Praying the Bible Together

Andrew Case

Based on the American Standard Version.

Andrew Case, Praying the Bible Together

CC0 2022 by Andrew Case

Public Domain. All of this publication may be shared, translated, sold, or copied freely without limitation and without permission. To learn more about this open license visit https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/

For the free PDF and eBook please visit HisMagnificence.com.

ISBN 9798361733996

RECOMMENDATIONS OF OTHER PRAYER BOOKS BY ANDREW CASE

Many talk about the value of prayer, but few do it—it’s a hidden work, not showy, seemingly not productive. Andrew Case’s book Praying the Light helps. Case’s thoroughly biblical prayers give you a ‘track’ to run on—they give shape to your prayers.

—PAUL MILLER, author of A Praying Life

Children learn to speak by repeating the words they hear from their parents. Similarly, we learn to pray by speaking God’s words back to him. In the spirit of Matthew Henry’s Method for Prayer, Andrew Case helps God’s children by putting the Scriptures on their lips as prayers to our Father.

—DR. JOEL R. BEEKE, author of Taking Hold of God: Reformed and Puritan Perspectives on Prayer, President of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids

The concept of this book is really quite simple–and very helpful: a weaving together of biblical passages turned into prayers … a great idea and a most helpful and welcome book!

—JUSTIN TAYLOR, The Gospel Coalition, Crossway senior vice president and publisher

By combining the two greatest powers on earth—scripture and prayer—Andrew Case not only shows husbands how to pray for our wives, but teaches us how to read scripture: prayerfully. This book is a gold mine.

—MIKE MASON, bestselling author of The Mystery of Marriage

Blessed is the wife whose husband offers prayers on her behalf such as those in this book. Blessed is the man who prays them, for by Case’s example he will learn how to pray through a passage of Scripture for anything.

—DONALD S. WHITNEY, author of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life

Of all the things a wife can do for her husband, of all the many ways she can show her support, nothing tops the prayers she offers up before the Throne.  And it’s the wise wife who, when she prays, recognizes how her marriage—even her own life—is being strengthened and deepened.  God sees when women kneel in prayer for their husbands, and Prayers of an Excellent Wife provides the reader with all the scriptural principles and language needed to cover a man with powerful intercession—prayers so effective, they’ll resonate throughout his life.

—JONI EARECKSON TADA, Joni and Friends International Disability Center

Many believers feel paralyzed when it comes time to pray. Case’s prayers for a wife illustrate practically and devotionally how scripture should be the fuel for our prayers. Read, meditate, and pray!

—THOMAS R. SCHREINER, James Buchanan Professor of New Testament Interpretation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, author of The King in His Beauty

What better words to pray for our husbands than the very words of his Maker? Prayers of an Excellent Wife provides a guide for humbly engaging in the joyful duty of intercession, petition and thanksgiving for our husbands. I am delighted to speak these prayers with and on behalf of Matt.

—LAUREN CHANDLER, wife of Matt Chandler who is preaching pastor at The Village Church

There are lots of ‘parenting resources’ out there for Moms and Dads, on all kinds of important issues ranging from discipline to talking about sex to family vacations. One of the most important responsibilities of fathers and mothers, however, is to pray for and with their children. This book, drawn mostly right from Holy Scripture, can be a spur to your family to get off the couch and away from the television and on your knees praying for the salvation and welfare of your children.

—RUSSELL D. MOORE, author of Adopted for Life, President, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

Nowhere are we more helpless than in prayer. For it means we can begin where we are, as we are, today. Soaked in scripture, interspersed with great quotes, this book will encourage, inspire, and strengthen anyone who wants to learn to grow in dependence on God, or—in other words—prayer.

—SALLY LLOYD-JONES, best-selling author of The Jesus Storybook Bible

In Setting Their Hope in God, Andrew Case turns to the ultimate prayer book, the Bible, to craft prayers for parents who want to see their children turn to the Lord, to live for the Lord, to honor him with their lives. We are convinced that this book will prove an indispensable resource to many mothers and fathers as they seek to hold up their children before the throne of grace.

—TIM CHALLIES, author, blogger, challies.com

for

my dove of the twilight

my oasis of newborn light

Bethany

Praying the Bible
Together

Lord, teach us to pray. –Luke 11:1

Be encouraged, dear Christian reader, with fresh earnestness to give yourself to prayer, if you can only be sure that you ask for things which are for the glory of God. ~George Mueller

If attended to with trust and faith, the Bible is the way to actually hear God speaking and also to meet God himself…. Your prayer must be firmly connected to and grounded in your reading of the Word. This wedding of the Bible and prayer anchors your life down in the real God. ~Tim Keller

Prayer, at its best, is the noblest, the sublimest, the most magnificent, and stupendous act that any creature of God can perform on earth or in heaven. Prayer is far too princely a life for most men. It is high, and they are low, and they cannot attain it. ~Alexander Whyte

Prayers

O Keeper of Your people,

It is better to take refuge in You than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in You than to trust in princes. Therefore, cause us to take refuge in You alone. Be our strength and our song; be our great salvation.

Let us lift up the cup of salvation and call on Your name. Open to us the gates of righteousness, that we may enter through them and give thanks to You. Raise our eyes to the hills to see from where our help comes. Thank You that our help comes from You, the maker of heaven and earth. Do not let our feet be moved; keep us and do not slumber. Please keep us and neither slumber nor sleep. Keep us from all evil; keep our lives. Keep our going out and our coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

We praise You that You are our keeper; You are our shade on our right hand. Let not the sun strike us by day, nor the moon by night. Amen (Psalm 118, 116, 121).

American culture is probably the hardest place in the world to learn to pray. We are so busy that when we slow down to pray, we find it uncomfortable. We prize accomplishments, production. But prayer is nothing but talking to God. It feels useless, as if we are wasting time. Every bone in our bodies screams, “Get to work.” ~Paul Miller

Eternal Giver of life,

May we boast continually in You, and give thanks to Your name forever. Please redeem us for the sake of Your steadfast love! Be our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, so that we may not fear though the earth give way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea.

O God, be near us so that we will not be moved; help us when morning dawns. Make us to be still and know that You are God. And then let us clap our hands, shouting to You with loud songs of joy!

Remind us that You, Yahweh, the Most High, are to be feared. You are the great King over all the earth. Let us sing praises to You! May we sing praises to our King! For You are the King of all the earth.

Cause us to think on Your steadfast love. Your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Thank You that Your right hand is filled with righteousness. Let us be glad! Let us rejoice because of Your judgments! Ransom our souls from the power of Sheol, and shine forth in all Your splendor (Psalm 46, 47, 48, 49).

God of Grace,

Thank You that You will bring the good work You began in us to completion at the day of Christ Jesus. It is our prayer that our love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that we may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of Your name.

We ask that You would enable us to count whatever gain we have as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, make us count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. May we gladly suffer the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that we may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of our own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from You that depends on faith—that we may know Christ and the power of His resurrection, and may share in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death (Philippians 1 & 3).

Our prayers should arise out of immersion in the Scripture. We should “plunge ourselves into the sea” of God’s language, the Bible. We should listen, study, think, reflect, and ponder the Scriptures until there is an answering response in our hearts and minds. It may be one of shame or of joy or of confusion or of appeal— but that response to God’s speech is then truly prayer and should be given to God. ~Tim Keller

Lord and King,

Let us rejoice in You and take refuge in You! Let our hearts be upright and exult! Praise is due to You, O God—You who hear prayers. Blessed is the one You choose and bring near, to dwell in Your courts!

We shout for joy to You, O God; we sing the glory of Your name; we give to You glorious praise! How awesome are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies come cringing to You. All the earth worships You and sings praises to You; they sing praises to Your name.

May we rejoice in You, who rule by Your might forever. Test us and try us as silver is tried. Please do not reject our prayer or remove Your steadfast love from us! Instead be gracious to us and bless us and make Your face shine upon us, that Your way may be known on earth, Your saving power among all the nations. May we be glad, exulting before You, jubilant with joy! (Psalm 64, 66, 68).

Almighty God,

Be to us a rock of refuge, to which we may continually come. For You, O Lord, are our hope.

May our mouths be filled with Your praise, and with Your glory all the day. O God, be not far from us; O our God, make haste to help us! May we hope continually and praise You yet more and more. Let our mouths tell of Your righteous acts, of Your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past knowledge.

So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake us, until we proclaim Your might to another generation, Your power to all those to come (Psalm 71).

Among all the formative influences which go to make up a man honoured of God in the ministry, I know of none more mighty than his own familiarity with the mercy-seat. All that a college course can do for a student is coarse and external compared with the spiritual and delicate refinement obtained by communion with God. While the unformed minister is revolving upon the wheel of preparation, prayer is the tool of the great potter by which he moulds the vessel. All our libraries and studies are mere emptiness compared with our closets. We grow, we wax mighty, we prevail in private prayer. ~Charles Spurgeon

Infinitely worthy LORD,

We will sing to You, for You have done glorious things; You have made Yourself our strength and our song, and You have become our salvation! You are our God, and we will praise You; You are the God of Jacob, and we will exalt You. Your right hand, glorious in power, shatters our enemies. In the greatness of Your majesty You overthrow our adversaries; You send out Your fury; it consumes them like stubble.

Who is like You, O Yahweh, among the gods? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? You have redeemed us and led us in Your steadfast love; You have guided us by Your strength to Your holy abode. You alone will reign forever and ever.

We will sing to You, for You have triumphed gloriously over our enemies; You will guard and defend us, for You have become our salvation! (Exodus 15).

What is the reason that some believers are so much brighter and holier than others? I believe the difference, nineteen cases out of twenty, arises from different habits about private prayer. I believe that those who are not eminently holy pray little, and those who are eminently holy pray much. ~J. C. Ryle

Most blessed Yahweh,

Let us be people who proclaim Your name and ascribe greatness to our God. For You are the Rock, whose work is perfect, for all Your ways are justice. You are a God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright.

Keep us from becoming unmindful of the Rock that bore us, from forgetting the God who gave us birth. But make us remember and rejoice that You, even You, are our help, and there is no god beside You. You kill and You make alive; You wound and You heal; and there is none that can deliver out of Your hand. You avenge the blood of Your children and take vengeance on Your adversaries.

Let us dwell in safety; surround us all day long, and dwell in our midst. May we be blessed by You with favor, and be full of Your blessing. For there is none like You, who rides through the heavens to our help, through the skies in Your majesty. Be our dwelling place, and keep Your ever-lasting arms underneath us. Amen (Deuteronomy 32 & 33).

Precious Provider,

Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore our souls keep them. The unfolding of Your word gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. May we open our mouths and pant, because we long for Your commandments. Turn to us and be gracious to us, as is Your way with those who love Your name.

Keep steady our steps according to Your promise; let no iniquity get dominion over us. Redeem us from man’s oppression, that we may keep Your precepts. Make Your face shine upon us, Your servants, and teach us Your statutes (Psalm 119).

My simple exhortation is this: Let us take time this very day to rethink our priorities and how prayer fits in. Make some new resolve. Try some new venture with God. Set a time. Set a place. Choose a portion of Scripture to guide you. Don’t be tyrannized by the press of busy days. We all need midcourse corrections. Make this a day of turning to prayer—for the glory of God and for the fullness of your joy. ~John Piper

O great and awesome God,

Thank You that You keep covenant and steadfast love with those who love You and keep Your commandments. Let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, to hear the prayer of Your servants that we now pray before You. For we have sinned against You; we have acted very corruptly against You by forsaking the path of righteousness and the fear of You; we have not kept Your commandments, Your statutes, or the rules that You commanded Your servant Moses.

Please forgive and restore us when we are unfaithful to Your Word, when we neglect prayer, fail to redeem the time, speak carelessly, walk foolishly, fail to hope in You, seek great things for ourselves, or become anxious about tomorrow. Do not cease exhorting and reforming us when we are beset with the fear of man, the cares of the world, or the love of money. May we never lose confidence that, in spite of our many iniquities and shortcomings, we are Your servants whom You have redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand.

O Lord, let Your ear be attentive to our prayer, for we delight to fear Your name. Give success to us today, and grant us mercy (Nehemiah 1).

