take all our needs, necessities, concerns, and cares to the Lord in prayer, but to do so with thanksgiving and praise.

• And so He called out, giving a loving response to their prayer without any delay: But immediately Jesus spoke to them saying, 'Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.'Did you see that?

• Whether it was seeking refuge from His enemies, in deep repentance for His transgressions, or to worship and glorify God, the foundation upon which the prayer and praises of David rested, was the righteousness, faithfulness, and goodness of God.

• We are to be watchful in prayer, live in the unity of the Spirit, and have a fervent love for all our brothers and sisters in Christ.

• By God's grace, He is using the Body, the Bride of Christ - which is the Church, to stand in the gap for Israel by prayer, supplication, and through the proclamation of the good news that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and Saviour of the world.

• We are to be joyful in hope, patient in tribulation, and persistent in prayer.

• They journeyed together in prayer and praise, as they started to ascend the holy hill of Zion.

• Aaron and the priests were the ones who had the authority to pronounce the blessing, protection, peace, and mercy on the people, because the Aaronic priesthood had been set apart, by the Lord, to act as human mediators between man and God. Aaron and his descendants were commanded to pronounce a very particular blessing over Israel - a blessing that invoked God, Himself, to graciously bless His people. The priests of the Lord were commanded by the Lord, to call on the Lord to pronounce a prayer of blessing over His people.
• It was Aaron and his spiritual descendants who were commanded to make this appeal for God's blessing, on behalf of His people - so that God Himself would hear and answer their prayer.
• But in this world, we who are Christ's Body have similarly been commanded to pray for one another and to intercede on behalf of other people - to pray without ceasing and to be devoted to prayer.  God loves to bless His people, but He also wants His people to call on Him to ask for His blessings.

• Luke further informs us that Christ was in prayer when the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form, like a Dove, and a voice from heaven declared, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.

• On many occasions, the resentful king sought to take the young man's life and in this psalm, we find David once more fleeing from his enemy, and crying out to the Lord to save him, to vindicate him, to hear his prayer, and to rescue him from the violent men who sought to take his life.

• Paul was a man of prayer, no matter where he went.
• But prayer as always needs to flow from a humble heart that overflows with reverence, praise, worship, and thanksgiving.

• The word 'sanctify' means 'set apart' and in this amazing high priestly prayer, where Jesus prays for his disciples to be 'set apart unto God' through the truth of the Word of God, He also sanctifies Himself: For their sakes I sanctify Myself so that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

• In 2 Chronicles, we read that humbling oneself before God is linked with earnest prayer, seeking God's face, and turning from every wicked way, for humbling oneself before the Lord, enables the grace of God to flow freely into our hearts and breathes spiritual revival into our soul.

• During the cool of the evening and in the nighttime hours, He would regain His strength through prayer, praise, fellowship with the Father, and restful sleep.

• The Lord answered Nehemiah's earnest prayer and moved king Artaxerxes to write a decree, granting him the opportunity to return to Jerusalem and the resources to rebuild the city walls and its gates.

• Neither the ravages of the old sin nature nor the temptations of the enemy who seeks our destruction, can separate us from the love of God or remove the hope that is ours, in Christ Jesus our Lord.Paul’s dear desire for the Body of Christ is translated into the most beautiful, intercessory prayer: Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
• Paul's prayer is that we all may overflow and abound with that blessed hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Such a prayer can only be accomplished through the supernatural work of the indwelling Holy Spirit within the heart and life of a spiritual man or woman.

• But he was also a man of prayer.
• Let us be faithful in prayer and let us be diligent to live a life of faith and to walk in spirit and truth with our heavenly Father.

• Paul teaches the Philippian Christians: IF they are anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication make their requests known to God with a thankful heart, THEN the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
• This is achieved through humble praise, reverent prayer, grateful thanks, and a submissive heart that has faith in God's Word and trusts that God will keep His Word, in all things.

• He proved His authority on earth to forgive sins by saying to the paralyzed man: Arise, and take up thy bed and walk, and He proclaimed His authority in the Temple of God when He accused the rulers of Israel, with the blistering words: My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of thieves.

• Paul's love for these believers was reflected in his deep and earnest concern for them, as he constantly made mention of them to the Lord in prayer.
• Let us seek to develop the same deep and loving concern for all our brothers and sisters in Christ, as we, like Paul, lift them up in earnest prayer to our Father in heaven.

• Not only does he give them a final reminder of their Christian duty; to devote themselves to prayer, maintain an attitude of thanksgiving, conduct themselves with wisdom and grace, and make the most of their opportunity to speak of Christ, but he also asks them to pray for his own ministry; that the Lord would open doors for him and his team to share the gospel of grace and the mystery of Christ, and for him to receive wisdom to know when to speak and when to remain silent. 
• Maybe she was a woman of prayer or a lady who simply used her generous nature to encourage the saints and edify the body, but the name of 'Nympha' and her simple home-based ministry in Laodicea has been celebrated by centuries of believers who have read the book of Colossians.

• Prayer is a great privilege for the Christian, for it affords us an audience at the throne of grace, for mercy to find help in time of need.
• And the book of James both begins and ends with the 'prayer of faith'.
• At the beginning, we are warned against being a double-minded Christian, where we pray with doubt in our hearts, and right at the end of his letter we discover that the effective, fervent prayer of the righteous man, has its roots in trusting God and believing His Word.
• The final section of the epistle to James, encourages prayer in times of suffering, in times of rejoicing, and also in times of sickness.
• No matter what we are facing, we are not only encouraged to pray for ourselves and others, but we are also instructed to ask for prayer, when we ourselves are in need.
• For God does not always answer our prayer for healing in the way we would expect, and illness is not always the direct result of personal sin.
• The anointing of a sick body was indeed a medical practice during the times of Christ, and God often combines natural medication with supernatural healing, but James clearly is identifying i) illness, and ii) anointing with oil in verse 14 with a) illness and b) the prayer of faith in verse 15.
• James' instructions to both the sick person and to church elders is simply an outward demonstration of an inward trust in God; a prayer of faith.
• Whether we are in good health of suffering some malady, whether we are an elder in a church assembly or not, let us remember that prayer is a great privilege for all Christians, but let it be the 'prayer of faith'.
• Whether we are asking for prayer or responding to a call to pray for others, may our outward actions reflect an inward dependence upon God, knowing that the effective, fervent prayer of a trusting child of God avails much.

• Others returned to rebuild the city walls and restore the city gates with Nehemiah, who returned joyfully when his prayer had been answered.

• The prayer of Solomon and the declaration he made as he prepared to take the reins of government from his father David, contain a prayerful acclamation that every child of God should seek after; an understanding heart, the wisdom to discern between good and evil, and the recognition that the God of Israel is the supreme Ruler of the universe and the only righteous Judge of heaven and earth.

• It is especially relevant when we have had to wait patiently for an answer to our prayer, as did David, or when God has graciously delivered us in ways that so often exceed our expectations or imagination.

• What a beautiful opening prayer we discover Paul writing to his beloved friend from his restrictive prison cell, and what wise instructions he gave - wisdom we all need to heed.

• He trusted the word of the angel who came from God in answer to Paul's prayer, and this child of God knew that even the raging ocean and the loss of the vessel on which he was travelling would be used to fulfil the plans and purposes of God: All things work together for good for those that love God, for those that are called, according to His purpose.

• But it also caused him to turn to the Lord with a pleading prayer of repentance and an urgent petition for God to move in the lives of His people.
• It was following his repentant prayer and urgent request for God to fulfil His promises to Israel and to do mighty things within the nation, that God took Nehemiah and used him in a wonderful way to oversee the rebuilding of the walls of the holy city of Jerusalem.
• We can seek the Lord in prayer and offer ourselves as a living sacrifice - to be used in whatever way He wills OR we can creep into a corner and pretend that things are not as bad as they seem.

• Were we to do everything in word and in deed in the name of the Lord Jesus and live our lives in total dependence upon Him through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving and praise, how honouring this would be to our Heavenly Father.

• To be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication to talk to the Lord, in our own words, and in the quietness of 'spirit to Spirit' communion, to tell God what are our needs, to talk to Him about the things that so often cause us to fret and worry, and to thank Him for all he has done for us.

• Paul touches briefly on numerous qualities and characteristics that should be the hallmark of a child of God who is walking in spirit and truth, encouraging us to be kindly affectionate to each other; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, diligent in prayer, and given to hospitality.

• Christ had already offered a powerful prayer of pardon for His murderers, and a precious promise of assurance to the repentant, dying thief.

• I wonder whether it was Christ's gracious prayer of forgiveness that prompted his requests when, with a repentant heart he cried, This man has done nothing wrong, and then turning towards the Lord and pleaded, Jesus, remember me when you come into Your kingdom.I doubt that the thieving criminal expected to hear Christ's merciful reply, Today you will be with Me in paradise, nor would he have anticipated the wonderful joy into which he would shortly enter.

• Let his prayer become sin. 
• But we should always approach 'imprecatory' prayer with godly wisdom, under His guidance, and for His greater glory.

• The quiet, unassuming prayer life of the Lord Jesus was very different from the showy pomposity of Israel's religious leaders, whose presumptuous prayers were designed for the ears of other people and were not offered to our Father in heaven.
• The intimate prayer life of the Lord Jesus with His Heavenly Father, was very different from anything the world had ever witnessed before.
• 'The Lord's Prayer' was given in response to that request and has become somewhat of a set invocation for many religious denominations, and indeed it is lovely to reverently pray through the words that Christ first shared with His disciples.
• 'The Lord's Prayer' was not representative of Christ's personal prayer-life, but an example of how sinners, saved by grace, should pray to our Heavenly Father.
• The instruction Christ was giving us in this request was about developing dependent faith in the child of God, and the prayer requests that we make to the Lord are designed to increase that faith and to enlarge in us a loving trust in our Heavenly Father and a trusting love for our gracious Lord.
• We have a God Who answers prayer... and as God is petitioned, day by day, as the great Provider of all daily needs, so faith in Him and His promised Word increases with every tick of the clock.

• Then Paul prayed a most beautiful and exemplary prayer, for the believers in Ephesus - a prayer that has blessed countless Christians throughout the dispensation of grace.
• The dear people to whom the letter was addressed, and for whom Paul had uttered his heartfelt prayer, were the Christians in Ephesus.

• MY house shall be called a house of prayer, was the one claim that so infuriated these hypocritical, religious leaders, for this was a direct claim by Christ Himself to His eternal Deity.

• Indeed, the proof of Paul's deep love towards these Christians was that he lifted them up, in continuous, fervent prayer to God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

• Paul opens the chapter with instructions on prayer and supplication for all people - including kings and those in authority.
• When men and women maintain a close relationship with their Heavenly Father through intercession and prayer for others, it engenders an increasingly intimate relationship with God, concern for our fellow man, and an inner beauty which is most likely to be manifest in a gracious and attractive spirit, yet a modest exterior.

• If the story had ended at this point, it would have been a sad state of affairs, but following in the footsteps of the Master we hear Stephen's gracious prayer of forgiveness being offered up to His God and Saviour: Falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them!' and having said this, Stephen fell asleep.
• For 2000 years, God has stayed his hand of judgement on a Christ-rejecting sinful world, answering the prayer of Stephen that Jew and Gentile alike have been offered the free gift of salvation by grace through faith in Christ and brought into the family of God.

