A Prayer about Persistent Prayer

by | Mar 16, 2025 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Prayer, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Persistent Prayer

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Matthew 7:7

Good Father,

What a gift you have given us in prayer.

We are timid and doubtful 

and rarely dare to ask or seek or knock 

for the things we really need or want, 

and yet, you command us to do just that. 

The Greek words, “ask,” “seek,” “knock” 

would be better translated, 

“Keep on asking,”

“Keep on seeking,”

“Keep on knocking….”

You want us to ask again and again and again…

for you to transform that stubborn way 

we have of judging others into a gentle spirit 

that assumes the best.

You want us to seek your face 

again and again and again…

when we don’t understand 

why our child has to suffer with cancer 

or a learning disability 

or mental illness

 or loneliness.

You want us to knock again and again and again…

pleading with you to break down the walls 

that divide our world, 

begging you to put an end to all wars.

urging you to display your justice on this earth.

You have shown us that you are indeed a “good Father” 

who gives good gifts to your children.

So today, we ask, we seek, we knock.

[Name some things you’d like to ask your Father for].

In Jesus’ promise-keeping name. Amen. 

Read Matthew 7:7-11.



A Prayer about Our Soul-Thirst

by | Feb 7, 2025 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Prayer, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Our Soul-Thirst

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Psalm 42:2

Thirst-filling Lord,

Today we lift up all who ache for you to appear, 

all who remember the days 

we used to lead the procession of praise (Psalm 42:4), 

all who now suffer turmoil within and attack from without (Psalm 42:5). 

Restore their hope again, 

even as they feel 

“all your breakers and your waves 

have gone over me” (Psalm 42:7).

At night, sing your steadfast love over them, 

“a prayer to the God of my life” (Psalm 42:8). 

At daybreak, remind them 

that you are their rock 

and that you have not forgotten them (Psalm 42:9).

Even as they feel the “deadly wound” 

of adversaries taunting 

or the grief of a relationship 

lost to death or conflict, 

remind them that because of Jesus, 

the one who suffered separation from you 

for the sake of our sins, 

they stand in your loving presence forever. 

Because of Jesus, 

we shall all “Hope in God, 

for we shall again praise you, 

our salvation and our God.”

In Jesus’ hope giving name. Amen.

Read Psalm 42.



A Prayer about the Precious Gift of Prayer

by | Jan 16, 2025 | Daily Prayer, Prayer, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about the Precious Gift of Prayer

“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray.  Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.” James 5:13

Good, Good Father,

May we grasp the precious gift you’ve given us in prayer.

Whether we are in trouble or triumph, 

we can cry out to you, with tears or with joy. 

We don’t have to come up with 

highfalutin sounding words. 

In fact, you have given us all the words 

we need to pray. 

When we can’t come up with the words, 

all we have to do is open your Word. 

If we’re feeling sad, there’s: 

“Why are you cast down, 

O my soul, 

and why are you in turmoil 

within me? 

Hope in God, 

for I shall again praise him, 

My salvation and my God” (Psalm 42:5). 

If we’re feeling delight, 

we shout, 

“Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; 

let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation” (Psalm 95:1). 

And when we’re just too numb or confused to pray, 

we have the assurance 

that the Spirit is groaning for us 

and Jesus is interceding for us (Romans 8:26-27; Hebrews 7:25). 

Thank you, Lord, 

for the sweet communion of prayer.

Amen. 

Read James 5:13; Psalm 42; Psalm 95. 



A Prayer about What to Pray For

by | Oct 9, 2024 | Daily Prayer, Prayer, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about What to Pray For

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding… Colossians 1:9

Heavenly Father,

Today we allow your Word to give voice to our prayers for particular people:

[Try inserting your name or a person’s name in this prayer]

We pray for [name], 

May they grow in spiritual wisdom, not wisdom of the world, 

so that they may be filled with the “knowledge of [your] will,” 

not merely knowledge about Calculus, or parenting, or the stock market.

With this knowledge and wisdom, 

may [name] “walk in a manner worthy of you,” 

always seeking to bring you glory and honor 

and to love others well. 

May [name] “bear fruit in every good work” 

even as they continue to know you more intimately 

and learn more about your goodness (Col. 1:10).

May [name] be strengthened with your power,

not Powerade power or strong girl power, 

but the kind and humble power 

that comes from your glorious might.

May this glorious power strengthen [name] 

to endure suffering 

and to be patient in trials, 

that they may know the deep joy of your comfort. 

May [name] give you thanks all day every day 

for your forgiveness, 

for your redemption, 

and for calling them “saints in light,” 

In Christ’s delivering name. Amen.

Read Colossians 1:9-14.



A Prayer about Answers to Prayer

by | Oct 3, 2024 | Daily Prayer, Prayer, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Answers to 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.

Mark 11:23

Miracle-Working Father,

We confess, 

we’re a little confused about what Jesus said 

to his disciples about prayer. 

If someone suffering from mental illness 

truly believes that you will heal her psyche, 

will it come to pass?

If someone suffering from quadriplegia 

truly believes that you will make her walk, 

will it come to pass?

What do we make of Jesus’ words, 

“whatever you ask in prayer, 

believe that you have received it, 

and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24)? 

There are no easy answers to these questions. 

What we do know is that we are called to trust in you, 

and we are called to surrender to your will (Matthew 6:10). 

We are called to believe 

that you can toss a mountain into the sea, 

you can heal a hemorrhaging woman (Mark 5:25-34), 

and you can raise your Son from the dead. 

We are also called to pray as Jesus did, 

“Father, all things are possible for you…

Yet not what I will, but what you will…” (Mark 14:36).

Help us Lord, to persist in as-yet-unanswered prayer. 

Help us Lord, to submit to your will 

in the way you answer prayer, 

knowing that you always give us good gifts (Matthew 7:11), 

even if they are not the gifts we think we need.

In Jesus’ trustworthy name. Amen.

Read Mark 11:20-25; Mark 14:36; Matthew 6:9-13.



A Prayer about How to Pray for Loved Ones

by | Sep 19, 2024 | Daily Prayer, Prayer, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about How to Pray for Loved Ones

I pray for you constantly,  asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. Ephesians 1:16-17.

[Hi Friends, this is the first of two parts of praying Ephesians 1:15-23.]

Father of Glory,

Sometimes we don’t know how to pray for people I love, 

and then we remember that you’ve given us 

so many good prayers in your Word, 

like this one in Ephesians 1:15-23.

Today, we borrow these words 

to pray for our loved ones:

[try filling in the names of specific people in this prayer]

We thank you for [name] faith in Jesus Christ 

and [name’s] love for all of his people (Ephesians 1:15);

We ask you to give [name] 

the wisdom and insight 

that comes from our helper, the Holy Spirit

 and leads to a deep grasp

of God’s love for them (Ephesians 1:17),

We pray that the “eyes of [name’s] heart [would be] enlightened,” 

that is, that they would be empowered 

to understand and walk in the 

“confident hope you’ve given 

to those you’ve called” (Ephesians 1:18), 

and the immense wealth 

which is our “glorious inheritance” in Christ: 

riches like adoption of the Father, 

justification by faith, 

redemption from slavery to sin, 

and more, so much more!

In Jesus’ sacrificing name we ask.

Amen.

Read Ephesians 1:15-23.