A man cannot live unless he takes his breath,
nor can the soul, unless it breathes forth its desires to God. ~Thomas Watson

Merciful Master,

Look on our affliction and deliver us, and let us not forget Your law. Plead our cause and redeem us; give us life according to Your promise! Great is Your mercy, O LORD; give us life according to Your rules.

Even when our persecutors and adversaries are many, let us not swerve from Your testimonies. Help us to love Your precepts! Give us life according to Your steadfast love. The sum of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous rules endures forever (Psalm 119).

To begin the day with prayer is but a formality unless it go on in prayer, unless for the rest of it we pray in deed what we began in word. One has said that while prayer is the day’s best beginning it must not be like the handsome title-page of a worthless book. ~P.T. Forsyth

Sovereign Preserver,

We bless You, our God, from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be Your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. You are Yahweh, You alone. You have made us. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and You preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships You.

Thank You for preserving us, for keeping us as Your chosen, for directing our steps on the narrow way. Please continue to preserve our lives! For You are Yahweh, the God who chose us and brought us out of darkness and made our hearts faithful before You. Thank You that You have kept the promises that are ours in Christ Jesus, for You are righteous. We praise You that You are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and have not departed from us. Even when we stray and our hearts grow dull, You in Your great mercies have not forsaken us. Therefore, keep on making a name for Yourself through us, and instruct us with Your good Spirit. Amen (Nehemiah 9).

Lord and Husband,

When we stray from Your love, however wicked our waywardness proves to be, please draw us back. Even when we forget You, allure us, and bring us into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to us. Make the Valley of Trouble a door of hope for us. May we answer You as in the days of our youth, as at the time when we came out of the land of bondage. And let us call You “Our Husband.” Make us lie down in safety and remind us that You have betrothed us to Yourself forever.

We praise You that You have betrothed us to Yourself in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. We exalt You for betrothing us to Yourself in faithfulness, and for letting us know You.

Be pleased to guard us from abandoning faithfulness, steadfast love, and the knowledge of You. Save us from being destroyed for lack of knowledge, from forsaking You to cherish whoredom, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding. Preserve us, for a people without understanding shall come to ruin (Hosea 2 & 4).

Praying is the same to the new creature as crying is to the natural. The child is not learned by art or example to cry, but instructed by nature; it comes into the world crying. Praying is not a lesson got by forms and rules of art, but flowing from principles of new life itself. ~William Gurnall

Redeeming Lover,

We thank You that, even when we played the whore and did not know You, and even as we stumbled in our guilt, You knew us, and our ways were not hidden from You. Graciously You tore us that You might heal us; You struck us down, and You bound our wounds. Then You revived us and raised us up, that we might live before You. Praise be to You, Yahweh God! For You made us acknowledge our guilt and seek Your face. You caused us to turn to You and seek You earnestly in our distress.

Let us know You; let us press on to know You, for Your going out is sure as the dawn. Please come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.

Let us not resemble Ephraim and Judah, whose love was like the morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. Increase within us steadfast love for Your name. For You desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Prevent us from defiling ourselves with other lovers. And continue to restore us. Amen (Hosea 5, 6, 7).

We look at the inadequacy of our praying and give up, thinking something is wrong with us. God looks at the adequacy of his Son and delights in our sloppy, meandering prayers. ~Paul Miller

Most Holy Judge,

We are not immune to the subtle deceitfulness of sin. Therefore, please protect us; increase our wisdom. Let us not be like doves, silly and without sense. Woe to us if we stray from You! Only destruction will we find if You do not keep us.

May we never cry falsely, “Our God, we, Your children, know You,” when we have transgressed Your covenant and rebelled against Your law. Restrain us from making idols with our silver and gold. And forbid that we ever become incapable of innocence. 

May we cling to You, fear You, and turn away from evil, lest we find ourselves to be useless vessels, and begin to regard Your laws as a strange thing.  May we not forget our Maker. Keep us from growing to love a prostitute’s wages. May we consecrate ourselves always to You and not to anything shameful, lest we become detestable like the thing we love. Preserve our glory and righteousness. Accept us because we listen to You, and make us bear much fruit in Your house. Show Your love to us, that our children may see many days (Hosea 7, 8, 9).

Cold prayers always freeze before they reach heaven. ~Thomas Brooks

Merciful Leader of wayward children,

Please continue growing us into a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. But as our fruit increases, may we not use it to improve our pursuit of self or foreign altars. Guard our hearts from becoming false, saying, “We have no king, for we do not fear Yahweh.” Unless You continue with us we will utter mere words; with empty oaths we will make covenants. Let us not be put to shame!

Please spare our necks in kindness. Please do not put us to the yoke to plow and harrow for ourselves. Instead, help us sow for ourselves righteousness and reap steadfast love. Break up our fallow ground and let us seek You, that You may come and rain righteousness upon us.

Have mercy on us, for we have plowed iniquity; we have reaped injustice; we have eaten the fruit of lies. We have trusted in our own way; do not destroy us! Because of our great evil we appeal to the righteousness of Christ, for apart from Him we should be dashed in pieces and utterly cut off. Amen (Hosea 10).

Most High Father,

Thank You that, when we were children, You loved us, and out of Egypt You called us. Thank You for persisting, even when the more we were called, the more we went away and kept sacrificing to the gods of this world and burning offerings to self. Even so it was You who taught us to walk; You took us up by our arms, and now we know that You healed us. Let us rejoice and sing for joy. For You led us with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and You became to us as one who eases the yoke on our jaws, and You bent down to us and fed us.

Help us to keep our souls diligently, lest we forget the things that our eyes have seen, and lest they depart from our hearts all the days of our lives. When our hearts are bent on turning away from You, may Your compassion grow warm and tender. On account of Christ Jesus do not execute Your burning anger; for You are God and not a man, the Holy One in our midst, and because of Your great mercy do not come in wrath.

If we stray, roar like a lion, so that when You roar we will come trembling; make us return trembling like a bird from Egypt. Then may we walk with You and remain faithful to the Holy One (Hosea 11 & Deuteronomy 4).

I had rather learn what some men really judge about their own justification from their prayers than their writings. ~John Owen

Yahweh, God of Armies,

May we, by Your help, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for You. Keep us from incurring guilt and forsaking Christ. For if we do we shall be like the morning mist or like the dew that goes early away, like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor or like smoke from a window. You are Yahweh our God; we know no God but You, and besides You there is no savior. It was You who knew us in the wilderness, in the land of drought. But now, when we are filled, and our hearts are lifted up, let us not forget You.

Even when we turn away from our Helper, because of Christ, do not destroy us. We thank You for His sacrifice on our behalf, so that You will not devour us and rip us open in Your wrath. We bless the name of Jesus, for He has ransomed us from the power of Sheol! He has redeemed us from Death. O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? Thanks be to You, who give us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Let not compassion be hidden from Your eyes toward us. May we flourish, and may our fountain never dry up. Amen (Hosea 12, 13, I Corinthians 15).

LORD God of Israel,

Continue in faithful mercy toward us. Turn Your anger from us and love us freely. Be like the dew to us, causing us to blossom like the lily, and take root like the trees of Lebanon. Then our shoots shall spread out; our beauty shall be like the olive, and our fragrance like Lebanon. Let us dwell beneath Your shadow; may we flourish like the grain and blossom like the vine; make our fame be like the wine of Lebanon.

Remind us that You have nothing to do with idols. Thank You that it is You who answer and look after us. You are like an evergreen cypress; from You comes our fruit. Let us be wise and understand these things; give us discernment to know them; for Your ways are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them (Hosea 14).

In God’s commands to pray, we are compelled by the force of divine authority to come and drink of the living water, to receive bread from heaven, and to realize afresh moment by moment by moment that all that we long for, and everything that is good, is found in one and only one place: in God. ~Bruce Ware

Ruler of the world,

Put Your Spirit in us with perfect power and bear His fruit in our lives. May we be a loving people; a joyful, peaceful people, patient, kind, and good. Make our souls and actions abound with faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, for against such things there is no law. By Christ Jesus crucify our flesh with its passions and desires.

Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. And may we never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to us, and we to the world (Galatians 5 & 6).

Prayer seem’d to be natural to me; as the breath, by which the inward burnings of my heart had vent. ~Jonathan Edwards

Great God,

May we be people inclined to pour ourselves out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, so that our light may rise in the darkness and our gloom be as the noonday. Then guide us continually and satisfy our desire in scorched places. Make our bones strong, so that we may be like watered gardens, like springs of water, whose waters do not fail.

May we be radiant, our hearts thrilling to say, “We will greatly rejoice in the LORD; our souls shall exult in our God, for He has clothed us with the garments of salvation; He has covered us with the robes of righteousness.” Amen (Isaiah 58 & 61).

Righteous are You, O LORD, and right are Your rules.

You have appointed Your testimonies in righteousness and in faithfulness. May zeal consume us when our foes forget Your words. Your promise is well tried; may we love it. Even when we are small and despised, let us not forget Your precepts. Your righteousness is righteous forever, and Your law is true. When trouble and anguish find us out, make Your commandments our delight. Your testimonies are righteous forever; give us understanding that we may live.

With our whole heart we cry; answer us, O Yahweh! Cause us to keep Your statutes. We call to You; save us, that we may observe Your testimonies. We rise before dawn and cry for help; may we hope in Your words. Awaken our eyes before the watches of the night, that we may meditate on Your promise. Hear our voice according to Your steadfast love; O Yahweh, according to Your justice give us life. When those who persecute us with evil purpose draw near, assure us that You are near, O Yahweh, and all Your commandments are true. Long have we known from Your testimonies that You have founded them forever (Psalm 119).

What makes a heart upright and what makes prayers pleasing to God is a felt awareness of our tremendous need for mercy. ~John Piper

Our Gracious Master,

Cause us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, knowing all the while that it is You who work in us, both to will and to work for Your good pleasure.

May we rejoice in You always, and let our reasonableness be known to everyone. Please let us not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving may we make known our requests to You. So that Your peace, which surpasses all understanding, may guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally Father, lead us to think on whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, on anything of excellence, and anything worthy of praise. Through Your Son and for Your glory we ask these things. Amen (Philippians 2 & 4).

Couples who do not pray are as badly off as those who stop sleeping together. Like lovemaking, prayer requires, in a sense, taking off the clothes, removing the shoes to touch holy ground. ~Mike Mason

Heavenly Father,

As for us, our prayer is to You. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of Your steadfast love answer us in Your saving faithfulness. And our prayer is this: deliver us from sinking in the mire of sin; let us be delivered from the deep waters of vanity. Let not the flood sweep over us, or the deep swallow us up, or the pit of despair close its mouth over us. Answer us, O LORD, for Your steadfast love is good; according to Your abundant mercy turn to us. Draw near to our souls, redeem us; ransom us because of our frailty.

When we are afflicted and in pain, let Your salvation, O God, set us on high! Then may we praise Your name with a song, and magnify You with thanksgiving. May we seek You, and rejoice and be glad in You!

Because we love Your salvation, let us say evermore, “God is great!” Hasten to us, O God! You are our help and our deliverer; O LORD, do not delay! Save us for Your marvelous name (Psalm 69 & 70).

Blessed God,

Although princes may persecute us without cause, may we stand in awe of Your words. May we rejoice at Your word like those who find great spoil. Make us hate and abhor falsehood, but love Your law. May we be people who praise You seven times a day for Your righteous rules. Give us the great peace of those who love Your law, and let nothing make us stumble. May we hope for Your salvation, O LORD, and do Your commandments. Cause our souls to keep Your testimonies and love them exceedingly. Help us to keep Your precepts and testimonies, for all our ways are before You.

Let our cry come before You; give us understanding according to Your word! Let our plea come before You; deliver us according to Your word. May our lips pour forth praise, for You teach us Your statutes. May we sing of Your word, for all Your commandments are right. Let Your hand be ready to help us, for we have chosen Your precepts. Create in us a longing for Your salvation, and a delight in Your law. Let our souls live and praise You, and let Your rules help us. When we go astray like lost sheep, seek us, Your servants, and help us not to forget Your commandments. Amen (Psalm 119).