• Christ's prayer and intercession in John 17 is our only opportunity to take a peep behind the scenes of Christ's intercourse with His Heavenly Father.
• Christ's prayer for them was that the Father would keep them in the world as they proclaimed the good news of the glorious gospel of Christ to a lost and dying world.
• And Christ's prayer for you and for me, and for all who have believed through the word of those early apostles, was for a unity in the spirit.
• Christ's high priestly prayer for us is that we may all be one; that we may be united together in the bond of peace through the Word of truth: That they may be one, even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

• He had manifested God's name and revealed God's words to those that God had given Him, and in His High Priestly prayer Christ was finally able to announce: They received Your Word and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.

• It also records the powerful prayer of the helpless little remnant of believers who cry out for His help and salvation.
• The prayers of Old Testament saints, Tribulation saints, and Church Age saints, are heard and answered by God, for He knows the pleadings of our heart before we translate them in prayer.

• Prayer is a precious privilege that all who are born from above have received from Almighty God.
• Prayer can be powerful - but prayer is simply the means we have been given to approach our Heavenly Father, in faith... for God alone is the power behind our prayer.
• Christ gave us a pattern of prayer, and He instructed us to pray to the Father.
• Paul urges that prayer requests, intercessions, and thanksgiving, be made for ALL men and we are given a list of specific people to pray for, for kings and all who are in authority.

• For the Christian parent, appropriate training; vocationally, morally, intellectually, musically, educationally, spiritually, or simply encouraging the development of deportment or the promotion of individual gifts and talents, should always be founded on the Word of God and bathed in daily prayer, as day by day they seek to set an example of right living and of godly conduct.

• As so, as often happens in Scripture, Jeremiah's prophetic disclosure was accompanied by an important time of prayer, petition, and pleading for his people.
• Right in the middle of his prayer, the Lord told his servant that following the destruction of Jerusalem and dispersion of His people, due to their sin, there was HOPE because He purposed in His heart to gather his scattered nation and bless them mightily.

• The words being spoken by David in this beautiful prayer, are words that should be in our heart and on our lips - morning, noon, and night.
• No surprise that we read how David translated his own awe, wonder, thanksgiving, and praise into this beautiful prayer to the Lord.
• The words David spoke in this beautiful prayer, should be in our own hearts and on our lips as well.
• David found courage to pray his prayer to the Almighty God Who had proved faithful and true throughout past generations: Now, O Lord GOD, David continued, You are God, and Your words are truth, and You have promised this good thing to Your servant.

• Daniel did not simply sit down and wait for Jeremiah's prophecy to be fulfilled, but he was proactive in seeking the Lord in prayer and intercession for his people.
• He confessed the sins they had committed and recognised they were not worthy of God's grace and deliverance, but his prayer was founded on the holy name and the unchanging faithfulness of God towards His people and he wept, Do not delay, because YOUR city and YOUR people are called by YOUR HOLY NAME.
• It was for the glory of God that Daniel continued his earnest prayer vigil on behalf of his people.

• He was cup-bearer to Artaxerxes the Persian king, and his prayer to the Lord was answered when the king heard his lament and authorised the rebuilding of the city, with its walls and gates.
• After a period of national fasting, individual repentance, prayer, and the confession of their sin (and those of their Jewish forefathers), the entire Jewish nation stood up as one, to listen to the public reading of the Law of Moses and to give heed to the nation's priestly leaders who rehearsed a national prayer of praise and thanksgiving before the Lord.
• Then You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, the prayer continued: Your signs were against all his servants and all the people of his land.

• How important it is for parents to bring their children and little ones to know the Lord in person and talk with Him in prayer.

• We should approach him in worship, prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.

• The first thing is to devote ourselves to prayer and to keep alert in the exercise of prayer while maintaining an attitude of thanksgiving and praise.
• Prayer is the Christian's lifeline to the Lord, without which it is impossible to live in the light of His love and in unity with one another.
• Through prayer, we are admitting our dependence upon our Heavenly Father.
• Through prayer we call out for Him to work in our lives.
• Through prayer, we express a living trust that He will answer our call and supply our needs, according to His riches in glory.
• Without prayer as a focal part of our day, we are exhibiting our independence from Him and demonstrating a self-sufficient attitude that dishonours His name. 
• Paul is not only urging these believers to pray for their own needs and to maintain holy fellowship with the Lord, but gives them guidance on topics for prayer and asks them to pray for him and his ministry: Pray at the same time for us as yourselves, Paul writes: Pray that God will open up to us a door for the Word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned. 
• Paul was writing his letter from a prison cell and was not too proud to ask these believers to lift him up in prayer, to pray that God would open a door of opportunity to preach the good news of Christ to lost souls in need of redemption.
• His prayer request was not for his own safety or to escape from prison, but that the gospel of grace and the mystery of Christ could reach more people.
• Paul was the great apostle to the Gentiles whom Jesus called personally to be His minister, but his prayer request to the Colossians showed a humble spirit and identifies the ever-present need to keep praying for pastors, teachers, and ministers of the gospel, both at home and abroad.

• Paul was a man who interceded for others in the Body of Christ, and often we discover him to be lifting up Christian brothers and sisters in pleading prayer, earnestly asking the Lord that all who are born from above might mature in the faith, and grow in grace in accordance with the riches of God's super-abundant glory and His perfect will.
• Paul's prayer is that the Body of Christ would be strengthened in the inner man according to the riches of God's infinite glory and the power of His everlasting might, majesty, dominion, and power.
• This verse in Ephesians is only the first part of an amazing and powerful prayer, for Paul's prayer continues: So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
• Let us emulate Paul's passion and his powerful prayer as we also bow our knee to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and let us also intercede for our brothers and sisters in Christ, that each may receive a super-abundant outpouring of multiplied blessings which cascade from God's own divine riches and infinite kindness into their inner soul.

• One important topic that threads its way throughout Christ's life and teaching is the matter of prayer.
• The Jewish leaders taught them to love their fellow man and hate their enemy - but Christ taught them to love their enemies as well as their neighbours, and to lift them up to their Heavenly Father in prayer.
• Jesus wanted His followers to understand that prayer is a cry to the Father-heart of God from His dependent children, and told us, When you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father Who is in secret, and your Father Who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
• He even gave His disciples a model prayer - often called 'The Lord's Prayer' or 'The Disciple's Prayer' as an aid in establishing the sound principles and practice of prayer.
• And in this verse, Jesus expands His lessons on prayer and how to pray aright.
• We are to ask and keep on asking, with full assurance that He hears our cries and answers the prayer that is offered in faith and in line with His will.
• Prayer, however, is the greatest weapon that God has given to His children, and we have been instructed to pray without ceasing - and having done all to PRAY.
• Let us be persistent in our prayer life and impassioned in our praying.
• Let us ask in faith, seek diligently, and knock frequently, knowing that He is a God that hears and answers prayer.
• And let us use the privilege of prayer wisely, reverently, discreetly, and for His greater praise and glory.

• He lifted up his voice in prayer and supplication to the great and awesome God in Whom he trusted.
• Nehemiah's prayer was not a single, off-the-cuff prayer.
• It was prayer that underpinned his whole life.
• Let us not try to use our own influence to address the important issues of our time without first bringing it to the Lord in prayer and supplication - for there is no situation that the Lord cannot solve.

• Inspired by the Holy Ghost, Paul's prayer for all believers was that they might be filled with all the fullness of God, to His praise and glory.
• But at the start of this third chapter of Ephesians, just as Paul was about to explain the reason that he was bowed in prayer before the Father, his thoughts were interrupted, and a parenthetical passage was inserted.
• Paul knows what is ours in Christ, and his prayer is that we appropriate all that is ours by faith.
• Paul's prayer is that we understand who we are in Christ NOW: that we believe this Word and that we reckon on its truth.
• For this reason, Paul bows his knee in prayer before the Father.
• May we not only know and appropriate all that is ours in Christ Jesus as recorded in those first few chapters of Ephesians and other beautiful passages, but may we also bow our knees in prayer that the one new man in Christ may appropriate all that is ours in Him.

• Like us, they knew that the Lord is faithful to hear our needy prayer and quick to answer our pitiful cries for help.

• It is the one who trusts in Christ that can draw near to the Lord with the full assurance of faith - and in prayer and in praise.It is the one that has been washed by His cleansing flood and covered in His garment of righteousness that has boldness to enter into the holiest of all.

• However, the sacrifice of prayer and praise and the offering of thanksgiving and worship to the Lord, at the break of day, in the cool of the evening, and at other times, should be a joy for each of us, together with the knowledge that we can boldly approach the Throne of Grace any time of the day or night, for mercy to find grace in time of need.

• Daniel's 70 'weeks' is considered to be the backbone of Bible prophecy, and was given to this greatly beloved man of prayer following 21 days of godly intercession and deep repentance on behalf of his people, Israel, and their holy city-Jerusalem.

• Daniel was a man of prayer who studied the Scriptures and took God at His word.
• But Daniel trusted God and maintained a godly prayer-life.
• And it was while Daniel was praying; while Daniel was confessing his sin and the sin of his people and presenting his supplication to the Lord, that God answered his prayer.
• Not only did Daniel's prayer include confession of sin and rest securely on the promises, precepts, and prophecies of God, but it also was founded on a profound understanding and total acceptance of the perfect character and holy attributes of God.
• Daniel was an old man when he prayed and confessed before the Lord, but his beautiful prayer and the prophetic answer that he received from God would impact millions of men and women down through centuries of time who have been brought to an understanding of the 70-weeks of Daniel, which were determined for Israel and Jerusalem: To finish transgression, to make an end of sin, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most High.

• When all the preparations had been made, the king blessed the Lord and led the congregation of Israel in a wonderful prayer of blessing, thanksgiving, and jubilant praise, which began, Blessed are You, O Lord God of Israel our Father, forever and ever. For the first time in Scripture, we see the Lord being referred to as 'Father' by the people of God.

• Christ was in prayer when the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended from heaven and rested upon Him.

• We have been given good instructions in Scripture on how to live: In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving we are to make our requests known to God, for His grace is sufficient.

• Just before He was taken from His disciples, the Lord Jesus prayed the most beautiful and profound prayer that the mortal ear has ever witnessed.

• David's prayer in Psalm 51: Take not Your Holy Spirit from me, can never be uttered by Christians, for we have the permanently indwelling Spirit of God.

• But his prayer was also presented as a love-offering to the Lord - a sacrificial prayer and offering of praise, and David wanted his sacrifice of prayer and praise to be holy, and acceptable to the Lord.
• May my prayer be counted as incense before You.  he pleaded, May the lifting up of my hands be like the evening offering.
• Early each morning, Jesus would come to His Father in prayer, and at the close of the day, His greatest joy and delight was to rest in the presence of His Father and enjoy sweet commune with Him.
• His was a life of faith, a life of prayer, a life of praise, a life of worship - a life of sacrifice.

• Prayer was the open door of fellowship between God the Father and God the Son as He lived His life on earth as the sinless Son of Man.
• And prayer is the incredible privilege that has been bestowed upon all God's blood-bought children.

