Haven’t stopped praying for you

“…because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints…For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father” (Colossians 1:4,9-12, NIV)…

From our previous studies on different passages on prayer we know that prayer is not only personal, but also communal. It also ought not to be focused on our own will, but on God’s will instead. In the letter to the Colossians you will find the verses quoted above, which teach us even more about praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus… or in other words – how to pray for one another.

The first important lesson comes from verse 4. Apostle Paul and Timothy do pray for the believers from Colossae, but not because they are best friends or have some other type of a special relationship. As a matter of fact, Paul isn’t even the founder of this church. They two pray for these believers simply because they are their brothers and sisters in Christ.

Today the case seems to be different. In a time when there is more Christians than ever before, and communications are made easier by the hour, it seems that more and more people are in need of something extra in order to pray for their fellow-believers – whether we admit this or not, it is a fact that we can easily do much better. And God’s word teaches us precisely this! Do you pray continually for believers who are not from your vicinity? If not – what is preventing you from doing so, and what can you do to overcome it? Read the rest of this entry »

__________

In Prayer With One Accord

“When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers” (Acts 1:13,14, NIV).

The apostles have recently been instructed by Jesus “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:4,5, NIV). And now they have just seen him ascend into the heavens from where He is to return in all glory.

Today, this promise of God in such circumstances would often lead to division rather than Pentecost. In most cases when the leader of a church leaves for one reason or another, the congregation immediately divides into different camps instead of praying with one accord. And yet, such a prayer is by far not the only lesson one ought to learn from this passage. Read the rest of this entry »

__________

Jonah’s Prayers

The book of prophet Jonah is often considered to be more or less a children’s book. Perhaps due to its content or the length of it… In any case, however, this book still remains God’s Word to us, and the least we can do is pay attention to what it says. For the rest God will use His Spirit to work in us through it.

Now you are probably asking yourself “But what can this book teach me on prayer?” At first glance soma may say “Little!” A careful reading of the text, however, will reveal to you that nearly half of the time of the story Jonah spends in prayer or talking to God. The second and fourth chapters of the book describe two prayers which are very important to learn from, and at the same time – very different from each other. Read the rest of this entry »

__________

Prayer for the Saints

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now…” Such is apostle Paul’s attitude towards the believers he is writing his letters to. This particular quote is from Philippians 1:3-5, NIV. Each letter of Paul from the New Testament, besides the one to the Galatians, contains in its beginning a special part in which the apostle expresses his thanksgiving to God for the brothers and sisters he is writing to. The paragraph of thanksgiving is a typical part of the personal letters in Paul’s time. Unique, however, is the way in which he decides to give thanks. While the secular letters expressed thanks to the gods for various personal issues, such as health, welfare, etc. Paul thanks to God and not for issues of his own, but for the recipients of his letter – his family in Christ. Read the rest of this entry »

__________

Be Faithful in Prayer

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality (Romans 12:11-13, NIV).

Paul’s letter to the church in Rome from the first century is often limited to a well written lesson on systematic theology. This, however, is the very reason due to which most of the letter’s today’s readers miss seeing the practical guides which make up the message. After all, Romans is a letter by a caring spiritual father to his children in the faith. Thus, after clarifying for his brothers and sisters in Christ the basics of the Christian faith Paul does not forget to also remind them how to show this faith through practice in their lives. The whole chapter 12, as well as much of the following ones, is a description of how the life of a believer ought to be like. So, before you continue reading this devotional, please, do read the whole chapter 12 of Romans (you may also read till the end of the letter).

It does not come by surprise that in the middle of this description one finds the phrase “faithful in prayer.” Multiple times already we have turned our attention to how seriously Paul takes prayer. In most Bibles there is two references attached to this phrase. These two other passages confirm the apostle’s teaching. Read the rest of this entry »

__________

My Grace is Sufficient for You

Daily each of us turns to a friend, someone else we know, relative, colleague… and often to someone on the street with a request of some sort. Daily we have so many requests towards the people around us that it is very difficult to keep our requests to God unaffected by this. Naturally, and frankly quite unnoticed our attitude in prayer to God begins to resemble our attitude towards the people whom we ask for a favor, help, or to simply bring us a glass of water. Turning to the people, however, we almost always expect our request to be answered in the particular way we requested it. Such an attitude towards God, on the other hand, would lead even the most hopeful and believing Christian to big disappointments. God isn’t some sort of a wish-delivering machine. Moreover, He would often answer our requests in quite unexpected ways. Let us learn to hear, see and accept God’s answer, for it is always the best we can get!