You often feel that your prayers scarcely reach the ceiling; but, oh, get into this humble spirit by considering how good the Lord is, and how evil you all are, and then prayer will mount on wings of faith to heaven. The sigh, the groan of a broken heart, will soon go through the ceiling up to heaven, aye, into the very bosom of God. ~Charles Simeon

Even skeptical Dan prayed, his skepticism falling away from him like a discarded garment in this valley of the shadow, which sifts out hearts and tries souls, until we all, grown-up or children, realize our weakness, and, finding that our own puny strength is as a reed shaken in the wind, creep back humbly to the God we have vainly dreamed we could do without.

~L.M. Montgomery

Lord Yahweh,

We ask that we would keep our way blameless and so be blessed; that we would walk in Your law! Cause us to keep Your testimonies and seek You with our whole heart, doing no wrong but walking in Your ways.

May we keep Your precepts diligently for love of Your great name. Oh, that our ways may be steadfast in keeping Your statutes! May our eyes be fixed unswervingly on all Your commandments. May we praise You with upright hearts when we learn Your righteous rules. And cause us to keep Your statutes; do not utterly forsake us!

Keep our way pure by teaching us to guard it according to Your word. Let us seek You with our whole heart; let us not wander from Your commandments. May we store up Your word in our hearts that we might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Yahweh; teach us Your statutes!

May our lips declare the rules of Your mouth, and cause us to delight in the way of Your testimonies as much as in all riches. Enable our minds to meditate on Your precepts, and fix our eyes on Your ways. May we delight in Your statutes and not forget Your word (Psalm 119).

Sovereign LORD,

Shall we receive good from You, and shall we not receive evil? Therefore, may we hold fast to our integrity when calamity comes. Instead of cursing, let us bless You saying, “Yahweh gave, and Yahweh has taken away; blessed be the name of Yahweh.” When evil befalls us, let us not charge You with wrong or sin with our lips. And when our suffering is great, enable us to find comfort in You.

May we seek You, and to You may we commit our cause. For You do great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number: You set on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted up to safety. You save the needy from the sword of the mouth of the crafty and from the hand of the mighty.

Thank You that You are faithful when You wound and shatter us even in our blamelessness. Let us not despise Your hard hand of grace, for You bind up, and Your hands heal.

Deliver us from troubles! In famine redeem us from death, and in war from the power of the sword. Hide us from the lash of the tongue, and let us not fear destruction when it comes (Job 1, 2, 4, 5).

As prayer without faith is but a beating of the air, so trust without prayers [is] but a presumptuous bravado. He that promises to give, and bids us trust his promises, commands us to pray, and expects obedience to his commands. He will give, but not without our asking. ~Thomas Lye

Merciful Almighty,

We are but of yesterday and know nothing, for our days on earth are a shadow. Therefore, give wisdom to your servants and deal kindly with us that we might live uprightly. Fill our mouths with laughter, and our lips with shouts of joy. Let those who hate us be clothed with shame, for You are wise in heart and mighty in strength. You command the sun, and it does not rise; You seal up the stars; You alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea; You made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south; You do great things beyond searching out, and marvelous things beyond number.

Oh, how greatly and marvelously You have made us! Thank You for saving us and keeping us with the strength of Your right hand! Praise and glory are due Your name, for You have provided an arbiter between us and Yourself, even the man Jesus Christ, so that You have taken Your rod away from us, and Your dread no longer terrifies us. Therefore, may we not loathe our lives, or speak in bitterness of soul forever, for behold, we have an advocate with You, Jesus Christ the righteous (Job 8, 9, 10, I John 2).

Helper of the weak,

We give You praise and thanks, for Your hands fashioned and made us. You clothed us with skin and flesh, and knit us together with bones and sinews. You have granted us life and steadfast love, and Your care has preserved our spirits.

Therefore, please do not destroy us altogether. Remember that You have made us like clay; do not return us to the dust. Are not our days few? Therefore, please bless us, and do not fill us with disgrace. Work wonders for us, and not against us.

Please speak and open Your lips to us, and tell us the secrets of wisdom! For You are manifold in understanding. Thank You that You exact of us less than our guilt deserves, because of Christ. For You have taken our guilt and put it upon Your Son, so that we may rejoice in the abundant life given us in Him.

Thank You that because of Christ we can lift up our faces without blemish; we can be secure and not fear. Let our lives be brighter than the noonday, and their darkness like the morning. May we feel secure, because there is hope—hope in Jesus. Let us lie down with none to make us afraid. Amen (Job 10 & 11).

Prayer is the most tangible expression of trust in God. ~Jerry Bridges

Great God,

In whose hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind, with You are wisdom and might; You have counsel and understanding. Therefore, impart these things to us. Lead us with strength and sound wisdom. Let the eyes of our hearts feast upon Your splendor. Let them brighten at the sight of Your justice, and with the vision of Your righteousness. For You overthrow the mighty. You uncover the deeps out of darkness and bring deep darkness to light. You make nations great, and You destroy them; You enlarge nations, and lead them away.

When Your majesty terrifies us, and the dread of You falls upon us, let us run to Christ. Even when we are worthless physicians in the day of our calamity, let us cling continually to Christ. And though You slay us, let us hope in You. Do not hide Your face or count us as Your enemy. Please do not frighten us or make us inherit the iniquities of our youth (Job 12 & 13).

Prayer is the acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty and of our dependence upon Him to act on our behalf. Prudence is the acknowledgment of our responsibility to use all legitimate means. We must not separate the two. ~Jerry Bridges

Majestic and mighty LORD,

Make us wise. Impart to us holy insight. And let us not do away with the fear of You, or hinder meditation before You. Keep our iniquity from teaching our mouths, and let us not choose the tongue of the crafty. Open our ears to listen to Your council, so that we do not limit wisdom to ourselves.

Protect us from the one who is abominable and corrupt, the man who drinks injustice like water. Let not distress and anguish terrify us; may they not prevail against us, for we have not trusted in emptiness, deceiving ourselves. Do not tear us with Your wrath or hate us, or gnash Your teeth at us. Neither give us up to the ungodly or cast us into the hands of the wicked. Please do not break us apart, or seize us by the neck and dash us to pieces, or set us up as Your target, surrounding us with Your archers. Do not break us with breach upon breach, or run upon us like a warrior. For even though we deserve all these things, spare us because of Christ, for we abide in Him.

May we hope continually in Christ, and look to Him alone for our salvation. Thank You that even now our witness is in heaven, and He who testifies for us is on high. We praise Him, for He argues our case with You, as a son of man does with his neighbor. May You be glorified for the advocate You have given us in Jesus (Job 15 & 16).

Restorer of the broken in spirit,

Even when we make our beds in darkness, when reproach is cast upon us, when You strip our glory from us, and set darkness upon our paths, when our relatives fail us, and close friends forget us, when our intimate friends abhor us and those whom we love turn against us, let us hope in Christ. For He lives, and has stood upon the earth, and we shall see Him for ourselves. Our eyes shall behold Him! May we long for that day and not lose heart.

Because we are found in Christ, let our children dance. Let them sing to the tambourine and the lyre and rejoice to the sound of the pipe. May they spend their days in prosperity. Let us receive instruction from Your Son’s mouth, and lay up His words in our hearts. Cause us to turn always to You so that we will be built up. Remove injustice far from our houses.

Remind us that if we lay gold in the dust, and gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrent bed, then You will be our gold and our precious silver. For then we will delight ourselves in You and lift up our faces to You.

When we pray to You, hear us, and make light to shine on our ways. Be exalted! For You deliver us even though we are not innocent, and You will grant us cleanness of hands (Job 17, 19, 21, 22).

Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the Kingdom. ~Charles Spurgeon

Righteous Judge,

Thank You that Christ comes even to Your seat and lays our case before You. He alone is the upright man who can argue on our behalf so that we are acquitted forever by our Judge.

Behold, You know the way that we take; when You test us, let us come out as gold. Make our feet hold fast to Your steps; keep us in Your way and do not let us turn aside. Let us never depart from the commandment of Your lips; may we treasure the words of Your mouth more than our portion of food.

You are unchangeable, and who can turn You back? What You desire, do so in us. Complete what You have appointed for us. Even if You must terrify us and make our hearts faint, let us hope in Your steadfast love. May we trust Your hand when thick darkness covers our faces. Amen (Job 23).

We must combine tenacious importunity, a “striving with God,” with deep acceptance of God’s wise will, whatever it is. ~Tim Keller

God of dominion,

Is there any number to Your armies? Upon whom does Your light not arise? Thank You, that because of Christ, we are in the right before You. For we who are born of man have Him as our purity. His hand pierced the fleeing serpent, and by His spirit we have been made fair.

We adore and fear You, for You stretch out the north over the void and hang the earth on nothing. The pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at Your rebuke. By Your power You stilled the sea; by Your understanding You shattered Rahab, the terror of the deep. These are but the outskirts of Your ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of You!

As long as our breath is in us, and Your spirit is in us, keep our lips from speaking falsehood, and our tongues from uttering deceit. Let us hold fast to Christ’s righteousness and not let it go.

Grant us wisdom. For You alone understand the way to it, and know its place. You have said, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.” Therefore increase our fear of You; let us turn away from evil and gain discerning hearts (Job 25-28).

Wise Almighty,

Oh, that You might watch over us, making Your lamp to shine upon our heads, so that by Your light we may walk through darkness. Let Your friendship be upon our house, and stay always with us.

Keep our children all around us; may our steps be washed with blessing, and cause the rock to pour out for us streams of oil. May we deliver the poor who cry for help, and the fatherless who have none to help them, so that when people hear of us, they will call us blessed, and when they see us, they will approve.

May we cause the widow’s heart to sing for joy. Put righteousness on us and clothe us with it; make our justice like a robe and a turban.

Let us be eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, and fathers to the needy. Let us search out the cause of even the one whom we do not know. Use us to break the fangs of the unrighteous and make them drop their prey from their teeth (Job 29).

An attitude of acceptance says that we trust God, that He loves us, and knows what is best for us. Acceptance does not mean that we do not pray for physical healing, or for the conception and birth of a little one to our marriage. We should indeed pray for those things, but we should pray in a trusting way. We should realize that, though God can do all things, for infinitely wise and loving reasons, He may not do that which we pray that He will do. How do we know how long to pray? As long as we can pray trustingly, with an attitude of acceptance of His will, we should pray as long as the desire remains. ~Jerry Bridges

God of justice and righteousness,

Make us wise. Fill us with understanding so that people will listen to us and wait and keep silence for our counsel—that they may wait for us as for the rain and open their mouths as for the spring rain.

Let us not despair when our souls are poured out within us, when days of affliction have taken hold of us. When we are cast into the mire, and have become like dust and ashes, when we cry to You for help, please answer us. Even when You seem to have turned cruel to us, may we hope in Your promise; may we wait for Your unfailing love. Let us be people who weep for those whose days are hard; and may our souls grieve for the needy.

Assist us to comfort others when evil comes; when they have waited for light, but darkness comes. Grant us wisdom and compassion to bear their turmoil with them; to encourage them when days of affliction come to meet them. Be merciful to us, for we have not walked with falsehood and our foot has not hastened to deceit (Job 30).

Majestic Lord,

Keep us from making gold our trust or calling fine gold our confidence. Let us not rejoice only because our wealth is abundant or because our hands have found much. Guard our hearts from being secretly enticed to worship the shining splendor of what has been made, for that would be false to You. May we not rejoice at the ruin of the one who hates us, or exult when evil overtakes him. Let not our mouths sin by asking for his life with a curse.

Sanctify us so that we may be able to say that the sojourner has not lodged in the street, that we have opened our doors to the traveler, that we have withheld nothing that the poor desired, nor caused the eyes of the widow to fail, nor left the fatherless hungry. Keep us from concealing our transgressions as others do by hiding iniquity in our bosom.

Remind us that we, like everyone else, were pinched off from a piece of clay. We are nothing but dust before You. May we cling to Christ as our righteousness, for He is pure, without transgression; He is clean, and there is no iniquity in Him (Job 31 & 33).