• This beautiful prayer is as much for the pauper as for the prince, for the preacher as for his pupil, for the aged saint as for the new-born babe in Christ.
• The dear desire of King David was to defend His people from their enemies in the day of trouble, through prayer.
• This was not only a prayer that David prayed for the people of Israel, but it is also a prayer that every child of God can pray for one another, and for ourselves.
• The attitude that is reflected in David's beautiful, pleading prayer is of the spiritual man who seeks first the kingdom of God, and has chosen to have the King of righteousness, seated on the throne of his life.
• And what a wonderful prayer for each of us to offer to the Lord, for the people God has placed in our lives.

• The prayer of all prayers was prayed by the Lord Jesus as the pivotal hour in the history of the ages had finally arrived.
• Every act and action, every temptation and trial, every pain, and every prayer, was preparing Him for this ultimate hour, without which the sins of the world could never have been forgiven and salvation could never have been procured.

• The example of Paul's heart-felt concern and his prayer for grace, mercy, and peace over the life of Timothy, is an example to each one of us as we lift up our brothers and sisters in Christ to the Lord - in these increasingly evil days when the devil, as a roaring lion, continues to prowl about - seeking whom he may devour.
• May God pour out His grace, mercy, and peace on all His children, until the day of Christ Jesus our Lord, and may we all follow the example of Paul in his ceaseless prayer-life, for all who have been saved by grace through faith in Christ.

• From beginning to end, this psalm of David is a petition and prayer to the Lord that covers every possible eventuality that is likely to touch each of our lives at one time or another.
• He calls out to the Lord to hear his prayer, to pay heed to his supplication, and to answer him according to His faithfulness, for the psalmist knows that the Lord is faithful and will answer him in His righteousness.
• Day by day, let us rejoice in the Lord our God, and lift up our hearts in prayer and praise, for He alone is worthy.

• There is no partiality with God and there should be none on our side either, for whether Jew or Gentile, male or female, young or old, bond or free... the Lord alone is worthy of ALL our combined praises and worship and His name should be lifted up in continuous prayer and never-ceasing jubilation by those that are called by His name.
• When the Lord has stolen our heart and saved our soul, it should be the desire of everyman to unite their voice together as one in jubilant songs of worship and exultant psalms of prayer and praise.

• And as the Psalmist trawls the depth of its treasures, his whispered prayer is: Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your Law.
• As we reach for our Bible, our prayer should mirror that of the Psalmist: Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your Law.
• Day by day, our prayer should be: Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your Law.

• They had reverted to spiritual infancy and needed to be brought back to the simple yet staggering message of the Cross, with its focus on Christ and call for a holy life of self-sacrifice, prayer, and praise.

• At the start of His ministry, Jesus had taught His disciples the importance of the prolonged persistent prayer of faith.

• So David began his prayer, in Psalm 56, by crying out for divine help, and godly intervention.
• The supplicatory prayer of this oppressed servant of God quickly turned into a declaration of God's precious promises, which remain as relevant to God's servants in the 21st century, as they were when David was being hotly pursued by Saul, and his enemies were constantly attacking him.

• He realised the importance of prayer in dealing with problems that might arise in his own ministry, as well as in the corporate Body of Christ.
• Paul understood that the practice of prayer would result in spiritual growth and maturity in the faith, because of the power of God and His precious promises.
• It is important to note that Paul was not above asking for prayer from his brothers and sisters in Christ. He was convinced that the Lord is a God who hears and answers prayer, and that God is ready and willing to respond to our prayers and intercessions.
• He wanted all his readers to realise that genuine prayer demonstrates a deep dependence on God, and it is an activity that can help to bring us to a mature faith in Him so that we may be complete in Christ, lacking nothing.
• He wanted their prayer ministry to become an important part of their daily practice.
• What a privilege that we Christians in this 21st century, can take part in the same important prayer ministry with which Paul and the Thessalonians were involved.
• May we exhibit the same care and concern for the lost souls of our unbelieving world as Paul, partnering in prayer with the Thessalonians, showed to the perverted city of Corinth.
• May we be earnest in supplications, and stand firm in our personal prayer ministry, resolving to pray earnestly and keep on praying that the gospel of Christ is effective today, that it will spread rapidly in these closing days of the Church dispensation, and that God will be greatly glorified. 

• God knows the importance of praise, the power of prayer, and the benefits that accompany a thankful heart in the life of a believer, which is why so many writers of Scripture exhort us to rejoice in the Lord, to pray without ceasing, and in everything to give thanks.

• His greeting to these believers and his fervent prayer for their spiritual development, godly discernment, and increasing depth of love for one another, seems contradictory to the chains that confined him, but Paul rejoices for this great opportunity to share the gospel of Christ with condemned sinners.

• Early in His ministry, He cleansed the Temple in Jerusalem by overthrowing the tables of the money-changers proclaiming, My Father’s House is a house of prayer for all people, but you have made it a den of thieves.

• But underpinning all his comparisons of a holy God with sinful man, and shining through all his contrasts of the eternal Creator with the fallen race of men, is a prayer that God has seen fit to answer through the life, death, and Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
• And so he concludes with this beautiful prayer: Let the beauty and favour of the Lord our God be upon us.

• An important thing to note is that this fresh new filling was a sovereign act of God, which took place under His authority in response to prayer, and for a particular purpose.

• Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance, was Paul's prayer and blessing for the Thessalonian believers, as he prepared to draw his letter to a close, May the Lord be with you all!

• Oh yes, John had been chosen by the God of truth to proclaim the gospel of truth, and he had been witness to Christ's final prayer for the Church, which is His Body: I have given them the words that You gave Me, and they have received them and have come to know the truth... sanctify them by the truth; Your Word is truth.

• Let us, like Paul, be ardent admirers and reverent worshippers of the Lord Jesus, and let us soak all we do for the Lord in humble prayer, as we listen to His guiding voice in our hearts, praying, Thy will not mine be done.

• Let us nurture that attitude of prayer as we wake in the morning, lie down at night, and undertake the necessary duties of the day.

• He walked with Jesus along the way and witnessed Christ's powerful prayer in the garden of Gethsemane.

• Despite his humble confession to God and his magnificent prayer at the dedication of the Temple, Solomon set out to discover the meaning of life using his own reasoning power and without the leading and guidance of God.

• In a few, short, crisp verses, Paul sums up all that is necessary to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord and in verse 12, we are encouraged to rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
• To be constant in prayer is to recognise that prayer is one of the chief weapons of the spiritual warfare in which all Christians are engaged.
• As saints of God we should all be instant in prayer, constantly lifting our hearts and voice to the Lord in prayers of thanks and praise and intercession and requests, and laying them before the throne of God's grace in the name of JESUS - knowing that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.

• How necessary it is to always recognise the hand of God, touching lives through prayer.

• The cries and pleadings of the saints continue to rise up to our Father in heaven as God's 'called out' people persevere in prayer and lift up their voices in anguished cries, as they plead for justice in this evil world.

• He helps us in our prayer life and guides us into all truth.

• And so it was that Jesus prayed His wonderful High Priestly prayer, and much of His petition to the Father was in connection with those He would leave behind in this God-hating, Christ-rejecting, sinful world which is in the control and clutches of satanic forces.
• The first thing that Christ prayed for His disciples was that the Father would keep them 'in His name' Christ's prayer was that God would keep them secure in the truth of the Word, which would unite them together in godly love.

• Prayer and praise are two vital elements in the Christian life, and yet they are perhaps the two essential components of a believer's spiritual walk that are most frequently lacking.
• Too often, prayer and praise have been infiltrated with new age philosophies, tainted with occultic thinking, or simply infused with a worldly mindset.
• And yet, godly living through ceaseless prayer and thankful praise, is the Father's will for all His children - for it demonstrates a trust in the Lord which pleases His heart and glorifies His holy name.
• There is much need for prayer and intercession in this suffering world, and there is much cause for praise and rejoicing... for God's gracious sufficiency.
• Suffering is the segment of life that should cause us to engage in much prayer and earnest entreaties, while Christ's gracious provision should elicit much rejoicing and cheerfulness of heart.
• Indeed, Paul exhorts, in everything by prayer and supplication, with praise and thanksgiving, make your requests known to Him.
• In every circumstance of life it should be a duty and delight to fly to the Lord in prayer - especially in times of trouble, for He is a God Whose ears are open to the cries of His children, and Who is our ever present help in times of need.
• Indeed, no matter what changing moods and interchanging moments we face in life, we are wise when we lift up cheerful hearts of joyful thanksgiving to the Lord... through continuous prayer and trusting praise.
• James, in the closing chapter of his epistle, repeatedly emphasises the need for prayer and the importance of praise.
• His arm is ever-ready to provide the help we need, and His ear is always open to our cry, but He wants us to approach Him through earnest prayer and cheerful praise so that our faith in Him and our trust in His Word may germinate, grow, blossom, and bud - and bring forth much fruit to His praise and glory, as we journey through life to our promised heavenly home.

• Psalm 51 is a penitential prayer to God, where David confesses his grievous faults before the Lord and seeks the remission of his sin.
• The king's sincere lament and deep contrition for his ungodly actions against Bathsheba, Uriah, and the entire nation of Israel, is often used by believers as a model prayer for confession.

• Both joy in the Lord and gentleness of heart are attitudes that should permeate the soul and spirit of the righteous, for we are called upon to: Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, knowing that when we do so: The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, in a deepening knowledge of Jesus Christ, our gentle God and gracious Saviour.

• As they waited in Jerusalem for the promise of the Spirit, the 11 apostles were continually united in prayer along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and Christ's brothers.

• Whether he was imprisoned for his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, travelling on his missionary journeys to far-flung places, or simply employed in his craft of tent-making, Paul's heart was ever open in intercessions and prayer towards his fellow believers.

• Let us use our time wisely, for we can come with confident access into the presence of God in prayer and praise, through faith in Christ.

• This was not a shallow prayer with a pretty petition, which asked for wide-sweeping blessings and ended with the obligatory 'amen'!
• It was not the words that Hannah spoke which reached the ear of the Lord, for her pain was so deep that her prayer was silent.
• It was not the length or style of her prayer which moved the heart of the Lord.
• May we learn to pray in spirit and truth and to trust the Lord with our whole heart, knowing that He is a God Who hears and answers prayer.
• May we seek to align our prayers with His will for our life and not regard prayer as a technique to twist God to do what we want.

• Like Adam, they also rebelled in prideful disobedience, but Isaiah, in this beautiful repentant prayer for grace and mercy towards His people pleaded, Yet LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our Potter; we all are the work of Your hands.

• Let us in everything, by prayer and supplication, with humble thanksgiving of heart, praise our heavenly Father Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ... in Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting, according to the riches of His grace.

• God has so often been portrayed as the faithful Shepherd of His people, and in his prayer to the holy One of Israel, Micah is asking the Lord to continue to feed His flock and to graciously shepherd His chosen people.

• He exhorts us to engage in ongoing rejoicing and ceaseless prayer, as we take every thought captive to Christ.