Apostle Paul has undoubtedly learned the same lesson… and just as we are learning it – not painlessly. It is known that he suffered a lot due to some kind of a health problem. A problem for which we can read more in 2 Corinthians 12. Let us turn our attention to verses 8 and 9: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (NIV). Read the rest of this entry »

__________

Honest Prayer and Repentance

Very few things can wake me up in excitement at 2am as Psalm 51 with king David’s brokenness and God’s tender yet mighty response. I hope this will speak to you as it did to me. Blessings! -Petar

The world would be completely different if no one was honest. So would your repentance and prayers. In fact, one’s repentance and prayers are so different when they are not honest, that it is as if they weren’t there at all. There is no faked repentance, neither is there faked prayer. They are either real or no such at all. However, let us pay some attention to the sincere repentance and prayer. Psalm 51 is one of the most powerful and descriptive texts from the Bible on this topic.

The whole story behind this psalm you can read in the book of 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12. To summarize it, the story goes like this: king David is walking on the roof of his house and sees a beautiful woman showering – Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife. He sends people to bring her and he sleeps with her. After this he sends her back home. Soon enough, however, she lets David know that she is pregnant. As a response to this David sends her husband, Uriah to the first line of the military fights that are going on at the time, and gives instructions for him to be left alone so that he can be killed. Once Uriah is dead David takes Bathsheba for his wife and she gives birth to a son. “But the thing David had done displeased the Lord” (2Sam. 11:27, NIV). Then God sends the prophet Nathan, who reveals to David his sin. Seeing it David repents. Psalm 51 is David’s repentance and prayer to God. Read the rest of this entry »

__________

And when you pray…

God’s word is full of examples and guidelines about how we ought to pray. Our Christian life, on the other hand, is full of examples of how we are tempted to pray differently by the environment which surrounds us. May God, through His Holy Spirit and His Word towards us helps us to communicate with Him in the right way. Let us now turn together to Matthew 6:5-8, from where we can learn much about how we ought to pray.

Matthew 6:5-8, NIV: And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Maybe this is a well known passage for you, but maybe not. Either way, you can learn at least two basic principles from it, which will lead you in prayer: Read the rest of this entry »

__________

Our Prayers – Prayers of Thanksgiving

One of the things which are most notable by non-believers is the joy of the believers – the joy of being closely to God and certain that He is close to us. This joy can be expressed in a countless number of ways. One of them is by giving thanks to God for everything He has done, is doing, and will do for us. Apostle Paul is one of the examples in the Bible from which we learn (1) how important it is to be thankful and (2) how this affects our life, faith, as well as our relationships with others around us. Let’s have a brief look at several passages from Paul’s writings and try to apply what we’ll learn from there – both in our everyday living and especially in our prayers.

Philippians 1:3-5: I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now…

Philippians 4:4-7: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:15-17: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Read the rest of this entry »

__________

A Prayer for God’s Will

Every person prays differently and many follow the so called models for prayer. Today, the one searching will surely find many such models. One, however, is the most well known and most often used – Jesus’ prayer from Matthew 6:9-13. Without a doubt this model offers a lot of important information concerning the content of our prayers. From all verses let us focus our attention to verse 10 and more specifically to the phrase “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
In this lesson on prayer which Jesus gives his disciples, as well as to us today, the leading place of the prayer for God’s will (notice – without conditions on it – the prayer is for God’s will as it is and whatever it might be) reflects its importance. Jesus is teaching us to pray for God’s will before we pray for our daily or long-term needs. Thus, as we begin our prayers with an honest request for the fulfillment of God’s will, God’s Spirit who leads us in prayer will keep us away from the trap of our own wishes and desires. Read the rest of this entry »

__________