Intercessory prayer is the purifying bath into which the individual and the fellowship must enter every day. ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

O God, who is greater than man,

Let us hope in Christ when our souls draw near the pit, and our lives to those who bring death. When we pray to You, please accept us; may we see Your face with a shout of joy, as You restore to us our righteousness.

We have sinned and perverted what was right, and it was not repaid to us. For You have redeemed us from going down into the pit, and our lives shall look upon the light. Please illuminate us with the light of life.

Listen to us; hear our words and give ear to us. Teach us wisdom. Let us not drink up scoffing like water, nor travel in company with evildoers, nor walk with wicked men. May we never say, “It profits a man nothing that he should take delight in God,” for such are the words of the wicked (Job 33 & 34).

True, whole prayer is nothing but love. ~St. Augustine

O Father, perfect in knowledge,

Be praised among the nations! For You are mighty in strength and understanding. When we are afflicted, please give us our right and keep us alive, and do not withdraw Your eyes from us.

Open our ears to instruction and help us to return from iniquity. May we listen and serve You, and complete our days in prosperity, and our years in pleasantness. Let us not cherish anger as the godless in heart. Deliver us by our affliction and open our ears by adversity. Allure us out of distress into a broad place, and may what is set on our table be full of fatness.

We praise You that You are exalted in Your power. Who is a teacher like You? Who has prescribed for You Your way, or who can say, “You have done wrong?” Let us remember to extol Your work, of which men have sung. For You are great, and the number of Your years is unsearchable. For You draw up the drops of water; they distill Your mist in rain which the skies pour down and drop on mankind abundantly. Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds, the thunderings of Your pavilion? For You scatter Your lightning about You and cover the roots of the sea. For by these You judge peoples; You give food in abundance. You cover Your hands with the lightning and command it to strike the mark. Its crashing declares Your presence; and the cattle declare that You rise (Job 36).

God of thunderous majesty,

Let us sing of Your power; when we see it let our hearts tremble and leap out of their place. For You thunder wondrously with Your voice; You do great things that we cannot comprehend. May we bow before You when we behold the strength of Your word, for to the snow You say, “Fall on the earth,” likewise to Your mighty downpour. May we worship You with reverent hearts, for by Your breath ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast. Let our hearts tremble before You in wonder, for You load the thick cloud with moisture; the clouds scatter Your lightning. They turn around and around by Your guidance, to accomplish all that You command them on the face of the habitable world. Whether for correction or for Your land or for love, You cause it to happen. May we stop and consider Your wondrous works.

We praise You that all these things declare Your glory, that You are perfect in knowledge. May we worship You as we look on the light when it is bright in the skies, when the wind has passed and cleared them. Out of the north comes golden splendor; You are clothed with awesome majesty. Let us praise You as the One great in power, in justice, and abundant in righteousness. Therefore, let us fear You. Amen (Job 37).

How much my father’s prayers at this time impressed me I can never explain, nor could any stranger understand. When, on his knees and all of us kneeling around him in family worship, he poured out his whole soul with tears for the conversion of the heathen world to the service of Jesus, and for every personal and domestic need, we all felt as if in the presence of the living Savior, and learned to know and love him as our Divine friend. ~John G. Paton

We have an allergic reaction to dependency, but this is the state of the heart most necessary for a praying life. A needy heart is a praying heart. Dependency is the heartbeat of prayer. ~Paul Miller

Ineffable Lover,

Only by the cross do we bring these prayers to You. Do not let our adorning be merely external, but let our adorning be the hidden person of the heart. Give us unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, tender hearts, and humility. The end of all things is at hand; therefore let us be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of our prayers. Above all, keep us loving others earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

As we have received a gift, may we use it to serve others, as good stewards of Your varied grace. When we speak, let it be as those who speak the oracles of God; when we serve, as those who serve by the strength that You supply—in order that in everything You may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To You belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen (I Peter 3 & 4).

It is remarkable that in all of his writings Paul’s prayers for his friends contain no appeals for changes in their circumstances. ~Tim Keller

God of our end,

Deal bountifully with us, Your servants, that we may live and keep Your word. Open our eyes, that we may behold wondrous things out of Your law. For we are mere sojourners on this earth; hide not Your commandments from us! Consume our souls with longing for Your rules at all times, for You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from Your commandments. Help us to keep Your testimonies, and take away from us scorn and contempt. Cause us to meditate on Your statutes even when princes sit plotting against us. Make us people who say, “Your testimonies are our delight; they are our counselors.”

When our souls cling to the dust please give us life according to Your word! When we tell You of our ways, answer us; teach us Your statutes! Make us understand the way of Your precepts and meditate on Your wondrous works.

When our souls melt away for sorrow, strengthen us according to Your word! We are ever surrounded by false ways in this age; teach us Your law! We have chosen the way of faithfulness; may we set Your rules ever before us. When we cling to Your testimonies, O LORD, let us not be put to shame! Enlarge our hearts so that we may run in the way of Your commandments! (Psalm 119).

How easily we convince ourselves that we are praying to the Lord when in reality we are locked in our own thoughts. We need to ask: If I’m happy, am I really rejoicing in Him, or am I rejoicing in my own self-satisfaction? If I’m worried or afraid, am I truly and humbly asking Him for help, or is my mind busy trying to work out some plan (however spiritual it may seem) for getting myself out of trouble? ~Mike Mason

Almighty God,

Please teach us the way of Your statutes; may we keep Your way to the end, as our reward. Give us understanding that we may keep Your law and observe it with our whole heart. Lead us in the path of Your commandments, and cause us to delight in it.

Incline our hearts to Your testimonies, and not to selfish gain! Turn our eyes from looking at worthless things; and give us life in Your ways. Confirm to us Your promise, that we may fear You. Turn away the reproach that we dread, for Your rules are good. Behold, may we long for Your precepts; in Your righteousness give us life!

Let Your steadfast love come to us, O Yahweh, Your salvation according to Your promise; then shall we have an answer for anyone who taunts us, for we trust in Your word. And take not the word of truth utterly out of our mouths, for our hope is in Your rules. May we keep Your law continually, forever and ever, and may we walk in a wide place, for we have sought Your precepts.

Make us also speak of Your testimonies before kings and not be put to shame, for we find our delight in Your commandments, which we love. May we lift up our hands toward Your commandments, and meditate on Your statutes. Amen (Psalm 119).

Father of wisdom,

Please fill us with the knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of You, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of You. May we be strengthened with all power, according to Your glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to You, who have qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

We praise You for delivering us from the domain of darkness and transferring us to the kingdom of Your beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin!

Make us continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that we heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven. Keep us! Keep us in the love of Christ. Amen (Colossians 1).

Anyone who would have power in prayer must be merciless in dealing with his own sins. ~R.A. Torrey

Giver of all,

Remember Your word to us, in which You have made us hope. May our comfort in our affliction be that Your promise gives us life. The insolent might utterly deride us, but do not let us turn away from Your law. When we think of Your rules from of old, let us take comfort. May hot indignation seize us because of the wicked, who forsake Your law. And we ask that Your statutes would be our songs in the house of our sojourning. Cause us to remember Your name in the night, O Yahweh, and keep Your law. This blessing has fallen to us, that we have kept Your precepts.

You are our portion; we promise to keep Your words. We entreat Your favor with all our hearts; be gracious to us according to Your promise. When we think on our ways, let us turn our feet to Your testimonies; may we hasten and not delay to keep Your commandments. Though the cords of the wicked ensnare us, keep us from forgetting Your law. Make us people who rise to praise You at midnight because of Your righteous rules. Make us the companions of all who fear You, of those who keep Your precepts. The earth, O Yahweh, is full of Your steadfast love; teach us Your statutes! (Psalm 119).

Our prayers are heard, not because we are in earnest, not because we suffer, but because Jesus suffered. ~Oswald Chambers

O God,

Blessed are those who fear You, who greatly delight in Your commandments! Please continue to mold us into such people.

Make light dawn in the darkness for us; You are gracious, merciful, and righteous. Shape us into people who deal generously and lend, conducting our affairs with justice. Let us never be moved; remember us forever.

May we not be afraid of bad news, but make our hearts firm, trusting in You. Give us steady hearts, so that from the rising of the sun to its setting we will praise Your glorious name.

Yahweh, we trust in You! You are our help and our shield. Yahweh, we trust in You! You are our help and our shield. Yahweh, we fear You and trust in You! You are our help and our shield. For You made heaven and earth. We will bless You, O God, from this time forth and forevermore. Praise be to You! (Psalm 112, 113, 115).

We are not so foolish as to think we can learn a trade without the diligent use of helps. Shall we think that we may become spiritually skilful and wise in the understanding of this mystery without making any real effort to use the helps God has given us? The most important of them is fervent prayer. Pray with Paul that ‘the eyes of your understanding may be enlightened to behold’ the glory of God in Christ. Pray that the ‘God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.’ Fill your minds with spiritual thoughts of Christ. Lazy souls do not get the tiniest sight of this glory. The ‘lion in the way’ deters them from making the slightest effort. ~John Owen

Great Upholder of all things,

Please deal with us, Your servants, according to Your word. Teach us good judgment and knowledge, for we believe Your commandments. Let us not go astray because of affliction; help us to keep Your word. You are good and do good; teach us Your statutes. Although the insolent may smear us with lies, help us to keep Your precepts with our whole heart. Let us delight in Your law.

Assure and remind us that it is good for us to be afflicted, that we might learn Your statutes. May the law of Your mouth be better to us than thousands of gold and silver pieces. Be exalted, for Your hands have made and fashioned us; give us understanding that we may learn Your commandments. May those who fear You see us and rejoice, because we have hoped in Your word. Thank You, O LORD, that Your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness You afflict us. Let Your steadfast love comfort us according to Your promises.

Let Your mercy come to us, that we may live; for Your law is our delight. Let the insolent be put to shame, because they have wronged us with falsehood; as for us, may we meditate on Your precepts. Let those who fear You turn to us, that they may know Your testimonies. May our hearts be blameless in Your statutes, that we may not be put to shame! (Psalm 119).

Timeless Light of lights,

Make our souls long for Your salvation; may we hope in Your word. Our eyes long for Your promise. When will You comfort us? Let us seek comfort in Your steadfast love and faithfulness. When we become like wine-skins in the smoke, let us not forget Your statutes. How long must Your servants endure? When will You judge those who persecute us? Help us when the insolent dig pitfalls for us, when they persecute us with falsehood. When they have almost made an end of us on earth, let us not forsake Your precepts. In Your steadfast love give us life, that we may keep the testimonies of Your mouth. Thank You that all Your commandments are sure.

Forever, O Yahweh, Your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You have established the earth and it stands fast, for all things are Your servants. If Your law is not our delight, we will surely perish in our affliction. Oh, that we would never forget Your precepts, for by them You have given us life. We are Yours, save us, for we have sought Your precepts. When the wicked lie in wait to destroy us, may we consider Your testimonies. We have seen a limit to all perfection, but Your commandment is exceedingly broad. Give us life in Your ways. Amen (Psalm 119).

It is very apparent from the word of God, that he is wont often to try the faith and patience of his people, when crying to him for some great and important mercy, by withholding the mercy sought, for a season; and not only so, but at first to cause an increase of dark appearances. And yet he, without fail, at last succeeds those who continue instant in prayer, with all perseverance, and will not let him go except he blesses. ~Jonathan Edwards

In the broader culture and in our churches, we prize intellect, competency, and wealth. Because we can do life without God, praying seems nice but unnecessary. Money can do what prayer does, and it is quicker and less time-consuming. Our trust in ourselves and in our talents makes us structurally independent of God. As a result, exhortations to pray don’t stick. ~Paul Miller

Changeless God,

May we never forget all Your benefits. We praise You for being the One who forgives all our iniquity, who heals all our diseases, who redeems our lives from the pit, who crowns us with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies us with good so that our youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Please work righteousness and justice for us when we are oppressed. Make known Your ways and Your acts to us. We praise You for being merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. We exalt You, for You will not always chide, nor will You keep Your anger forever. Thank You for not dealing with us according to our sins, nor repaying us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is Your steadfast love toward those who fear You; as far as the east is from the west, so far do You remove our transgressions from us.