• In our Christian life, we are entreated to continue steadfastly in prayer, to pray continuously, to present our needs before our heavenly Provider, to lift up others to the eternal throne of grace, and to bend our ear to His gentle promptings.
• Paul was a man who devoted himself to pray for the saints and to continue steadfastly in prayer.
• In this verse, he calls the believers in Colossae to become prayer warriors: Devote yourselves to prayer... he writes, keeping alert in prayer, with an attitude of thanksgiving.
• Devotion to prayer meant to continue steadfastly in prayer by coming to the throne of grace for mercy to find help in times of need.
• We are to persevere in prayer; to commit to pray and not to give up, especially when the answer seems a long time in coming.
• We are to persist in prayer, even when faced with mounting difficulties and discouragements, and we are to pray daily, to pray without ceasing, and to take up our cross and saturate it in prayer. 
• Prayer is to become as regular as breathing, but too often prayer is the first Christian 'duty' to be dropped when life starts to close-in on us, or time seems to be at a premium.
• Often, an irregular prayer life is the first slippery step on the downward path to complacency, carnality, and an ineffective Christian witness.
• Prayer is the means to maintain unbroken fellowship with our Heavenly Father, and unless we develop persistence in prayer and devote ourselves to praying, we are in danger of becoming lazy, disinterested, and compromised in our faith.
• Devotion to prayer is to ensure that every piece of our spiritual armour has been prayerfully strapped on.
• In Ephesians, Paul calls us to: Pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and stay alert in prayer, with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.
• Prayer is not sitting for a few minutes with hands folded, and eyes shut tight.
• Prayer is the tool we have been given to prepare us for the work God has called us to do and to ensure that we are well-prepared when faced with a crisis.
• Prayer is not meant to be saved for a rainy day or only used in an emergency.
• Prayer is our lifeline to the Lord and we should develop an attitude of ceaseless prayer. 
• Continuous, ceaseless, prayer is not being engaged in a prayer closet 24/7, but is developing a habit of prayer.
• It is initiating a mindset of prayer; of keeping the lines of communication to the heavenly throne-room open and clean, as we walk in spirit and truth and abide in Christ, moment by moment.
• During Christ's ordeal in Gethsemane, a number of the disciples fell asleep when their prayer support would have been so welcome, and they had to be admonished: Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.
• We live in fallen bodies with an inherent sin nature and hindering the prayer-life of the saints is a top priority for the enemy of our soul: Keep alert in prayer, we are all charged: Watch and pray, with an attitude of thanksgiving.
• Here in chapter 4, we are instructed: Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.
• Prayer is warmed by worship, petitions are perfected by praise, promises are claimed through a grateful heart, and intercessions are offered in the solemn acknowledgement that we have an audience with the King of kings and Lord of lords.
• Prayer should not be the quick after-thought of a busy believer, but an attitude that permeates one's whole life.
• Prayer should be the in-breathing of our Lord into the inner core of our being and prayer should be the out-breathing of our utter devotion to our Saviour and Lord.

• Close to the top of his list of godly instructions on how to live a fruitful Christian life is: Pray without ceasing; pray continuously, pray and keep on praying. Prayer is fellowship with the Father and was a vital part of Paul's own Christian walk.
• The man or woman who turns often to prayer and maintains a worshipful attitude of prayer towards the Lord, is one who comes boldly to the throne of grace to offer up prayer and praise, supplication and intercessions, petitions and thanksgiving.
• Prayer demonstrates a humble dependence upon God, for prayer is the breath of the dependent soul that touches the heart of the Father.
• The man or woman of prayer is one who desires to maintain close and intimate fellowship with the Lord Jesus.
• Let us live in an attitude of prayer, no matter what activity we are engaged in.

• The first few verses in chapter 2 deal with the power and effectiveness of prayer, in the life of a godly man or woman.
• Paul knew the importance of prayer in the life of all born-again Christians, and urged this godly man to go boldly and ceaselessly to the throne of grace, for help and mercy in time of need.
• Paul knew perfectly well that the prayers, supplications, and intercessions of a righteous man are very effective and can accomplish much, for the Lord Himself is the power behind the prayers of every righteous man, and prayer is both good and acceptable in the sight of the Lord.
• Elsewhere in Scripture, we discover Paul telling believers to be devoted to prayer, to pray without ceasing, to keep alert in prayer, both communal praying and when hidden away in ones private, prayer closet.
• The apostle Peter endorsed the importance Paul placed on prayer, by reminding us: The Lord is not slow to fulfil His promise, as some count slowness; for He is forbearing with all people, and it is not his will that any should perish.

• In his prayer, he reflected on the never-failing goodness of God towards his wayward people.
• Before his prayer, Jeremiah confessed that nothing is too difficult for the Lord Who made the heavens and earth by His power and might, and God in His grace encouraged His servant by saying, Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?

• As the Bride of Christ who is awaiting His soon return, let us join our prayer and praise with the Spirit of God and say, 'Come'.

• A brief look at the gracious life of the Lord Jesus, Whose prayer was always Thy will not mine be done, together with a study of the directives of Paul in his Church epistles, tells us very plainly how God expects each of His children to conduct their lives.

• It is as we earnestly look for Christ's return and hasten its coming through prayer, intercession, and preaching the truth, that the consummation of all things will be accelerated.

• His prayer was not for their general well-being, nor even for the temporal necessities of life.
• His prayer was not that they would become mighty preachers or great evangelists.
• Paul's prayer was a prayer of thanks and rejoicing for their faith, hope, and love, and it was a request to their Heavenly Father that they might be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all wisdom, grace and spiritual understanding.
• Not only was the content and subject matter of Paul's prayer for these saints so significant (where he earnestly prayed for their spiritual wisdom, godly discernment, fruitful lives, and a deepening intimacy with the Lord), but he demonstrated that earnest and frequent prayer for all the Body of Christ should be our own joyful priority.

• It was a song of rejoicing that moved the Lord to act on behalf of His people, Israel, following the pleading prayer of king Jehoshaphat: For when they began singing and praising, the Lord set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so they were routed!

• He held the responsible position of cupbearer to the king, but Nehemiah was a man of God, who was also a man of prayer.
• He gives us some wonderful insights into powerful, prolonged, and effective prayer: For the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
• Artaxerxes did not dismiss his servant's grief as irrelevant, but was moved, by God, to find out if there was any way that he could help him in his distress, and so we read: Then the king said to me, 'What would you request?' Despite being very much afraid, Nehemiah, was a man of prayer who sent a quick, but silent prayer-arrow to God, for both wisdom to speak the right words before the king, and for grace in his master's eyes.
• Although Nehemiah was caught in this dangerous situation, he was so saturated in prayer and accustomed to calling on the name of the Lord, that he was spiritually equipped to shoot his silent supplication to God.
• His quick prayer arrow that sped its way to the Lord was founded on months of prayer, fasting, confession of sin, and pleading his case to God.
• God's ear was attentive towards his servant because he was a faithful prayer warrior who was consistent in his intercessions, prayed continually with all prayer and supplication, and trusted God to fulfil His promises to His people.
• God does not always answer prayer in the way we expect, but will always carry out His plans and purposes for His greater glory and for His servants' eternal joy. 
• In Nehemiah's life, we see the supernatural work of God being carried out in answer to the faithful prayers of His servant, for when plans are conceived in prayer, prayer is the foundation on which God's answer rests.
• May we practice powerful, prolonged, and effective prayer, and be ready to be used by God to fulfil His plans for our life.

• Jesus used areas like prayer and fasting to teach that the sort of external perfection the Jewish rulers demonstrated, fell far short of the inner beauty of a virtuous heart that is acceptable to the Lord.

• He then concluded with a lovely prayer,  The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

• The writer to the Hebrews prayed the most wonderful prayer - that God would prepare and equip all believers in Christ with every good thing that is pleasing to God.
• Not only does this prayer ask that God carry out every good work that is pleasing THROUGH us, but also that He would carry out His good pleasure WITHIN us.
• This is a prayer for both individual and corporate members of Christ's Body to be made one with Him, to be made perfect and entire, and without spot and wrinkle.
• It is a prayer that asks God to do a good work, deep within our core-being, as well as Him working through our outward actions and mental attitudes so that we are pleasing to the Father, in all that we are and all that we do.
• Let us take this wonderful prayer that was inspired by the Holy Spirit to heart.

• Let us in all things, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving and joy, present our souls and bodies as a living sacrifice to God, knowing that He will use the circumstances of our lives for the greater progress of the gospel, if we will simply let Christ rule in our hearts.

• Paul obviously felt the need to pray for the Body of Christ in a way that reflected Christ's own High Priestly prayer - which the Lord Jesus prayed only hours before His own crucifixion (see John 17).

• And let us in everything, by prayer and praise, rejoice in the Lord and abide in His love, for the joy of the Lord is indeed our strength, through time and into eternity.

• He did not insist that he did good works, read his Bible, or stop drinking wine, and the jailer did not have to walk to the front of a big meeting, recite 'the sinner's prayer' or join a church community.

• We are exhorted to be sober in deed and watchful in prayer.

• David has learned that God may delay his deliverances and His answer to prayer may be postponed, but God's delays do not always mean His refusal.
• God often suspends His plans and allows us to wait for answers to prayer as a test of faith and to produce patient endurance in His people and greater glory for Himself.
• We are to walk in His way, trust Him in all things, and in everything by prayer, praise, and supplication, make our requests known to God.

• This beautiful 'high priestly' prayer of the Lord Jesus demonstrates His humble obedience and unreserved dependence upon God.
• This prayer of all prayers also displays His utter submission to God's will and the depth of love He has for His Father.
• And 'though they were to make many more mistakes in the days to come, we discover in His high priestly prayer there is no mention of their faults and failings, but an earnest desire that God the Father would keep them - for they were bought with a price - the precious blood of Christ Jesus our Lord.

• The lilies are clothed and the birds are fed, and yet so often we, who are made in His image and likeness and have been adopted into His heavenly family, fret and worry about many things that should be handed to the Lord in prayer.
• We are similarly informed that He will never allow the righteous to be shaken and to be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, we are to let our requests be made known to God, for when we trust in the Lord with all our heart, His incomprehensible peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

• I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, he wrote, and from the first day until now, I continuously make prayer requests for all of you... with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel. Paul was confident that the good work that God had started in the life of each believer would be brought to fruition in the 'Day of Jesus Christ' - that time when He returns in the clouds, to take us to be with Himself. 
• Should we not all seek to keep one another in joyful remembrance and regularly lift up the body of Christ in prayer and supplication - with thanksgiving?
• In a depressed world that is increasingly focussed on 'self', how important to rejoice in the Lord always, to remember that our blessings come to us continuously from God, to be increasingly thankful for the brothers and sisters He has placed in our path and to lift up one another in prayer and praise with grateful thanks and gracious hearts.

• As believers, we are the corporate Body of Christ, and when two or more members of Christ's Body are united in prayer or praise, thanksgiving or worship, we are in a small way fulfilling Christ's high priestly prayer: That we may be one, even as He is one with the Father.
• What a joy to know that Jesus has promised to work in and through the prayer and praises of His people.
• When we come to the Lord in prayer or praise, we must decrease and He must increase, for there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism into the Body of Christ, and there is one Head, Who is to guard and guide us individually and corporately.
• We must decrease so that it is Christ's beautiful Spirit of unity in the faith that leads us and guides us as we come together in His name - for prayer and petitions, conversation and communion, for a simple communal meal or a meeting of fellowship and fun, for where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.

