We don’t need to learn new contemplative methods, or build a prayer closet in the woods. If we want to grow and mature in prayer, we don’t need to set a timer. This is what God has said he would most surely do. How do we know God will answer these six prayers? Because he says he will in the first place, and then, even more, because these prayers sum up what God has promised to do through the gospel. This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come (Matthew 24:14). Strengthen me to obey you.Īs you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12–13). If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him (James 1:5). And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord (Jeremiah 31:33–34). And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). I have found at least six basic prayers God will always answer. God will always say Yes when we ask him to do his work through his word. God hears and answers every prayer, but there are a precious few to which he always says, “Yes.” The prayers always answered positively are the prayers which explicitly ask God to deliver on his promises to us. While Scripture encourages us to pray for all manner of things, God also clearly exhorts us to focus our prayer lives. Six Prayersīut our everyday expressions of need are not the burden of the New Testament when it comes to prayer. Don’t be afraid to ask him for anything, and don’t hold back any burdens from him. The apostle Peter exhorts us, “ all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7) - all your anxieties, even your mundane and material ones. We can ask for whatever we want, knowing that God will not give us anything bad for us, but only what is good for us (Luke 11:11–13). For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Luke 11:9–10) “Ask, and it will be given to you seek, and you will find knock, and it will be opened to you. Jesus teaches us to pray and to freely ask our Father for the desires of our heart: Prayer depends on what he has done in us and for us, and on what he will do in us and for us. Prayer, which is made possible by the gospel and shaped by the gospel, works the same way. The core of the gospel is that we have nothing, contribute nothing, bring nothing to God. When we actually look at what the Bible teaches about prayer, it is surprisingly simple: to pray is to ask God to do what he has promised to do through Christ. Our approach to prayer (and our practice) is often an amalgam of platitudes, folk religion, and basic biblical truths, rather than an exegetically rigorous and theologically rich account of the teaching of the Bible. The most important thing to do when it comes to thinking about prayer is to let God speak. Why? Perhaps we don’t really understand what prayer is - or we’re prone to forget. But if we are honest, we neither want to pray more, nor are we really convinced we need to.
Why is that? Talking to the God who chose us, saved us, and sustains us should be the most natural and delightful thing in the world, shouldn’t it? Perhaps it should, but more often than not, it isn’t. If you are like me, you probably find yourself more consistently confused or failing in prayer than in any other area in the Christian life.
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