O LORD, as a father shows compassion to his children, please show compassion to us. For You know our frame; You remember that we are dust (Psalm 103).

There is nothing in which we need to take so many lessons as in prayer. There is nothing of which we are so utterly ignorant when we first begin; there is nothing in which we are so helpless. ~Alexander Whyte

Sovereign Creator and Sustainer,

Oh how we love Your law! May it be our meditation all the day. May Your commandment be always with us and make us wiser than our enemies. Grant us more understanding than all our teachers by making Your testimonies our meditation. May we keep Your precepts so that we understand more than the aged. Strengthen us to hold back our feet from every evil way, in order to keep Your word. Let us not turn aside from Your rules, for You have taught us. How sweet are Your words to our taste, sweeter than honey to our mouths! Through Your precepts make us get understanding, and so hate every false way.

Your word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Empower us to keep Your righteous rules. When we are severely afflicted please give us life according to Your word! Accept our free offerings of praise, and teach us Your rules. When the wicked lay a snare for us, may we not stray from Your precepts. Make Your testimonies our heritage forever, and the joy of our hearts. Incline our hearts to perform Your statutes forever, to the end. Amen (Psalm 119).

How often do little children ask? Repeatedly. Over and over again. They wear us out. ~Paul Miller

Father,

We do not ask that You take us out of the world, but that You keep us from the evil one. Sanctify us in the truth; Your word is truth. We desire that we, whom You have given to Christ, may be with Him where He is, to see His glory that You have given Him because You loved Him before the foundation of the world.

We give thanks to You always because of Your grace that has been given us in Christ Jesus, and we ask that in every way we may be enriched in You in all speech and all knowledge—even that the testimony about Christ might be confirmed in us—so that we will not be lacking in any spiritual gift, as we wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain us to the end, guiltless in the day of Christ.

Be the source of our life in Christ Jesus, whom You made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Therefore, let us boast solely in You. Amen (John 17 & I Corinthians 1).

Desire gives fervor to prayer. The soul cannot be listless when some great desire fixes and inflames it…Strong desires make strong prayers…The neglect of prayer is the fearful token of dead spiritual desires…There can be no true praying without desire. ~E.M. Bounds

Rock of Salvation,

May we hate the double-minded, but love Your law. Be our hiding place, and our shield; make us hope in Your word. Cause evildoers to depart from us, that we may keep the commandments of our God. Uphold us according to Your promise, that we may live, and let us not be put to shame in our hope! Hold us up, that we may be safe and have regard for Your statutes continually! All the wicked of the earth You discard like dross, therefore may we love Your testimonies. May our flesh tremble for fear of You, and make us afraid of Your judgments.

Help us to do what is just and right, and do not leave us to our oppressors nor let the insolent oppress us. May our eyes long for Your salvation and for the fulfillment of Your righteous promise. Deal with us, Your servants, according to Your steadfast love, and teach us Your statutes. We are Your servants; give us understanding, that we may know Your testimonies! May we cry in our hearts, “We love Your commandments above gold, above fine gold. Therefore, we consider all Your precepts to be right; we hate every false way.” Amen (Psalm 119).

The Puritans spoke of prayer as oiling the wheels of the soul. ~J.I. Packer

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be your name.

May Your kingdom come, and may Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (Matthew 6).

Giving God good advice, and abusing the devil isn’t praying. ~L.M. Montgomery

Our Exceeding Joy,

Help us never cease to give thanks to You. May You, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give us a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of You, having the eyes of our hearts enlightened, that we may know what is the hope to which You have called us, what are the riches of Your glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of Your power toward us who believe, according to the working of Your great might.

O LORD, we cannot know and delight in the mystery and beauty of Your gospel unless Your Spirit intervenes, bringing about fruit in us for righteousness. For this reason we bow our knees before You, Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of Your glory You may strengthen us with power through Your Spirit in our inner being, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith—that we, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that we may be filled with all of Your fullness.

Now to You who are able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to You be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen (Ephesians 1 & 3).

Merciful Yahweh,

Thank You that it is Your good pleasure to give of Yourself to those who ask. We pray that our delight would be in Your law; may we meditate on it day and night. Teach us what it is to serve You with fear and rejoice with trembling.

O Yahweh, be a shield about us, our glory, and the lifter of our heads. Make us trust You so that our hearts exult, saying, “You have put more joy in our hearts than when grain and wine abound.” In peace make us both lie down and sleep; for You alone make us dwell in safety. Lead us in Your righteousness because of our enemies; make Your way straight before us. Let us take refuge in You and rejoice; let us ever sing for joy, and spread Your protection over us, that we may exult in You as those who love Your name.

For You bless the righteous, O LORD; You cover us with favor as with a shield. May we give to You the thanks due to Your righteousness, and sing praise to Your name.

We give thanks to You, Yahweh, with our whole heart! Let us recount all of Your wonderful deeds! May we be glad and exult in You and sing praise to Your name. For those who know Your name, Yahweh, put their trust in You, for You have not forsaken those who seek You. Amen (Psalm 2, 4, 5, 9).

Great I AM,

You are righteous; You love righteous deeds; the upright shall behold Your face. Therefore, cause us to walk uprightly so that we might behold Your life-giving face! May we trust in Your steadfast love; may our hearts rejoice in Your salvation. And then let us sing to You, because You have dealt bountifully with us. Again we ask that we be constrained to walk blamelessly and do what is right and speak the truth in our hearts.

You are our Lord; we have no good apart from You. You are our chosen portion and our cup; You hold our lot. May we set You always before us; trusting that because You are at our right hand, we shall not be shaken. Please make known to us the path of life, show us that in Your presence there is fullness of joy, and at Your right hand are pleasures evermore.

Wondrously show Your steadfast love to us, O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at Your right hand. Keep us as the apple of Your eye; hide us in the shadow of Your wings. May we behold Your face in righteousness; when we awake, may we be satisfied with Your likeness (Psalm 11, 13, 16, 17).

No prayer is more powerful than the prayer of powerlessness, of littleness, of not knowing. Isn’t this what it means to be poor in spirit? ~Mike Mason

O triune God,

We love You, O LORD, our strength. You are our rock and our fortress and our deliverer, our God, our rock, in whom we take refuge, our shield, and the horn of our salvation, our stronghold. You alone are worthy to be praised.

By Your mercy bring us out into a broad place; rescue us, because You delight in us. Put all Your rules before us, and may we never put Your statutes away from us. For it is You who light our lamp; O Yahweh our God, lighten our darkness. Make us abide in this promise: Your way is perfect; Your word proves true; You are a shield for all those who take refuge in You.

Give us the shield of Your salvation, and with Your right hand support us, and with Your gentleness make us great. With Your perfect law revive our souls. With Your sure testimony make us wise. By Your right precepts cause our hearts to rejoice. And may Your pure commandment enlighten our eyes.

Keep us also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over us! Let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, our Rock and our Redeemer (Psalm 18 & 19).

Martin Luther was adamant that we must never get “beyond” God’s words in the Bible or we can’t know whom we are conversing with. “We must first hear the Word, and then afterwards the Holy Ghost works in our hearts; he works in the hearts of whom he will, and how he will, but never without the Word.”  ~Tim Keller

Infinite Father,

It is our plea by the name of Christ, that You hear us. Since we are Your holy and beloved chosen people, put on us compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. And if one has a complaint against us, let us forgive as You have forgiven us. And above all these, put on us love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

And let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, to which indeed we were called. And may we be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, as we teach and admonish others in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in our hearts to You. And whatever we do, in word or deed, may everything be in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to You, our Father, through Him.

Help us to continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving (Colossians 3 & 4).

How do we structure our adult conversations? We don’t. Especially when talking with old friends, the conversation bounces from subject to subject. It has a fun, meandering, play-like quality. Why would our prayer time be any different? After all, God is a person. ~Paul Miller

All-sufficient King,

May You answer us in the day of trouble! May Your great name, God of Jacob, protect us! Grant our heart’s desire and fulfill all our plans! May we shout for joy over Your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May You fulfill all our petitions.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but let us trust in the name of Yahweh our God. Make us glad with the joy of Your presence. Be exalted, O LORD, in Your strength! Let us sing and praise Your power.

When trouble is near and there is none to help, be not far from us. For You, O LORD, are our shepherd; we shall not want. Please make us to lie down in green pastures. Lead us beside still waters. Restore our souls. And lead us in paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake.

Even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, let us fear no evil, for You are with us; with Your rod and Your staff comfort us. May goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives, that we may dwell in Your house forever (Psalm 20 & 23).

For my part, if I cannot pray, I would rather know it, and groan over my soul’s barrenness till the Lord shall again visit me with fruitfulness of devotion. ~Charles Spurgeon

Life-giving God,

O that we would have clean hands and pure hearts! Guard us so that we do not lift up our souls to what is false or swear deceitfully. Guide us so that we might receive blessings and righteousness from You, the God of our salvation. Cause us to seek You, to seek the face of the God of Jacob.

To You, O Yahweh, we lift up our souls. Our God, in You we trust; let us not be put to shame; let not our enemies exult over us. Make us to know Your ways, O LORD; teach us Your paths. Lead us in Your truth and teach us, for You are the God of our salvation; for You we wait all the day long.

According to Your steadfast love remember us, for the sake of Your goodness, O LORD! Lead us in humility and what is right; teach us Your way. Instruct us in the way You should choose.

Your friendship, O Yahweh, is for those who fear You, and You make known to them Your covenant. And so we ask that You would fill us with the fear of You so that we might be Your friends.

Cause our eyes to be ever toward You. Turn to us and be gracious to us when we are lonely and afflicted. Guard our souls and deliver us! Let us not be put to shame, for we take refuge in You. May integrity and uprightness preserve us, for we wait for You (Psalm 24 & 25).

Lord of Heaven,

Cause us to walk in integrity. May we trust in You without wavering. Prove us and try us; test our hearts and our minds. Manifest Your steadfast love before our eyes that we may walk in Your faithfulness. Redeem us and be gracious to us.

You are our light and our salvation; whom shall we fear? You are the stronghold of our lives; of whom shall we be afraid?

Thank You for making us Your habitation and a place where Your glory dwells. And we ask and seek after one thing: that we may dwell in Your house all the days of our lives, to gaze upon Your beauty and to inquire in Your temple.

We seek Your face. Hide not Your face from us. Cast us not off; forsake us not, O God of our salvation!

We wait for You, Yahweh. Make us strong, and let our hearts take courage as we wait for You! (Psalm 26 & 27).

Prayer often avails where everything else fails. ~R.A. Torrey

Sovereign Commander of the universe,

You are our only true strength and shield; in You may our hearts trust and be helped; let our hearts exult, and with our song give thanks to You. You are the strength of Your people; be our saving refuge. May You give us strength!

When we are mourning, turn it into dancing; loose our sackcloth and clothe us with gladness, that our glory may sing Your praise and not be silent. O Yahweh our God, we will give thanks to You forever!

In You may we take refuge; let us never be put to shame; in Your righteousness deliver us! Cause us to rejoice and be glad in Your steadfast love. Make Your face shine on us; save us in Your steadfast love!

We praise You that You preserve the faithful. Let us be strong and let our hearts take courage as we wait for You! (Psalm 28, 30, 31).

In the Bible we discover a real and complex God. If you have a personal relationship with any real person, you will regularly be confused and infuriated by him or her. So, too, you will be regularly confounded by the God you meet in the Scriptures— as well as amazed and comforted. Your prayer must be firmly connected to and grounded in your reading of the Word. This wedding of the Bible and prayer anchors your life down in the real God. ~Tim Keller

O Fountain of all good,

Instruct us and teach us in the way we should go; counsel us with Your eye upon us.

May Your steadfast love surround us because we trust in You. Make us glad in You; make us rejoice as righteous people, shouting for joy as those upright in heart!

