God calls us to live as people of prayer, to have faith in His faithfulness, to pray for each other, and to trust in Him alone for our deliverance, healing, and help in time of need. Some of His answers to our prayers are contingent upon our attitude and actions; however, most of them simply come from His love and care for us.
Rather than taking my word for this fact, I want to share some of what God’s Word reveals to us about prayer (verses derived from research done by me and other's):
· Pray without ceasing … Pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
· Consult God in ALL your ways and He will direct your paths (Proverbs 3:5-6)
· Do not pray with many babbling words, because God does not hear them (Matthew 6:7). Pray with honesty from the heart.
· When we pray in our secret place, even our unseen God hears us (Matthew 6:6)
· Where two or more are gathered in His name, He is in the midst of us (Matthew 18:20)
· As we confess our sins and pray for one another, God heals us because the prayers of a righteous person is powerful (James 5:16)
· If we pray in belief, and do not waver in doubt, thrown about by every trial (James 1:6)
· We do not have what we want when we try to receive them by human effort, because we do not ask God instead (James 4:2)
· Approach God’s throne with confidence to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16)
· Even in dire circumstance, pray and sing praise to God and He will hear and answer (Acts 16:25)
· We watch and pray during times of temptations (Matthew 26:41)
· If we believe that God hears us when we pray, we will receive it (Matthew 21:22)
· As we pray, God will not allow us to be led into temptation, and we will be delivered from satanic forces (Matthew 6:13)
· Unless as pray for something to fulfill a human lust, whatever we ask for in prayer, believing that we have received it, it will be ours (James 4:3; Mark 11:24)
· As we pray, if we hold any unforgiveness in our heart toward anyone, our self included, we have to forgive them, so our Father can forgive us and answer our prayers (Mark 11:25)
· God does whatever we ask in Jesus’ name, so our Father receives all the glory (John 14:13)
· God chose us, and appointed us to bear fruit for His Kingdom, so whatever we ask He will provide it for us (John 15:16)
· Jesus prayed: “I have made You, My Father, known to my disciples and I will continue to make You known to them, so the love You have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” (John 17:26)
· If we listen as we pray and obey God’s directives, bless those who curse us, love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, and pray for those who mistreat us, God hears our prayers (Luke 6:27-28)
· In our distress, we can call to the Lord for help and He hears us (Psalm 18:6)
· The Lord is near to those who honestly call on Him (Psalm 145:18)
· Cry out to God with praises on our lips and He hears us (Psalm 66:17)
· In the morning we lay our requests out to God and expectantly wait on Him (Psalm 5:3)
· Call out to God, and He will answer You, telling You amazing and unsearchable wisdom that we do not know (Jeremiah 33:3)
· Call on God, come before His presence and pray to Him, and He will listen to us (Jeremiah 29:12).
· By day or night, a song is in our heart to the Lord and a prayer on our lips will cause Him to direct His love toward us (Psalm 42:8)
· When we feel hemmed in by trials, we cry to the Lord, and He opens up a way for us (Psalm 118:5)
· The Lord hears our prayers, listens to our cries for mercy and in His faithfulness and holiness come to our rescue (Psalm 143:1)
· We want the words of our mouth, and what we meditate on in our thoughts to be pleasing to God, who is our Rock and Redeemer (Psalm 19:14)
· When a husband is considerate of his wife and treats her with respect as co-heirs with him of the gracious gift of life, nothing will hinder his prayers (1 Peter 3:7)
· The eyes of the Lord are on His righteous ones, and His ears are attentive to our prayers (1 Peter 3:12)
· The culmination of events in this life on earth is near in God’s timing, so we are smart if we are alert and sober in mind, so He will hear our prayers (1 Peter 4:7)
· Class and fortune have no bearing on our prayers, even a poor person can call out to the Lord and He hears and saves him out of His troubles (Psalm 34:6)
· As we fast from food and petition God, He answers our prayers (Ezra 8:23)
· God hears our prayers and sees our tears and heals and delivers us (2 Kings 20:5)
· God gives us wisdom and insight when we pray to Him (Daniel 2:23)
· With confidence that God hears our prayers, we know that He will answer us (1 John 5:15)
· Have confidence in approaching God, and if we pray according to His will, He hears us (1 John 5:14)
· We enjoy health and a peaceful life in the same degree that our soul prospers (3 John 1:2)
· If anyone is sick, we can call for the elders of our church family and they will anoint us with oil in the name of Jesus, and our faith will make us well and raise us up and our sins will be forgiven (James 5:14-15)
· The Believers joined together in constant prayer (Acts 1:14)
· The Believers earnestly prayed for Peter when He was in prison, and God delivered him (Acts 12:5-7)
· Anyone and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Acts 2:21)
· Be joyful in hope, patient during afflictions and faithful to pray (Romans 12:12)
· The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness and intercedes for us even when we have no words (Romans 8:26)
· Do not be anxious about anything, but in EVERY situation pray with thanksgiving(Philippians 4:6-7)
· We know that through the prayers of His Saints, God provides through the Spirit of Christ and delivers us from our circumstances (Philippians 1:19)
· Devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful (Colossians 4:2)
Prayer:
Father God, thank You for Your faithfulness to Your children and for hearing our prayers and cries for help and coming to our rescue and delivering us. We trust in You alone, we depend on Your wisdom and direction for our life, and we revel in Your presence within and around us. Teach us how to have joy in our tribulation (Romans 5:1-5; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
Help us not to expect instant provision from You, but to understand that You have Your own timing and way. You do all things beautifully in Your time (Ecclesiastes 3:11; Romans 1:19-20). Thank You for loving us with unquenchable, unconditional love despite our failings, foibles, and faults. You are our God, and we live to praise You with our thoughts, words, and actions.
Thought for the Day:
Attempting to solve our problems on our own is futile and counterproductive and God laughs at our feeble attempts; however, when we trust in Him with our whole heart, He gives us wisdom, strength, deliverance, and patience to wait on Him and His timing and ways.
– Proverbs 3:5-6, 12:15, 14:12-13, 16:25, 30:12; Psalm 2:4, 27:14, 37:13-15; Isaiah 40:31; Romans 12:17-19