• The beautiful Temple in Jerusalem was ordained by God to be a sacred house of prayer for all nations.
• But the religious leaders had become proud and rebellious, and instead of it being used for its hallowed purpose of worship and prayer, the holy Temple of God had become a profane place of ungodly merchandise, dishonest trading, and gross malpractice of unprecedented proportion.

• May this prayer be answered in our lives and the lives of those we love.

• However, believers today can never pray such a prayer, for we have the permanently indwelling Spirit of God, Who carries out a myriad of ministries in each of our lives, and equips us with His supernatural strength and never-failing grace for every eventuality in life.
• He draws us closer to Christ and enables us in our prayer life.

• His prayer for these brothers and sisters in Christ was that they would increase in knowledge and all discernment, as they became increasingly conformed into the image and likeness of the Lord Jesus.
• Paul knew that godly wisdom and spiritual understanding have their root in the love of God and his prayer is as much for us today as it was for the Christians at Philippi.
• Indeed, this should also be our continuous prayer for our brothers and sisters in Christ – that our love increases and abounds, as we worship our heavenly King, grow in grace, and develop a more intimate knowledge of God.

• Like so many of Paul's epistles, this second letter to the Thessalonians opens with a prayer of thanksgiving and praise for the faith, hope, love, and patience of these believers, amid the serious trials and tribulation they were facing.

• The life that we live is to be a true reflection of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ Who lived in total dependence upon His Father in heaven, through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, and in willing submission to the leading and guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

• This verse recalls the prayer of a man that is severely afflicted by all the distressing circumstances of life that were battering him.
• The prayer of a frightened man that started with a focus on self and his own mountainous problems, concluded with a prayer of assured faith and worship of his God, the Creator of the world – the Maker of heaven and earth – the omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, all-wise, loving, righteous God of the whole universe – Who knows each of us by name and cares enough to take the difficulties of life to cause us to turn our focus on Christ and not on ourselves.

• Every difficulty he faced was immediately given to His Father in prayer, through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

• We are to expect Him to answer our prayer, but He will do so in His time and in His way, for our greater benefit and for His greater glory.
• The Lord is working in each of our lives from an eternal perspective and we are to develop the attitude that Christ demonstrated throughout His earthly life, as He submitted to the Father: Thy will be done in my life, was His heartfelt prayer.

• David came to an understanding that God was right with him in the midst of all his trials and tribulations, and that God had heard and received his prayer.
• And so David rejoiced with thanksgiving and praise, and prayed: The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer.
• But we need to approach Him reverently, prayerfully, and with confidence that He hears and answers prayer.

• In this astonishing prayer, we get a faint glimpse into the eternal heart of God, as the perfect Son of Man humbly prayed that the Father would once again restore Him to His former place of glory and honour: the resplendent might, majesty, dominion, and power He once enjoyed before the world existed.

• His song of confident praise could be translated into Paul's prayer for the Thessalonians, when he wrote: Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• The confident trust David expressed in God, and the comfort he received from his Saviour, paints a prophetic picture that points to Christ's own confidence in His Heavenly Father to raise Him from the dead, when He prayed His final prayer: Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.

• And like his master, this servant was a man who learned the importance of trusting God in every circumstance of life, and seeking Him in prayer.
• He noticed that the daughters of the men of the city were coming out to draw water and he prayed a simple prayer to the Lord.
• This petition, offered by Eliezer, is the first biblical record of a prayer, asking God for specific guidance.
• His prayer was not only that his mission would be successful, and God's loving-kindness would be shown to his master, but also that God's perfect will would be carried out in the choice of a wife for Isaac.
• His prayer not only dealt with the practical issue of providing sufficient water for his caravan of thirsty camels, but it also demonstrated his desire to fulfil his master's wishes to the best of his ability, and to honour the Lord God in his important quest.
• Before he finished praying, Rebekah arrived at the well and her actions showed... that before Eliezer called on the Lord, his prayer was being answered.
• But it was only as the girl offered to water his ten camels, and proceeded to draw water from the well, that the servant knew his prayer had been heard and answered, and that this was the girl he was to bring to Isaac as wife - that Rebekah was the girl God had chosen.
• Eliezer had learned to trust in the Lord with all his heart and to bring everything to the Lord in prayer.

• Trusting in the power of God and His faithfulness towards His people, together with a dedicated prayer life, is often the process God uses in forwarding His own plans and purposes for the redemption of His people.
• The Lord often combines His divine work with human plans in forwarding His perfect will, when they are birthed in prayer, for the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
• He did not give up in the face of terrible circumstances, but turned to the Lord in prayer, and consciously or unconsciously placed himself at God's disposal.
• He gave the problem to God in prayer, while considering in his mind a good way to achieve his objective.
• The time Nehemiah spent in prayer and intercession for the nation, gave the Lord an opportunity to use His faithful servant in the fulfilment of his heart's desire.
• Similarly, the way God moved the heart of the king to provide everything that was needed for the rebuilding project, was a personal assurance that God had blessed Nehemiah's request and answered his prayer.

• In His final High Priestly prayer, the Lord Jesus prayed that we would be one, even as He and His Father were One - united together with a single focus and a singular resolve, joined as one in our fellowship with God and with one another, and standing firm on the truth of the glorious gospel of Christ.

• But Paul's love for his brothers and sisters in Christ overspills into earnest prayer for them all.
• His prayer was for the blossoming of an over-abounding love in each of their hearts and for the manifestation of deep spiritual discernment in each of their lives.
• Paul did not pray a vague prayer of 'blessing' over the saints of God, but beseeched the Lord for their abounding love and spiritual maturity (for a specific purpose), so that in Christ, they would be afforded the wisdom to make the right choices in their lives and approve those things that are good and excellent in the sight of the Lord.

• It seems that the Lord responded to the sweet psalmist of Israel, after a long period of prayer and patient petition.

• Similarly, there are those that declare that if a prayer for healing goes unanswered it demonstrates a shocking lack of faith - but once again these are totally unbiblical teachings which should be avoided.

• The urgent cry of help from this deeply distressed man at the beginning of this psalm, is a prayer from one who is overwhelmed by life's circumstances and the ongoing reproach of his enemies.
• Perhaps this man was an exile in Babylon or Persia, but whoever he was, his distress started to be replaced by an increasing confident trust that God would hear his prayer and that He would arise and have mercy on him, his nation, and the city of Zion.

• But our times are in God's hands, and following the example of His Lord and Saviour, Stephen committed His spirit into Christ's safe-keeping with the prayer, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!

• It also appears there was a man named Onesiphorus who also remained loyal to Paul, for he closed this first chapter with a beautiful prayer for this loyal friend: May the Lord grant to him, Onesiphorus, to find mercy from the Lord, on that day. 'Onesiphorus' means 'bringer of help' and it is believed that he and his family ministered to the apostle at a time of great need.
• Paul's fervent prayer gives witness to the love he had for this brother in Christ, and the encouragement he also received from him. 
• Paul also used his prayer for Onesiphorus as an encouragement to Timothy to remain faithful during the difficult days they faced.
• Onesiphorus was obviously a mutual friend of Paul and Timothy, for he finished his prayer saying to Timothy: And you know very well what services Onesiphorus rendered at Ephesus.

• The suffering, pain, misery, and distress they were evidently experiencing from the hands of their enemies, brought them to the precipice of despair, but it also caused them to cry out to the Lord a prayer of desperation.

• Although we often imagine the ministry of John the Baptist to be one of a passionate prophet who ate locusts and wild honey as he wandered in the wilderness and accused the proud, unrepentant Pharisees of being a brood of vipers, he was also a man dedicated to prayer who prayed in the in spirit and power of Elijah.
• But Christ's daily devotion to prayer was that of a beloved Son desiring fellowship with His much-loved Father, intent to carry out His Father's will.
• His meat was to do the will of His Father and He discovered God's plans and purposes during those times of purposeful, powerful, pleading, and praising prayer.
• As sins are confessed and as we seek only to follow in the steps of our prayerful Saviour with joyful praise, grateful thanks, continuous fellowship, and powerful intercessions, we will learn how to pray in spirit and truth and so develop a prayer life that is both effective and honouring to our Father.

• The Psalms are replete with morning offerings and evening vespers, and the Lord Jesus Himself delighted to make it His daily habit to come before His Heavenly Father in prayer and thanksgiving.
• Perhaps the prayer that has ascended heavenward more than any other supplication, is that which Jesus taught His disciples to pray.

• Just before His death and Resurrection, the Lord Jesus prayed a wonderful prayer - a prayer that demonstrated the intimate relationship with the Father and the Son - a prayer for the protection of all believers during our time in this world - a prayer that Christ Himself would be given the glory He had with the Father before His sojourn on earth - a prayer that asked that all who are in Christ Jesus may be made one as He is one with the Father - a prayer that we will one day be with the Lord Jesus, and a prayer that one day we would see and participate in His own heavenly glory.
• And in His prayer for our protection, Christ said, They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

• It must have been a most glorious sight at which point king Solomon stood up to consecrate the magnificent Temple of the Lord by offering prayer and praise to His holy name.
• Before commencing his memorable prayer of dedication, Solomon concluded his opening statement by saying: So the LORD has fulfilled His word which He spoke, for I have risen in place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised.
• It was to be a place of prayer and praise for all people.

• We are to be used by God to restrain the evil of this world through prayer and praise - in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

• We have the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit to ward off all evil advances - and we have the wonderful weapon of prayer - praying ALWAYS with all prayer and supplication - in the spirit, to rout the enemy's attacks.

• and God inclined His ear, and He heard His prayer, Father forgive them for they know not what they do - Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit. And Jesus died - according to the Scriptures.
• The Lord Jesus waited patiently on the Cross for His Father to hear and answer His prayer once the ransom price for sin had been paid in full.
• And His soul waited patiently for three days in the depths of the earth for His prayer to be answered according to God's perfect will. 

• From the beginning when Daniel and his friends were assigned new names, they demonstrate exemplary faith in difficult circumstances and proved to be men of principle, prayer, understanding, and wisdom.

• Death to self, persevering in prayer, identification with Christ's suffering, and a life of sacrifice for the glory of God, has been replaced with enjoying your best life now, living for self, and making great spiritual proclamations and positive confessions (where self-incited 'faith' becomes a force that creates one's own reality, or commands God to carry out everything that you speak forth!!) This is not biblical Christianity.

• He put away our sin forever, entered into heaven on our behalf, and remains there, ministering in the heavenly sanctuary as our great high Priest and our righteous Advocate, as He prevails in prayer as our heavenly Intercessor.