Let all the earth fear You; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of You! For You spoke, and we came to be; You commanded, and we stand firm. Behold, how good it is that Your eye is on those who fear You, on those who hope in Your steadfast love. O that our souls would wait for You; be our help and our shield. Together, may our hearts be glad in You, because we trust in Your holy name. Let Your steadfast love be upon us, even as we hope in You.

Cause us to bless You at all times; may Your praise continually be in our mouths. Let our souls make their boast in You, and may the humble hear and be glad. We magnify You and exalt Your name forever! (Psalm 32, 33, 34).

A godly man is carried on the wings of delight. He is never so well as when he is praying. He is not forced with fear but fired with love. ‘I will make them joyful in my house of prayer’ (Isa. 56:7). ~Thomas Watson

Searcher of hearts,

We want more and more to taste and see that You are good. Blessed are those who take refuge in You. Be near to us when we are brokenhearted; save us when we are crushed in spirit. Then our souls will rejoice in You, exulting in Your salvation. May all our bones say, “O Yahweh, who is like You, delivering the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them?”

You have seen, O Yahweh; be not silent! O Lord, be not far from us! Then our tongues shall tell of Your righteousness and of Your praise all the day long.

Make us feast on the abundance of Your house, and give us drink from the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light. Please continue Your steadfast love toward us, and Your righteousness to the upright of heart! Let not the foot of arrogance come upon us, nor the hand of the wicked drive us away.

Please fill us with grace daily, that our lives might be a fountain of sweet water. Amen (Psalm 34, 35, 36).

O God who hears the prayers of Your children,

Only You can bring us to trust in You and do good, to dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Only Your hand can turn our hearts like streams of water to delight ourselves in You so that You will give us the desires of our hearts.

Let us commit our way to You. May we trust in You, for You will act. Please bring forth our righteousness as the light, and our justice as the noonday.

Father, let us be still before You and wait patiently for You, not fretting ourselves over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices. For our steps are established by You, when You delight in our way; though we fall, we will not be cast headlong, for You uphold our hands.

It is our plea that our souls would take hope in Your words through David: “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.”

May our mouths utter wisdom, and our tongues speak justice. May the law of our God be in our hearts so that our steps do not slip (Psalm 37).

Necessity!—I hardly like to talk of that, let me rather speak of the deliciousness of prayer—the wondrous sweetness and divine felicity which come to the soul that lives in the atmosphere of prayer. John Fox said, “The time we spend with God in secret is the sweetest time, and the best improved. Therefore, if thou lovest thy life, be in love with prayer.” The devout Mr. Hervey resolved on the bed of sickness—“If God shall spare my life, I will read less and pray more.” John Cooke, of Maidenhead, wrote—“The business, the pleasure, the honour, and advantage of prayer press on my spirit with increasing force every day.” A deceased pastor when drawing near his end, exclaimed, “I wish I had prayed more”; that wish many of us might utter. ~Charles Spurgeon

LORD of the cloud and fire,

Our salvation is from You; You are our stronghold in the time of trouble. You help us and deliver us; please deliver us from the wicked and save us, because we take refuge in You.

Do not forsake us, O LORD! O God, be not far from us! Make haste to help us, O Lord, our salvation!

Make us know our end and what is the measure of our days; let us know how fleeting we are! Behold, You have made our days a few handbreadths, and our life-time is as nothing before You. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!

Hear our prayer—may we wait patiently for You; incline to us and hear our cry. Draw us up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set our feet upon a rock, making our steps secure. Put a new song in our mouths, a song of praise to our God. May many see us and fear, and put their trust in You.

Blessed are those who make You their trust, therefore, make us trust You. Do not restrain Your mercy from us; may Your steadfast love and faithfulness ever preserve us! We hope in You (Psalm 37, 39, 40).

O God most high, most glorious,

Be pleased to deliver us! Yahweh, make haste to help us! Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away our lives.

But may we seek You and rejoice and be glad in You; may we love Your salvation and say continually, “Great is Yahweh!” You are our help and our deliverer; do not delay, O God!

As the deer pants for flowing streams, so may our souls pant for You. May our souls thirst for You, for the living God.

When our souls are cast down and in turmoil within us, let us hope in You and praise You—our salvation and our God. By day You command Your steadfast love, and at night may Your song be with us, a prayer to the God of our life.

Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead us; let them bring us to Your dwelling. Then take us to Your altar; let us delight in You as our exceeding joy and praise You with the lyre, O God, our God.

Keep our souls from being cast down and in turmoil within us. Rather, let us hope in You and praise You, our salvation and our God (Psalm 40, 42, 43). 

Only he who is himself secure and happy in the Lord can pray effectively for others. ~Mike Mason

O Living God,

Incline our hearts to offer You a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Have mercy on us according to Your steadfast love; according to Your abundant mercy blot out our transgressions. Wash us thoroughly from our iniquity, and cleanse us from our sin! Make us know our transgressions and in humility have our sin ever before us.

Purge us with hyssop, and we shall be clean; wash us, and we shall be whiter than snow. Let us hear joy and gladness; let the bones that You have broken rejoice. Hide Your face from our sins, and blot out all our iniquities. Create in us a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within us.

Cast us not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from us. Restore unto us the joy of Your salvation, and uphold us with a willing spirit. Then our tongues will sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord, open our lips, so that our mouths will declare Your praise.

Let our sacrifice to You be a broken spirit, for a broken and contrite heart You will not despise (Psalm 50 & 51). 

Why are we called “adulteresses” in praying for something to spend on our pleasures? Because God is our husband and the “world” is a prostitute luring us to give affections to it that belong only to God. This is how subtle the sin of worldliness can be. It can emerge not only against prayer, but in prayer—and fasting. We begin to pray and fast—even intensely—not for God as our all-satisfying husband, but only for his gifts in the world so that we can make love with them. ~John Piper

Holy LORD,

Make us trust in Your steadfast love forever and ever. May we thank You forever, because You are saving us. We wait for Your name, for it is good.

Save us by Your name, and vindicate us by Your might. O God, hear our prayer; give ear to the words of our mouths. Hide not Yourself from our pleas for mercy! Sustain us as we cast our burdens upon You; when we are afraid let us trust in You.

In You, whose word we praise, in You we trust; we shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to us? Thank You that You are for us. What can man do to us? We need not fear.

Deliver our souls from death, yes, our feet from falling, that we may walk before You in the light of life. Be merciful to us, O God, be merciful to us, for in You our souls take refuge; in the shadow of Your wings let us take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.

Fulfill Your purpose for us and be exalted above the heavens. Let Your glory be over all the earth!

Let us sing and make melody! We give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; we will sing praises to You among the nations. For Your steadfast love is great to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds (Psalm 52, 54, 56, 57).

O Changeless God,

Deliver us from our enemies; protect us from those who rise up against us. Then we shall sing of Your strength; make us sing aloud of Your steadfast love in the morning. For You have been to us a fortress and a refuge in the day of our distress. Our strength, we will sing praises to You, for You, O God, are our fortress, the God who shows us steadfast love.

Hear our cry, listen to our prayer; from the end of the earth may we call to You when our hearts are faint. Lead us to the rock that is higher than us, for You are a refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Let us dwell in Your tent forever. Let us take refuge under the shelter of Your wings. Appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over us.

May we wait for You alone in silence; from You comes salvation. You alone must be our rock and our salvation, our fortress; let us not be greatly shaken. May our hope come from You.

Let us trust in You at all times, and pour out our hearts before You; You are a refuge for us. Amen (Psalm 59, 61, 62).

You don’t create intimacy; you make room for it. This is true whether you are talking about your spouse, your friend, or God. You need space to be together. Efficiency, multitasking, and busyness all kill intimacy. In short, you can’t get to know God on the fly. ~Paul Miller

Our Father,

May we earnestly seek You when our souls thirst for You; make our flesh faint for You, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Let us look upon You continually, beholding Your power and glory. Because Your steadfast love is better than life, our lips will praise You.

Form us into people who will bless You as long as we live, lifting up our hands in Your name. Satisfy our souls as with fat and rich food. May we remember You even upon our beds, and meditate on You in the watches of the night, our mouths praising You with joyful lips. For You have been our help, and in the shadow of Your wings we will sing for joy.

Let us cling to You, for Your right hand upholds us! (Psalm 63).

How, then, do you pray? Do you ask God for your daily bread? Do you thank God for your conversion? Do you pray for the conversion of others? If the answer is ‘no’, I can only say that I do not think you are yet born again. But if the answer is ‘yes’—well, that proves that, whatever side you may have taken in debates on this question in the past, in your heart you believe in the sovereignty of God no less firmly than anyone else. On our feet we may have arguments about it, but on our knees we are all agreed. ~J.I. Packer

Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel!

You alone do wondrous things. Blessed be Your glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with Your glory!

May we be continually with You—may You hold our right hand. Guide us with Your counsel, for it is perfect, wise, and good. Whom have we in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that we desire besides You. We know that our hearts and our flesh may fail, therefore be the strength of our hearts and our portion forever.

As for us, it is good for us to be near You; let us make You our refuge, that we may tell of all Your works. Continue to mold us into people who fear You, for who can stand before You once Your anger is roused?

Make us remember Your deeds and Your wonders of old. Let us ponder all Your work, and meditate on Your mighty deeds.

Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your might among the peoples. Please work wonders on our behalf, and with Your arm redeem us (Psalm 72, 73, 76, 77).

God of peace,

Help us to set our hope in You and not forget Your works, but keep Your commandments. Let us not be like this stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart is not steadfast, whose spirit is not faithful to You. Make our hearts steadfast toward You and faithful to Your covenant. Thank You for being compassionate, atoning for our iniquity, and not destroying us; You restrained Your anger from us and did not stir up all Your wrath.

Remember that we are but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again. Restore us, O God of armies; let Your face shine, that we may be saved!

We call to You who alone are our salvation! With all our might may we seek Your face! (Psalm 78 & 80).

God has designed not only that prayer come to be, but that prayer sometimes be a necessary means for accomplishing the ends he has ordained. In other words, God purposely designed how things would work so that some of what he accomplishes can only be accomplished as people pray. ~Bruce Ware

Blessed Father,

Oh that our souls would long, yes, faint for Your courts; that our hearts and flesh would sing for joy to You, the living God. Give us thankful hearts, ever singing Your praise! Bless us with grateful souls, exalting Your name forever.

We sing aloud to You our strength; we shout for joy to You, O God of Jacob! Let us raise a song and sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp.

Yahweh God of armies, hear our prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Bring us into Your presence, for a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. May we rather be doorkeepers in Your house than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Be our sun and our shield; bestow on us favor and honor. Withhold no good thing from us, and empower us to walk uprightly. O Yahweh of armies, blessed is the one who trusts in You! (Psalm 84).

What do I lose when I have a praying life? Control. Independence. What do I gain? Friendship with God. A quiet heart. The living work of God in the hearts of those I love. The ability to roll back the tide of evil. Essentially, I lose my kingdom and get his. I move from being an independent player to a dependent lover. I move from being an orphan to a child of God. ~Paul Miller

O Giving God,

Be gracious to us, for to You do we cry all the day. Gladden the souls of Your servants, for to You, O Lord, do we lift up our souls.

Teach us Your way that we may walk in Your truth; unite our hearts to fear Your name. Turn to us and be gracious to us; give us strength, and save us.

Let us sing of Your steadfast love forever; with our mouths may we make known Your faithfulness to all generations!

Make us walk in the light of Your face, exulting in Your name all the day, exalted in Your righteousness. Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Satisfy us in the morning with Your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for the days You have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. Let Your work be shown to us, and Your glorious power to our children. Amen (Psalm 86 & 89).

Glorious God,

Let Your favor be upon us. Establish the work of our hands.

Be our dwelling place, Most High, and be our refuge, so that no evil shall be allowed to befall us. Command Your angels concerning us to guard us in all our ways. Because You hold fast to us in love, please deliver us; protect us because we know Your name.

When we call to You, answer us; be with us in trouble; rescue us and honor us. With long life satisfy us, and show us Your salvation. Satisfy us with Your beauty.

Preserve us from having a strange god before us, from bowing down to a foreign god. Instead, may we always go to You. Open our mouths wide, and fill them. Feed us with the finest of wheat, and with honey from the rock satisfy us (Psalm 90, 91, 81).