• Not only did the apostle John write his epistle, so that believers may know without a shadow of a doubt, that we have eternal life in Christ Jesus, but in this verse, he wants to establish our assured confidence in the privilege of prayer, the power of prayer, and the preciousness of prayer, THIS is the confidence we have before Him,  John writes, THIS is our confidence, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

• Prayer is one of the most important tools in the armoury of the righteous man, and the prophet Daniel is a wonderful example of a man of prayer.
• But if prayer is to be effective, it should come from a heart that is humble before the Lord, dependent upon Him, and ready to recognise that there is an ongoing need to approach the throne of grace in good times as well as in days of difficulty and danger.
• Prayer should not only be a daily habit that delights the soul, but it should be the first thing to which we turn when we find ourselves facing insurmountable problems and impossible situations.
• Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, were men who discovered the importance of prayer at an early age.
• Daniel simply went to his house, explained the situation to his three companions, and asked them to join him in prayer to the Lord, concerning the secret of the dream, so that they would not be killed along with the rest of the wise men and courtiers of the king.
• Too often when we are faced with distressing situations and insurmountable problems, we try to sort them out before eventually turning to the Lord in prayer.
• Daniel, however, demonstrated the right way to behave and taught us the first thing that should always be done - take the problem to the Lord in prayer and trust Him to fulfil His Word.

• There was something unique and so very special about the prayer-life of our Lord that it caused his disciples to ask, Teach us to pray.
• The unbroken love-communion between the triune Godhead became a live recital before the wide-eyed disciples, whose understanding of prayer had been restricted to the principles and practice of the Hebrew Scriptures and priestly benedictions as exemplified throughout the Old Testament - much of which had deteriorated into vain repetition.

• And when we are confronted with the problems and difficulties of life, we are to work these out in the power of the Spirit, by looking to Jesus and by facing every life-challenge through prayer and praise with thanksgiving.

• Paul's ongoing and continuous prayer for all God's children is that we may grow in grace and wisdom.

• Paul is a man who recognises the importance of lifting up other believers in prayer to the Father so that we may be spiritually enlightened and spiritually enabled to come to a deeper understand of who we are in Christ and what He has done for us.
• Paul is a man who demonstrates the godly principle of ongoing praise, ceaseless prayer, and continuous thanksgiving, knowing that this is the will of God for all His children.
• And so his prayer is that the hidden Church age mysteries, that were revealed through Paul for our learning, would direct our lives, govern our thinking, rule our hearts, and enable us to develop a godly character that is well-pleasing to the Lord.

• May we take to heart the prayer of Solomon's father who cried out to the Lord: May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, Oh Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer.

• These singing pilgrims were hoping that the Lord would hear their prayer and rescue them from the arrogant men who were causing them such suffering.
• Their focus was on the One Who made the hills and Who guarded the nation, and their prayer was persistent for it was sung, year by year, as they journeyed along the way.
• He wants us to come to him in prayer and praise regularly and to expect HIM to deliver us from every eventuality in life - for He knows that the testing of our faith through the things that we experience and the afflictions that assail us, produces patient endurance, a Christlike character, and steadfast hope in God, that will never be disappointed.

• He had prayed a passionate prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane and submitted His human will to the will of the Father's.

• Once the great Temple of Solomon had been constructed according to the pattern that was given, and after the various furnishings and fittings had been completed, the young king called the nation together and blessed the whole congregation - rehearsing his great proclamation in the ears of the entire nation, before dedicating the magnificent building to the Lord, with his heartfelt prayer for the nation of Israel.
• It was as he stood before the altar of God in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel, that Solomon offered his prayer of dedication to the Lord.
• Solomon beseeched the Lord to hear his prayer and to answer his petition from heaven, which he acknowledged is God's true dwelling place.
• He pleaded with the Lord, that whatever prayer or supplication would be made by any individual Israelite or by the entire nation of Israel, God would graciously, forgive, and render to each, according to all his ways.
• Solomon's father had been, a man after God's own heart, who trusted the Word of the Lord, and the young king Solomon also humbly acknowledged that God is able to read the thoughts and intentions of man's heart - and so he prayed that if, individually or collectively, the people of Israel would turn to the Lord with their heartfelt and genuine prayer, that God would hear from His heavenly dwelling place, and forgive their sin and heal their land.
• Solomon's long and memorable prayer, was specifically offered to the Lord, on behalf of the people of Israel, and although Israel is the only nation that has ever made a covenant with the Lord and this request is specifically for God to hear and answer the prayers of the people of Israel when they pray in this manner, there is much that we can learn from Solomon's genuine, and humble approach to the Lord.
• Solomon's prayer, identifies him as a man who expected God to answer his prayer.
• His prayer demonstrates God's willingness to listen to the private prayers of individuals, as well as the collective intercessions of the people of God.
• And Solomon's prayer indicates the importance of being specific, as we make our requests to the Lord, and of praying into His perfect will and purpose - in spirit and in truth.
• May we take time to demonstrate in our own prayer-life, a like-minded trust in the goodness and faithfulness of our God and Father - for we have a great assurance that He hears and answers the prayers of His children, when they come from a heart that is in fellowship with Him.

• The quickest way to cause fear to evaporate is to focus the eyes of our heart, steadily on the Lord Jesus, and in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, to cast our care on Him and to make our requests known to God - and then the peace of God that passes understanding will fill our minds and flood our hearts and our faith will flourish.

• And no matter what difficulties and dangers he faced, we always discover David crying out to the Lord in prayer: Lead me, O Lord in Your righteousness because of my foes, was his oft repeated plea: Make Your way straight before my path. And in the difficulties and dangers he faced, David prayed for guidance and justice, he sought God's help and strength, and he asked for the blessing of the Lord for himself and for others.
• But we all have the choice to become a man or woman after God's own heart by trusting Him in every eventuality of life, by beginning each day in prayer and praise, and by engaging in ongoing fellowship with our Father in heaven.
• May our prayer be: Thy will not mine be done, as we face the challenges of life, in this Christ-rejecting, sinful world.

• And peace with God, which was gained at the Cross, is enlarged and extended... as the precious peace of God which passes all understanding, guards our hearts, protects our minds, and reigns in our lives, when we cast all our cares upon the Lord - so that in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, we are permitted to make our requests known to Him.

• Secondly, as born-again Christians we must continue to believe in the truth of His Word, to trust in His many precious promises, and to have faith that He hears and answers prayer.

• Paul valued the dedication of this servant of Christ, who always laboured fervently in prayer, for the Christians in the Colossian congregation, that they may stand perfect and complete, in the will of God.

• And the more we spend time in His presence, in prayer, praise, and the study of His Word, the greater we will discover the benefits of blessing the Lord at all times and continually praising His holy name.

• Paul earnestly exhorted his brethren in Rome to pray for him and to strive earnestly together with him in prayer: I implore you, brothers, he writes, through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to agonise together with me in your prayers to God, on my behalf.
• Paul was requesting personal prayer and the following verse details three specific prayer requests; 1.
• However, his urgent pleading for his brethren to pray along with him, gives great insight into Paul's pattern of prayer, his willingness to share his personal need with other praying saints, and his readiness to persist over time by continuing to bang on the door of heaven for an answer.
• His prayer-points showed that Paul believed God was willing to answer prayer, and he himself was prepared to seek the help of others in pursuing the desire of his heart.
• Paul was not a man who grew weary in prayer nor was he unwilling to call on other believers to join him in praying.
• May we become increasingly prayerful people and not become weary when prayer seem to go unanswered or when our expectations are replaced by an alternative that God has purposed for us.

• He was a prayerful man, who kept his seven sons and three daughters covered by prayer, appealing to the Lord for their spiritual well-being.
• Job was a man of prayer and praise.

• David opened up his heart to the Lord, and his urgent prayer for help and deliverance poured forth unabated.
• And as his prayer moved into a crescendo of praise he continued, I will trust in God, whose word I praise.
• Instead of dwelling on his problems, David quickly turned to prayer and praise - with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

• In His great High Priestly prayer, which was delivered to the Father on the night that Christ was betrayed, the Lord Jesus prayed that Christians would be united together as one - for we are one-in-Christ.

• Prayer is one of the most vital and special prerogatives that Christians have been afforded in this Church age.
• During His earthly ministry, prayer was not only a vital part of life - but a subject about which the Lord taught often and an issue that should rejoice our hearts and become a vital element of our Christian walk.  
• It was partway through the famous, 'sermon on the mount', that Jesus gave His short but instructive teaching on the important practice of prayer, and the specific need for our own, private prayer-time.
• But instead of praying in humility of heart, they turned prayer into a legalistic practice in order to draw attention to their own religiosity!
• Submissive worship of God is the essence of prayer, and the self-glorification of those hypocritical Pharisees was denounced by Jesus, Who taught that prayer to our unseen, heavenly Father, should be carried out privately.
• Prayer should be undertaken in the reverential fear of the Lord and in an unfeigned humility of heart.
• Because of this directive, some like to teach that communal prayer, with other brothers and sisters in Christ, is unbiblical, but this teaching does not prohibit public prayer, but is specifically geared towards our own, individual, private prayer-time - where the child of God enjoys sweet communion with his heavenly Father - as we come to the throne of grace because of our identity with Christ Jesus our Lord.
• However, we are certainly encouraged to set aside a place of prayer - an inner room - a secret closet where we can meet and commune with our Father in heaven.
• It was difficult for her to find a private closet in her busy home, but Susanna would sit in her kitchen chair and pull her apron over her face to indicate to the family that she was not to be disturbed, because she was in private prayer with her heavenly Father.
• Prayer is intimate communion with our God, and the necessity to take time alone with the Lord, in secret prayer, cannot be over-emphasised.
• We may not have our own, private, prayer closet... nor may we need to use a kitchen chair and apron, but each one of us should find our own 'prayer closet' in which to come before the Lord.
• Indeed, before engaging in public prayer with others, we should establish a closeness with God through privately meeting with Him, in the solitude of our own prayer 'closet' - wherever that may be.
• Prayer is the breath of the soul, which continuously reaches out in helplessness to the God Who made us and redeemed us, with His own precious blood.
• Prayer is an attitude of heart, that cries out to the tender Father-heart of God, for intimacy and close communion.
• Prayer is the combining of man's helplessness with his faith in God's gracious provision, and prayer translates into a heart that trust in His never-ending love.
• Let us pray, day by day, in the quietness of our own particular, private, prayer 'closet', for prayer is one of the most vital and special prerogatives that Christians have been afforded in this Church age of grace. 

• Trust in the Lord is our portion too and prayer to the Lord is our privilege as well, for we know that in Christ we have a portion and privilege for we are His people and the sheep of His pasture – we are a new creation in Christ and He is our loving Heavenly Father.

• His prayer for rain was wonderfully answered.

• Paul discovered that by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, God's promises are sure, His Word is true, His grace is sufficient, and all things work together for good to those that love the Lord their God with all their heart and are fitting into His plans and purposes.

• But despite his earnest prayer for his people, his message of repentance was rejected.

• It looked as if Christ's prayer for his chief disciple had gone unanswered.

• But Christ's pleading prayer from the Cross will be answered on that day: Father forgive them for they know not what they do. 

• And let us seek to do only that which is right in the eyes of the Lord: For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer.

• Multiplied calls to prayer are found throughout Scripture, and many men and women in the pages of the Bible are also found travailing in prayer to God.
• Christ Himself was discovered throughout His earthly life in earnest prayer to His Heavenly Father, and we would do well to take heed of the reason for prayer.
• Prayer expresses a need that we are unable to satisfy.
• The essence of all prayer is an admission of utter helplessness combined with absolute confidence in God to supply all our needs according to His great riches in His great glory.
• When we live in an attitude of prayer, when we pray without ceasing, we are simply maintaining the ongoing and constant attitude of simple, child-like trust and helpless dependence upon the Father.
• Further, we are not to limit our prayers to those things that we consider appropriate, but we are to pray about all things with every kind of prayer, in the same helpless dependence upon God, knowing that He is not only willing and powerful enough to answer all our pleadings but are trusting Him, in His wisdom, to do only that which is best for us.
• And how important to be alert and diligent in prayer.
• We are not limited by times or places, but we should ensure that we pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers in helpless dependence on Him – keeping alert and persevering in prayer for all our brothers and sisters in Christ.