Prayer is the process of crouching down and making ourselves small before God. This downsizing is not an option; it is the only way to enter the kingdom of heaven. To grow in the Spirit is to become little in relation to more and more areas of life—marriage, family, church, work—until eventually it is possible to be little and childlike even in the presence of Satan and all his demons. For it is God, not you or I, who is bigger than evil. ~Mike Mason

Faithful Creator,

Thank you for the grace and peace that has been multiplied to us in the knowledge of You and of Jesus our Lord. May we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When we suffer according to Your will, let us entrust our souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

Let us not love the world or the things in the world, and may we keep ourselves from idols. Keep us from loving what is passing away more than You. Instead build us up in holy faith; help us to pray in the Holy Spirit. And keep us in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

Now to You who are able to keep us from stumbling and to present us blameless before the presence of Your glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen (II Peter 3, I John 2, Jude).

Glorious and holy God,

You have made us glad by Your work; at the works of Your hands we sing for joy. How great are Your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep! Therefore keep us in Your care, and discipline us, and teach us Your law. For blessed are those whom You discipline, to give them rest from days of trouble. Do not forsake us or abandon us as Your heritage.

If You are not our help, our souls would soon live in the land of silence. When our feet slip, hold us up with Your steadfast love. When the cares of our hearts are many, cheer our souls with Your consolations. Become our stronghold, and our rock of refuge.

We sing to You, O Yahweh! Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into Your presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise to You with songs of praise! For You, O LORD, are a great God, and a great King above all gods (Psalm 92, 94, 95).

If we do not learn to pray, it will not be for want of instructions and examples. Look at Abraham, taking it upon him to speak unto the Lord for Sodom. Look at Isaac, who goes out to meditate in the field at the eventide. Look at Jacob, as he wrestles until the breaking of the day at the Jabbok. Look at Hannah, as she speaks in her heart. Look at David, as he prevents now the dawning of the day, and now the watches of the night, in a hundred psalms. Look at our Lord. And then, look at Paul, as great in prayer as he is in preaching, or in writing Epistles. No, if you never learn to pray, it will not be for want of the clearest instructions, and the most shining examples. ~Alexander Whyte

Lord Yahweh,

As we received Christ Jesus the Lord, may we so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as we were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Since we have been raised with Christ, help us to seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set our minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Thank You that our lives are hidden with Christ in You.

Father, help us to walk in our new selves, which are being renewed in knowledge after the image of their creator. Assist us to put to death what is earthly in us: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Let us put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from our mouths. Amen (Colossians 2 & 3).

LORD God Almighty,

Grant that we declare Your glory among the nations; Your marvelous works among all the peoples. For You are great, and greatly to be praised; You are to be feared above all gods. Splendor and majesty are before You; strength and beauty are in Your sanctuary.

May we ascribe to You glory and strength! Let us ascribe to You the glory due Your name, worshiping You in the splendor of holiness. Make us say among the nations, “Yahweh reigns!”

Let us hear of Your righteousness and be glad, rejoicing with the daughters of Judah because of Your judgments, O LORD. May we hate evil. Preserve our lives and deliver us from the hand of the wicked.

Let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before You, our Maker! For You are our God, and we are the people of Your pasture, and the sheep of Your hand (Psalm 96 & 95).

Resolved, never to count that a prayer, nor to let that pass as a prayer, nor that as a petition of a prayer, which is so made, that I cannot hope that God will answer it; nor that as a confession, which I cannot hope God will accept. ~Jonathan Edwards

Eternal Father,

With Your right hand and Your holy arm please work salvation for us. Remember Your steadfast love and faithfulness to Your children so that all the ends of the earth may see the salvation of our God.

Let us make a joyful noise to You, O LORD; may we break forth into joyous song and sing praises! Let us join with the sea as it roars, with the world and those who dwell in it, with the rivers as they clap their hands, with the hills singing for joy together before You.

May we ponder the way that is blameless, and walk in integrity of heart. Let us not set before our eyes anything that is worthless; keep a perverse heart far from us.

Do not hide Your face from us in the day of our distress! Incline Your ear to us; answer speedily when we call! We bless You, O LORD, and all that is within us blesses Your holy name (Psalm 98, 102, 103).

It is crucial that we not be more fascinated, more gripped, by the prayers of a man than by the pleasures of God. How easy it is to be more thrilled by radical devotion than by divine beauty. ~John Piper

O Yahweh our God,

You are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering Yourself with light as with a garment. And by the blood and mercy of Your perfect Son we appeal to Your wise power.

May our meditation be pleasing to You, for we rejoice in You. Let us thank You for Your steadfast love, for Your wondrous works to the children of men! Satisfy our longing souls; when our souls hunger, fill them with good things. Send out Your word and heal us, and deliver us from destruction. Let us sing and make melody with all our being.

Please awaken our souls. Let us awaken the dawn and give thanks to You among the peoples; let us sing praises to You among the nations. For Your steadfast love, O God, is above the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let Your glory be over us! Amen (Psalm 104, 107, 108).

God’s Word enabled David to “find the heart [Hebrew leb] to pray this prayer to you.” The Word of God created within David the desire, drive, and strength to pray. The principle: God speaks to us in his Word, and we respond in prayer, entering into the divine conversation, into communion with God. ~Tim Keller

O LORD,

Grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man! With You we shall do valiantly.  O Yahweh our Lord, deal on our behalf for Your name’s sake; because Your steadfast love is good, deliver us! With our mouths let us give great thanks to You, praising You in the midst of sorrow. For You stand at the right hand of the needy, to save us from those who condemn our souls to death.

Praise be to You, LORD! We will give thanks to You with our whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. Great are Your works; may we study them and delight in them. Be exalted, for Your work is full of splendor and majesty.

Show us the power of Your works—that they are faithful and just; all Your precepts are trustworthy; they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.

May we fear You, for that is the beginning of wisdom and good understanding. Your praise endures forever! (Psalm 108, 109, 111).

O Divine Comforter,

When we sow in tears, let us reap with shouts of joy. Grant us assurance in the God of our salvation, hoping in You and Your steadfast love.

May we wait for You, and hope in Your word. Continually make us into people whose souls wait for You more than watchmen for the morning.

Let us hope in You. For with You there is steadfast love, and with You is plentiful redemption. May we hope in You from this time forth and forevermore.

We praise You, Yahweh, for You are good; we sing to Your name for it is pleasant! For You have chosen us for Yourself; we are Your own possession. Do as You please with us; deal with us according to Your sovereign purpose. For we know that You are great, and that You are above all gods (Psalm 126, 130, 128, 135).

True religion makes us want to spend time alone in meditation and prayer. We read that this was true for Isaac (Gen. 24:63). Even more important, we read in the Gospels that Christ too needed to be alone with His Father. Concealing deep feeling is difficult, and yet grace-filled feeling is often more silent and private than that which is counterfeit. ~Jonathan Edwards

Living God,

Remember us even in our low estate, for Your steadfast love endures forever. Though we walk in the midst of trouble, preserve our lives; stretch out Your hand against the wrath of our enemies and deliver us. Please fulfill Your purposes for us; Your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of Your hands.

O LORD, search us and know us! Hem us in, behind and before, and lay Your hand upon us.

We praise You, for we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; our souls know it very well. We were not hidden from You when we were being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw our unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for us, when as yet there were none of them.

Let us not faint; may we not be downcast; give us sleep, for when we awake You are still with us (Psalm 138 & 139).

I myself have seen this rare beauty on the face of a young woman at prayer, one who most likely had no idea that she was being seen by human eyes. Her countenance was incomparably more lovely than anything Hollywood’s cosmetology is able to achieve. Indeed, divine grace working in a receptive soul does produce what St. Paul calls “God’s work of art” (Eph 2:10). ~Thomas Dubay

Author of Salvation,

Make us ready to share with others not only Your gospel but also our own selves. May You and the Lord Jesus direct our way, and make us increase and abound in love for all, so that You may establish our hearts blameless in holiness before Yourself at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.

Make us worthy of Your calling and may we fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by Your power, so that the name of the Lord Jesus may be glorified in us, and us in Him, according to Your grace and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We ought always to give thanks to You, because You chose us to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.

Thank You that You called us through the gospel, so that we may obtain the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. So then, help us to stand firm and hold to the traditions that we were taught by Your word.

Now may the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and You, Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort our hearts and establish them in every good work and word. Amen (I Thessalonians 3 & II Thessalonians 1 & 2).

God of Armies,

Restore us; let Your face shine, that we may be saved! Search us, O God, and know our hearts. Try us and know our thoughts. And see if there be any grievous way in us, and lead us in the way everlasting.

Set a guard, O LORD, over our mouths; keep watch over the door of our lips! Do not let our hearts incline to any evil, to busy ourselves with wicked deeds. Let a righteous word strike us—it is a kindness; let it rebuke us—it is oil for our heads; let our heads not refuse it.

We cry out to You, Yahweh: You are our refuge, our portion in the land of the living. Attend to our cry, especially when we are brought very low.

Cause us to remember the days of old, meditate on all that You have done, and ponder the work of Your hands. Let us stretch out our hands to You when our souls thirst for You like a parched land. Hide not Your face from us, lest we be like those who go down to the pit.

Let us hear in the morning of Your steadfast love, for in You we trust. Make us know the way we should go, for to You we lift up our souls. Amen (Psalm 80, 141, 142, 143).

If you are not praying, then you are quietly confident that time, money, and talent are all you need in life. You’ll always be a little too tired, a little too busy. But if, like Jesus, you realize you can’t do life on your own, then no matter how busy, no matter how tired you are, you will find the time to pray. ~Paul Miller

Radiant Redeemer,

Teach us to do Your will, for You are our God. Let Your good Spirit lead us on level ground. For Your name’s sake, O Yahweh, preserve our lives. In Your righteousness bring our souls out of trouble.

We confess that we deserve none of these mercies, but only death and wrath. For what is man that You regard him, or the son of man that You think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow. But praise be to You, Christ Jesus, for Your righteous obedience and perfect atonement.

You are great and greatly to be praised, and Your greatness is unsearchable. We extol You as our God and King. Every day may we bless and praise Your name forever and ever.

Grant that we be people who meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty and on Your wondrous works—people who speak of the might of Your awesome deeds, and declare Your greatness. May we pour forth the fame of Your abundant goodness and sing aloud of Your righteousness. Amen (Psalm 143, 144, 145).

The magnificence of God is the source and measure of the magnificence of prayer. “Think magnificently of God.” ~Alexander Whyte

King of Kings,

We appeal to Your testimony concerning Yourself: that You are gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. You are good to all, and Your mercy is over all that You have made. Please be kind to us and let us give thanks to You and bless You always.

May we speak of the glory of Your kingdom and tell of Your power. Let us make known to the children of man Your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of Your kingdom. For Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

We praise You that You are righteous in all Your ways and kind in all Your works. We trust You, for You are near to all who call on You, to all who call on You in truth. We exalt You, for You fulfill the desire of those who fear You, and preserve all who love You.

Let our mouths speak Your praise, O Yahweh, and let all flesh bless Your holy name forever and ever (Psalm 145).

In our Lord’s prayer, he told us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). This indicates that the perfect will of God precedes my praying and yours. We are not told to pray, “your will be formed,” but “your will be done.” ~Bruce Ware

Prince of Peace,

We will praise You as long as we live; we will sing praises to our God while we have being. Let us be glad in our Maker, rejoicing in our King! Let us praise Your name with dancing, making melody to You with our voices. Please take pleasure in our song and adorn us with salvation.

Let us exult in glory; let us sing for joy on our beds. Let Your high praises be in our throats. May we praise You in Your sanctuary; praise You in Your mighty heavens! Make us praise You for Your mighty deeds; praise You according to Your excellent greatness!

Let us not trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. Instead let our help be You, the God of Jacob; let our hope be in Yahweh our God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry.

May everything that has breath praise You! Praise Yahweh! (Psalm 146, 149, 150).