• And so, James reminds us that the trials we face are designed to test our dependence upon God, strengthen our faith in Him, and drive us to our knees in prayer and supplication so that we may receive His grace and mercy to help in time of need.
• But there is a condition in this prayer request for wisdom in times of trouble: Let him ask in faith without doubting, for the enemy of all prayer is unbelief.
• Prayer that is offered up in unbelief causes a man or woman to be tossed hither and thither by doubts and uncertainty about God's goodness and grace.

• The topic of brothers living together in unity was part of Christ's High Priestly prayer, just before His walk to Calvary.

• And He helps us in this amazing personal, intimate way, in every part of our lives, even in our prayer life: The Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

• Hannah was a godly woman who trusted the Lord and participated in all the nation's feasts, festivals, and sacrifices, but her heart was troubled and she determined to pour out her grief to the Lord in prayer.
• She did not make a great display of praying a loud, repetitive prayer to demonstrate her spirituality to others.
• Her earnest prayer could not be heard by Eli the old priest, who watched her moving mouth with interest.
• The spiritual state of the nation had become so shocking, he did not consider she was a woman in anguish seeking the Lord in silent prayer.
• It was not long before the old prophet realised that Hannah's cry to God was serious and the Lord used him to comfort her and bid her go her way in peace, promising that God had heard her prayer and would answer her request.
• It is not the selfish prayer that says 'give me what I want', that reaches the heart of God, but the unceasing heart-cry of helplessness that says 'without You Lord I can do nothing' - 'Thy will be done in my life' - 'use me Father, to fulfil Your plans and purposes'.

• But in trusting God with his request, he was also willing to be used by the Lord Who graciously answered his prayer.

• Every phrase and every word in this beautiful High Priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus as He faces the shadow of Calvary's Cross, are thoughts upon which we should take time to reflect.
• From beginning to end, this is a prayer that should cause us to rejoice with great joy and praise God with deep reverence - for we see Christ interceding on our account at the throne of grace.
• We discover, in this intimate exchange with His heavenly Father, an exquisite prayer... so profoundly beautiful and intimate and yet so far-reaching that you and I are included in its universal scope.
• His prayer was that we who are saved by grace through faith would exhibit the godly characteristics and the moral attributes of the triune Godhead itself, so that the lost may be reached with the glorious gospel of grace, so that many might be brought into the kingdom of His dear Son, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
• He prayed that our lives would be so in tune with one another that we would reflect the godly perfection and intimacy that exemplifies the relationship between the Father and the Son, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. May Christ's beautiful High Priestly prayer for the unity of believers, be answered in my life - to His greater praise and eternal glory.

• No doubt, they were also the chosen words that fell from the lips of many Christians in those early days of the Church, when they gathered together for worship, teaching, the breaking of bread, and prayer.

• The answer to Christ's beautiful High Priestly prayer is as certain as His Word is faithful and true.

• Therefore, even though this psalm, like other psalms, prayers, and praises of David is an ever-present source of comfort and encouragement to all believers, and rightly so, this verse is a prayer that the Christian can never pray, for in so doing it demonstrates a lack of understanding of the permanent, indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of ALL believers - following Christ’s finished work on Calvary's Cross.
• This prayer of David was a prayer that he needed to pray, for prior to the Cross the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit was only for certain people in Israel at certain times.

• We have been instructed that in everything, by prayer and supplication, to make our requests known to God, and we are to do it with thanksgiving and praise, so that the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.

• And in God's time and in His own way the Lord answered Isaac's prayer of faith, opened his wife's barren womb and Rebekah conceived twins.
• May we come to the Lord in prayer with every problem and difficulty we face and be ready to listen to His voice and be led by His Spirit.

• This was due to the intense intercession and persevering prayer of Moses on their behalf, when by Gods' grace only days after their miraculous delivery from Egypt's 400-year long bondage, they started to worship the golden calf and called it their god!

• They had neglected prayer and fasting.

• The heart-felt prayer of a childless woman whose pleading request for a baby son was answered and who was faithful in returning the child back to the Lord once he was weaned, has rejoiced many hearts and encouraged many souls.

• Probably the most important way to turn a temptation for evil into a trial that God will use for good, is to maintain a close relationship with Him through continuous prayer, ongoing praise and a thankful heart for all His goodness and grace towards us.

• David is a wonderful example of a man of prayer who trusted the Word of God.
• His prayer life was regular, systematic, orderly, and faithful, and he prayed with expectation that God would answer his prayers.
• Morning by morning, he directed his thoughts to the Lord and lifted up his voice in prayer and praise to the God of his salvation.
• He knew that God would hear his pleadings and petitions, and eagerly watched and waited for the answers to his prayer to be realised.
• Let us reflect the prayer-life of David, who was an example of a man who prayed regularly, systematically, faithful and expectantly, and who cried, In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.

• Before the birth of their twins, Isaac's wife, Rebekah, earnestly sought the Lord in prayer and was informed by God that two nations were growing in her womb and her babies would become two people groups.
• The Lord continued to tell her that one of the nations would be stronger than the other, but that the firstborn would be subservient to his younger sibling: The older shall serve the younger,” was God's clear directive in his answer to Rebekah's prayer.

• Topics in James relate to unity in the Body of Christ as well as faith, wisdom, conflict, justice, and prayer.

• Although this greatest of all recorded prayers was prayed before Christ's crucifixion and Resurrection, His prayer encompassed time on both sides of the grave.

• He is our salvation and by faith in Him, we have the indwelling Spirit of God giving us access to the throne of grace - through prayer, for mercy to find help in time of need.
• We are called to resist in the evil day and to clothe ourselves with Christ, so that we may be able to stand firm on the truth of the Word of God, as we pray in spirit and truth, with all prayer and supplication - and as we patiently intercede for all the saints of God.

• Paul was often imprisoned for teaching the truth, and it was during such a time that letters of encouragement and instruction were often penned to the Church, and earnest prayer and intercessions for the saints were offered up to the Lord on their behalf.
• Ephesians, Philippians, and this book of Colossians were all written from a prison cell, and the theme of this beautiful verse together with Paul's earnest prayer for all the saints, was that their hearts may be encouraged, comforted, and knitted together in love.

• John 17 is the holy of holies in Scripture, for it contains the greatest prayer ever prayed on earth, by the greatest man who ever lived.

• It was to be a time a time of fasting, repentance, and prayer.

• And so Daniel and his friends determined to pray earnestly that God would hear their prayer and give them understanding concerning this mystery so that they would not be destroyed along with the other wise men of Babylon.
• Whether the four young men met together in one place to pray, or retired into their own, private prayer-closets to appeal to the Lord is unclear, but we read that their prayers were answered and the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision at night, and immediately he lifted up his voice in praise and grateful thanksgiving to the God of heaven.
• God, in His grace, answered the petition of these four young prayer warriors, and gave Daniel the understanding that was needed to satisfy King Nebuchadnezzar's outlandish request.
• As soon as Daniel received the answer to his prayer and the pleadings of his three friends, he immediately began to praise the name of the Lord.
• And immediately Daniel gave credit to God for answered prayer.
• When confronted with insurmountable barriers or when our very lives are threatened, may we be quick to cast ALL our cares on Him and in everything by prayer and supplication - with thanksgiving and faith, call on the name of the Lord, and when our Father gives us the answer, may we never forget to give Him ALL the praise and worship - for He alone is worthy. 

• Indeed, he continued in prayer and fasting for many days as he sought the God of heaven and earth, and laid out the situation before Him.
• Nehemiah trusted God to hear his prayer and act.
• He knew that he was incapable of addressing the pressing issue of Jerusalem's broken walls himself, but translated his faith into prayer and fasting.
• He immediately approached the throne of grace with supplicating prayer, pleading petition and godly fasting.
• but laid-out his petition before His feet, in expectation that God would hear and answer His prayer and fulfil His many precious promises.
• Nehemiah prayed in faith and with expectation, that the Lord would respond to His pleas.. and his prayer is a wonderful example of how we should approach God's throne of grace - for mercy to find help in time of need.
• Let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant, and your people, which I am praying before You now, day and night..
• May Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant who delights to revere Your name.

• For it is as we maintain spirit to Spirit communion - the human spirit with Christ's Spirit - through the guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit, that our hearts can whisper in steadfast prayer, joyful praise and intimate communion, Abba, my Father.

• After having touched on tangible things like charitable giving, prayer, fasting, and one's attitude towards possessions, Jesus addressed issues like worry and anxiety and the need to place one's total trust in God for all eventualities of life: For this reason, Jesus told them, I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.

• The prayer of helplessness is the simple sigh of the living soul, which is breathed into the heart of the living God.

• And at Christ's crucial hour of commitment, the Lord Jesus received the most glorious encouragement from His heavenly Father, for His prayer was answered by a voice from heaven, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

• The one who truly loves the Lord will delight to do His will and strive to maintain unbroken fellowship with Him through prayer and praise, Bible reading, and holy living.

• When the Lord Jesus taught His disciple to pray, He did not give them a magic format to repeat as a vain repetition, but a method of prayer to use as they approached the throne of grace.
• This is also our model of prayer that embraces praise, worship, petition, supplication, intercession, thanksgiving, and fellowship with our Father in heaven.

• It is only as we submit to God in humble submission and watchful prayer that we can resist the evil one.

• Although we later discover he was wealthy, highly esteemed by all, and a man of prayer with 10 adult children, reverence for the Lord is a distinctive feature which identified Job as someone with a teachable spirit and a desire for godly understanding: For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One gives understanding.
• It demonstrates the immense impact a godly man can have on others and it shows the importance of intercession and prayer for family and friends.

• Prayer for ourselves, our families, our leaders and nation, and intercession for the lost is important, but it is also vital to understand the Bible in its correct historical context.
• God honoured his prayer and accepted the sacrifices that king Solomon offered; fire came down from heaven and consumed the offerings, and the glory of the Lord filled the Temple.
• And so we read that in a night-time vision, God appeared to His servant Solomon and gave the king the following warning for Israel: I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice: when I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people then.

• That Christ may dwell in your heart through faith, is Paul's fervent prayer for each member of the body of Christ.
• But his prayer continues,  that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length, and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
• That Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith, is a prayer Paul prayed for each of us and a promise that we can claim.
• And as we personally claim that promise, Paul's prayer will be answered.

• Rather, he made his needs known to the Lord, through prayer and praise.
• God, in His grace, has also promised to supply all our needs, and has given us the privilege of prayer and praise - both personal and corporate.

• But God does not recognise prayer that is birthed in an envious heart nor is He influenced by our petulant pleas to satisfy our own fleshly cravings.But He does hear and answer all prayers that are good and wholesome, wise and pure... for such prayers line-up with His Own perfect will.

• Before this special time of prayer, Jesus compelled His little band of disciples to get into the fishing boat and sail to Bethsaida, on the far side of Lake Galilee... and then He withdrew to a mountain to pray.

• May we abide in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ so we may enjoy ongoing fellowship with Him through prayer and praise. 

• As the Israelites fought their physical enemy with sword and spear, so Moses battled a spiritual enemy in the heavenly realm - through prayer and intercession.
• As Israel raised weapons of war against their bitter foe, so Moses lifted high the Rod of the LORD against the principalities and powers in heavenly places. The earthly foe could only be overcome in the spiritual realm. Victory or defeat of Joshua's army would be determined by the effective prayer of Israel's faithful watchman..
• for the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much - the effective prayer of a REDEEMED man.
• The arms of Moses grew weary and the legs of this prayer-warrior weakened as he travailed in intercession for those in his care.
• Although he grew weary and rested his exhausted body on a stone, Moses kept the Rod of the Lord lifted up in prayer, so that we finally read, Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

• Paul developed a Christ-like attitude of prayer, praise, and intercessions for all whose lives had been so radically impacted and eternally changed by the good news of the glorious gospel of grace.

• May we seek to imitate our precious Saviour, and gather the God-given strength we need for each day from the indwelling Holy Spirit - through prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving.

• In his Gospel, Luke was seeking to convey the absolute necessity and the imperative demand for men to pray at all times, to remain in constant communion with the Lord, and not to lose hope or to give up, but rather, to live in an attitude of prayer, moment by moment, in order to maintain ongoing contact with our Almighty God.
• And often, we find that the time spent in prayer at the throne of grace changes us, moving our focus onto Jesus, being conformed into His image as we decrease and He increases in our lives. 
• In this parable, we are urged that men MUST pray at all times and not to lose heart, for it is only the humble heart that is clean before the Lord and who trusts in Christ alone for his needs and necessities, that will maintain constant communion and uninterrupted fellowship which equates to an attitude of unbroken prayer.

• What a beautiful prayer is being prayed for all those that are one with Christ.

• While incarcerated in prison, Paul lifted up his heart in earnest prayer for the Colossian Christians: for spiritual intelligence, practical obedience, moral excellence, and that Christ may be crowned Lord of all in their lives.

• No matter where we are, what situation we are in, who we are with, or what time it is, the Lord desires that we are in an attitude of prayer.
• It is so beneficial to shut ourselves away in our prayer closet for intimate communion and deep fellowship with the Lord, but it is equally profitable to be in constant touch with the Lord in every place in which we find ourselves, no matter what the circumstance of life we happen to be or in what company we are keeping.
• Our hearts should be so in touch with our Father and so in love with the Lord that it is our delight to filter every thought that comes into our mind through the Lord Jesus, to offer up every situation in which we find ourselves, and to bring whoever we are with or whoever crosses the path of our thoughts, to the Lord in prayer.
• It is good to fly to him in prayer to confess any foolish sin or when we find our emotions and feeling are causing fear to rise in our hearts and doubts to fill our minds.
• When doubt and discouragements rise in our hearts or when we are surrounded by trials, troubles, and temptation, we should shoot out a quiver of prayer arrows to the Lord for His help and guidance.

• A day when Christ's disciples, who walked with Immanuel on the shores of Galilee, were taught by the Spirit of God: A day when believers in Christ were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
• Today, as we recognise the shocking apostasy that is exploding in Christendom and the multiplication of false teachings in the churches, we often look back to those early days, when apostolic teaching, communal fellowship, the breaking of bread, and earnest prayer was the beautiful signature of the Body of Christ.

• David's plaintive prayer and earnest supplication in Psalm 6, reaches the inner recesses of the hurting heart and impacts the soul of all who are going through times of deep distress or encompassed about by those who mock us, abuse us, or falsely spew out all manner of evil against us.
• The LORD receives my prayer.

• They were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus - and His brothers.
• There is no better example of God's own blood-bought children, continuing in devoted, persevering prayer and sustained supplication, than this beautiful picture of the little flock of God on the days leading up to the great day of Pentecost, when the Church was born, the Spirit was given, the dispensation of Israel was placed on 'hold' for a season, and the dispensation of the grace of God began.
• You will be baptised with the Holy Spirit not many days from now, were the final words that were still ringing in their ears as, with one accord, they devoted themselves to prayer, together with Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers, and the many faithful women who had devoted their heart to their Saviour.
• Day after day their faith did not waver, as they continually devoted themselves to prayer.
• They were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women - and even Mary the mother of Jesus, and His own brothers who had ridiculed him throughout His ministry, were part of that praying company, as with one mind, they hammered on heaven's door.
• And although the enemy will continue to interfere with the unity of the spirit and disrupt our bond of peace... with divisive doctrines and critical attitudes, the Lord's High Priestly prayer, that they may be One, still remains true today.
• Let us in our various circumstances, whether we are physically isolated from other believers or not, revive in our hearts that spirit of undivided-unity and persistent-prayer.

• Their prayer was answered and the dream, together with its interpretation, was revealed to Daniel who speedily went to inform the king.

• We resist the devil by clothing ourselves in the armour of God - by covering ourselves with Christ's righteousness, Christ's truth, Christ's Salvation, and Spirit-guided prayer.

• But Paul also knew the importance and value of Christian prayer and was himself a wonderful example of a man who was constantly interceding on behalf of his brothers and sisters in Christ.
• He knew that our Father is a God Who hears and answers the prayer of His children, and so Paul encouraged the Philippian believers to intercede on his behalf, knowing that God would hear and answer their prayer and that his deliverance from prison would increase their faith, give great encouragement to the Body of Christ, and cause the gracious spirit of Christ to be formed in them.
• When a man or ministry is founded on godly principles that lifts up the Lord Jesus Christ, and when earnest prayer, that reflects the love of God in the unity of the Spirit is offered, Christ will be magnified and the gospel will be preached.

• Through the prophetic pen of Israel's king David, we see Christ, Who is the example of the perfect Man Whose heart is sanctified unto the Lord, and Who lifted up His voice in humble prayer and obedient praise to God for His guidance and counsel.

• Conversely, faith is often tested in those long and painful seasons of life, when patient endurance is called upon as we trustingly wait for the Lord to act, submissively waiting on the Lord's promises to be fulfilled in prayer, and praise, and thanksgiving.

• In order to establish a resounding victory over the Amorites, Joshua realised that there was insufficient daylight to complete the task and so he made this astonishing command that the sun and moon stopped moving across the sky and God honoured his prayer: The sun stood still, and the moon stopped. until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies.

• Paul's eagerness to share the good news of the gospel of God can be seen in each epistle he wrote to the churches - where his great desire and prayer is to bring believers into the same mature, unshakable, God-honouring faith that he had.

• As James draws his epistle to a close, we are called to confess our trespasses to one another and to pray for each other, knowing that the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
• We are also called to willingly, graciously, and fervently pray for each other, for as we lift up those who may have wronged us to the Lord in prayer, the fellowship of His love will stream into our hearts and minds, removing any nagging bitterness or residue of unforgiveness.
• It is only as we abide in Him and walk godly in Christ Jesus that we are enabled to pray in spirit and truth: And the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

• Christ's entire life was one of prayer and praise, thanksgiving and worship.
• And because of his reverend submission to the Father and unfailing trust in Him, Christ's prayer was heard and Jesus became the first-fruit from the grave - the first MAN to rise from the dead - thus breaking the power of sin, Satan, death, and hell for ALL who place their faith in HIM.

• In Psalm 151, we read: May my prayer be set before You as incense, and the raising of my hands as the evening offering.
• The most beautiful 'picture' of prayer as a sweet fragrance ascending to God, is Christ's own ministry of intercession.
• While on earth, we have a peep into His amazing prayer life where he said and did only those things He heard from the Father and gave everything over to Him in prayer, which glorified His Father in heaven.
• The flame on this alter, which was to be kept burning day and night, is an elegant reminder of Christ's ministry of unceasing prayer and intercession, for He is the one and only Mediator between God and man and His intercession prompts God's people towards continuous prayer and ongoing fellowship with the Father.
• We are all called to pray on all occasions: Pray without ceasing... devote yourselves to prayer and be alert and thankful when you pray.

• God has written the end from the beginning so that we may participate in fulfilling His plans and purposes by crying out to Him in prayer and intercessions.
• May we be willing to be used as instruments to proclaim the glorious gospel of grace to a lost and dying world, and may we lift up our voices in prayer and praise for the fulfilment of His perfect plan and for the any-day return of Christ for His Church.

• And the peace of God is what our heart can be filled with when a believer walks in spirit and truth and in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, makes their requests known to God.

• The pattern of prayer that Jesus taught His disciples, was to demonstrate that we should reverence Him as our Father in heaven, glorify His holy name, and pray into His perfect plan, His heavenly purpose, and His eternal will.

• In this section, His focus is on prayer - praying aright and the rewards that will be given to believers who pray in spirit and truth.

• This is because it predicts persecution and false prophets, encourages fruitful-bearing and godly works, details righteous living through prayer and other godly commitments, and speaks of service and a promise of rewards for faithfulness which covers this entire period.
• Persecution, false teachers, godly service, fruit-bearing, promised rewards, and effective prayer, accompanied by a life of faith and a total dependence on the Lord, are required of all Christ's disciples, throughout this extended period.
• All disciples are called to be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer, praise, and thanksgiving, are to rely on the Lord for all our needs.

• But while on earth we are here for a reason and we are reminded that the conduct of the wise man and the virtuous woman is prudence, wise judgement, clarity of thought, holy living, and ceaseless prayer.
• It is the practice of self-control, purity of heart, clarity of mind, and unceasing prayer - and such conduct is reflected in the character of the spiritual man or woman of God.

• No word can be uttered to the Father, no prayer offered, no praise extended, other than through the Lord Jesus Christ.

• As members of Christ's Body, we are called on to suffer for His names sake, and as Paul continues in this second epistle to the Corinthian Church, his prayer is that all believers will stand fast in the evil day and be counted worthy of the high and exalted position to which we have been called.
• And so his earnest prayer to the Father was that each one of us would be counted worthy of our calling as ministers of reconciliation.

• How wonderful for this group of young converts to know that the apostle Paul lifted them up to the Lord in prayer so consistently.
• Despite his ever expanding 'prayer list', the apostle Paul found the time and considered it sufficiently important, to make mention of this group of Christians in his prayers.
• Paul was not praying for these saints every minute of the day, but his prayer for them was earnest and consistent.
• Like the Lord Jesus, Paul seems to have developed the desire to live his life in an attitude of prayer, and throughout his writings, we find him encouraging the Body of Christ to pray without ceasing, in every situation to pray with a thankful heart, and having done all, to keep on praying, knowing that our sufficient strength comes from God alone.
• Perhaps the prayer that Paul often prayed for these and other believers throughout the middle east could be summed up in the final few verses of this lovely letter: Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.

• Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

• Never should we compromise the truth, dilute our faith, or become involved in lawless behaviour, but by prayer and supplication through the guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we should be prepared to give an answer for the hope we have in Christ, no matter what the cost.

• And let us put on the helmet of salvation and take hold of the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and pray, with all prayer and petition, at all times in the Spirit.