Wise Counselor,

We ask that we would hear Your instruction and not forsake Your teaching, for they are a graceful garland for our heads and pendants for our necks. All good things come from You, O God, therefore make our ears attentive to wisdom and incline our hearts to understanding; yes, let us call out for insight and raise our voices for understanding, seeking it like silver and searching for it as for hidden treasures. May we understand the fear of You and find the knowledge of God.

Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake us; bind them around our necks; write them on the tablets of our hearts. Help us to trust in You with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding. In all our ways may we acknowledge You, and You will make straight our paths. Let us not be wise in our own eyes; make us fear You and turn away from evil.

May we honor You with our wealth and with the firstfruits of all our produce; then our barns will be filled with plenty, and our vats will be bursting with wine. Let us not despise Your discipline or be weary of Your reproof, for You reprove those whom You love, as a father the children in whom he delights (Proverbs 1, 2, 3).

Better be somewhat too bold and somewhat unseemly than altogether to neglect and forget Almighty God. Better say that so bold saying, —"I will not let Thee go," than pray with such laziness and sleepiness and stupidity as we now pray. ~Alexander Whyte

Father of our Lord Jesus,

May You direct our hearts to Your love and to the steadfastness of Christ. Work this miracle of grace in us: that we would count it all joy when we meets trials of various kinds. 

If we lack wisdom, let us ask You, who give generously to all without reproach, so that it will be given us. Cause us to be doers of the word, and not hearers only, so that we might not deceive ourselves.

Though we have not seen You, let us love You. Though we do not now see You, let us believe in You and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls.

Thank You that we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for Your own possession, that we may proclaim the excellencies of You who called us out of darkness into Your marvelous light. Remind us that once we were orphans, but now we are Your children; once we had not received mercy, but now we have received mercy.

To You alone, Lord God, be glory forever! Amen (James 1 & I Peter 1 & 2).

God of Truth,

Please be our confidence, and keep our feet from being caught. May we keep hold of instruction and not let it go; let us guard it, for it is our life. Make us commit our work to You so that our plans may be established.

Remind us that better is a little with the fear of You than great treasure. Keep us in the fear of You, for it is a fountain of life, that we may turn away from the snares of death.

Help us to find wisdom and get understanding, for the gain from it is better than gain from silver and its profit better than gold. May we consider wisdom as more precious than jewels, for long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Let us not lose sight of sound wisdom and discretion, for they will be life for our souls and adornment for our necks (Proverbs 3, 16, 15).

There is no true prayer without agony. Perhaps this is the problem in many of our churches. What little prayer we have is shallow, timid, carefully censored, and full of oratorical flourishes and hot air. There is little agony in it, and therefore little honesty or humility. We seem to think that the Lord is like everyone else we know, and that He cannot handle real honesty. So we put on our Sunday best to visit Him, and when we return home and take off our fancy duds we are left alone with what is underneath: the dirty underwear of hypocrisy. ~Mike Mason

Lord and Father,

Thank You for calling us to belong to Jesus Christ. We praise You for loving us and calling us to be among the saints!

Grant that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. And let us never be ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. For in it Your righteousness is revealed from faith for faith.

Indeed, when we were outside of Christ we failed to please You; we could not. We were not righteous, and there was no fear of You before our eyes. We have sinned and fallen short of Your glory; we bless You that we are justified by Your grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom You put forward as a propitiation by His blood. Thank You for showing Your righteousness, so that You might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 1 & 3).

God has made the spread of his fame hang on the preaching of his Word; and he has made the preaching of his Word hang on the prayers of the saints. This is the awesome place of prayer in the purposes of God for the world. The triumph of the Word will not come without prayer. ~John Piper

Holy Father,

Please forgive our lawless deeds and cover our sins. We know that there will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, and we have been wicked. We have had hard and impenitent hearts, thus storing up wrath for ourselves on the day of wrath when Your righteous judgment will be revealed. We have dishonored You by breaking Your law. Your name has been blasphemed among the Gentiles because of us.  But thank You that You impute to us the righteousness of Your Son. By Your Holy Spirit keep us trusting in Christ’s perfection alone, for You raised Him from the dead for our justification after He had been delivered up for our trespasses.

We praise You that we have been justified by faith and have peace with You through the Lord Jesus Christ! Thank You that through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.

Let us rejoice in hope of Your glory. And help us to rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because Your love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Amen (Romans 2 & 5).

Incomparable God,

We praise You that while we were still weak and ungodly, Christ died for us. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, but You have shown Your love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

We praise You that since we have been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from Your wrath. So we rejoice in You through the Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Let us not continue in sin so that grace may abound. May it never be! Do not allow us to live in sin once we have died to it. Cause us to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to You in Christ Jesus. Let not sin reign in our mortal bodies, to make us obey its passions. Keep us from presenting our members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness. For sin will have no dominion over us, since we are not under law but under grace.

Just as we once presented our members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now may we present our members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. Remind us that the wages of sin is death, but Your free gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Restrain us from earning deadly wages. Amen (Romans 5 & 6).

Gracious Master,

When we find ourselves divided in our desires, help us. There will be times when we delight in Your law in our inner being, but we see in our members another law waging war against the law of our minds and making us captive to the law of sin that dwells in our members. And when we cry, “Wretched people that we are! Who will deliver us from these bodies of death?” make us hope in You through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Thank You that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set us free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

Let us exult in the knowledge that You have done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending Your own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, You condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Although our bodies are dead because of sin, give us life by the Spirit because of righteousness! Amen (Romans 7 & 8).

Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul,
a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan. ~John Bunyan

Abba, Father,

We ask that Your Spirit would bear witness with our spirits that we are Your children. For we did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but You granted us the Spirit of adoption as Your children. Cause us to live according to Your Spirit and not according to the flesh. For if we live according to the flesh we will die, but if by the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the body we will live.

Please be faithful to bear witness with our spirits that we are Your children, and if children, then heirs—Your heirs and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.

Therefore, grant us the grace of strength to consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Please let us not be discouraged when we groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Let us wait for it with patience. Amen (Romans 8).

Beloved Father,

By Your Spirit, help us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought; may Your Spirit be faithful to intercede for us with groanings too deep for words. For You, who search hearts, know what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for us according to Your will.

We praise You that for those who love You all things work together for good, for those who are called according to Your purpose. Thank You that You have predestined us to be conformed to the image of Your Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. Amen (Romans 8).

There is a general kind of praying which fails for lack of precision. It is as if a regiment of soldiers should all fire off their guns anywhere. Possibly somebody would be killed, but the majority of the enemy would be missed. ~Charles Spurgeon

Almighty God,

If You are for us, who can be against us? You who did not spare Your own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will You not also with Him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against us as Your elect? It is You who justify. Who is to condemn? Assure us with the truth that Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at Your right hand, who indeed is interceding for us. We praise You that no one shall separate us from the love of Christ. Even tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword shall not prevail over His love.

Let us hope in Your triumph, even when we are killed all the day long and regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. For in all these things we are more than conquerors through You who love us. Thank You that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from Your love in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8).

I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had absolutely no other place to go. ~Abraham Lincoln

Yahweh,

Thank You for choosing us not because of works but because of Your call. Let us not charge You with injustice, but rather praise You because You will have mercy on whom You have mercy, and You will have compassion on whom You have compassion. Thank You that it depends not on human will or exertion, but on You, who have mercy.

We exalt You that You have mercy on whomever You will, and You harden whomever You will. Keep us from being people who question You with arrogance, or set our ways of justice above You, or demand You to account for what we find inequitable. May we not question our molder, saying, “Why have You made us like this?” For You are the Lord and potter, and to You belongs the right to make one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use.

Thank You that in order to make known to us the riches of Your glory You endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, to show Your wrath and to make known Your power (Romans 9).

Great Shepherd,

Our heart’s desire and prayer is that we may be saved. Let us never be people who have a zeal for You, but not according to knowledge. Keep us from being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from You, and seeking to establish our own, which would make us fail to submit to Your righteousness. For Your Son is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Thank You that if we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that You raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. We praise You that everyone who believes in You will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; You are the Lord of all, bestowing Your riches on all who call on You. We call upon Your name alone for salvation.

You have told us that faith comes through hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Therefore use us to proclaim the good news so that our feet might be called beautiful. Amen (Romans 10).

Wise Husbandman,

Thank You for choosing us by grace. And if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. Thank You for sparing us from hardening, from a spirit of stupor, from eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear.

We thank You that some of the natural branches were broken off, and we, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree. Let us never be arrogant toward the branches, remembering that it is not we who support the root, but the root that supports us. Do not allow us to become proud, but cause us to stand in awe. For if You did not spare the natural branches, neither will You spare us.

We praise You for Your kindness and severity: severity toward those who have fallen, but Your kindness to us, provided we continue in Your kindness. Otherwise we too will be cut off.

Lest we be wise in our own conceits, help us to understand this mystery: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. May we tremble before Your sovereign hand that has consigned all to disobedience, that You may have mercy on all.

Oh, the depth of Your riches and wisdom and knowledge! How unsearchable are Your judgments and how inscrutable Your ways! For who has known Your mind, or who has been Your counselor? Or who has given a gift to You that he might be repaid? For from You and through You and to You are all things. To You be glory forever. Amen (Romans 11).

Magnificent God,

We appeal to You by Your mercies, to receive our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to You, as our spiritual worship. Let us not be conformed to this world, but transform us by the renewal of our minds, that by testing we may discern what is Your will, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

May we not think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, but rather think with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith that You have assigned. Enable us to use our gifts according to the grace given us: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; if we teach, in our teaching; if we exhort, in our exhortation; if we contribute, in generosity; if we lead, with zeal; if we do acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

May our love be genuine. Let us abhor what is evil and hold fast to what is good. Help us to love with brotherly affection and seek to outdo one another in showing honor. Keep us from being slothful in zeal. Make us fervent in spirit as we serve You.

Lord God, only by Your sovereign grace will we be able to rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, and be constant in prayer. Assist us as we strive to contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Amen (Romans 12).

When thou prayest, rather let thy heart be without words, than thy words without a heart. ~John Bunyan

Awesome GOD,

Help us to grow in likeness to Christ Jesus. Enable us to bless those who persecute us; to bless and not curse them. Let us rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep, and live in harmony with our heavenly family. May we not be haughty, but associate with the lowly, giving ourselves to humble tasks. Let us never be conceited, nor repay anyone evil for evil. Instead empower us to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on us, help us to live peaceably with all.

Let us never avenge ourselves, but leave it to Your wrath, for vengeance is Yours; You will repay. If our enemy is hungry, may we feed him; if he is thirsty, let us give him something to drink; for by so doing we will heap burning coals on his head.

Do not let us be overcome by evil, but assist us to overcome evil with good, to cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But cause us to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Come, Lord Jesus. We yearn for the day of Your unveiled beauty. Amen (Romans 12 & 13).

O God who is faithful when we are faithless,

Let us not live to ourselves. If we live, may we live to You, and if we die, may we die to You. So that whether we live or whether we die, we might be Yours. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

May we not pass judgment on our sisters, or despise our brothers. For we will all stand before Your judgment seat; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”

Therefore, Father, let us not pass judgment on our brothers and sisters any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in their way. Cause us to pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

Remind us of our obligation as people of strength to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

We ask, for the sake of Your name, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May You enable us to live in such harmony with others, in accord with Christ Jesus, that we may with one voice glorify You, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 14 & 15).

I can think of nothing great that is also easy. Prayer must be, then, one of the hardest things in the world. ~Tim Keller

God of Hope,

Fill us with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit we may abound in hope. Fill us also with goodness and with all knowledge, enabling us to instruct others. We appeal to You to help us strive in our prayers, and that by Your will we may serve others with joy and be refreshed in their company.

Give us discernment and vigilance to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that we have been taught; help us to avoid them. Safeguard us from their smooth talk and flattery by which they deceive the hearts of the naïve. We want to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. Now to You who are able to strengthen us according to the gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to Your command, to bring about the obedience of faith—to You, the only wise God, be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen (Romans 15 & 16).

Pray, and let God worry. ~Martin Luther

Christ Jesus,

We praise You that in these last days God has spoken to us by You, His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also created the world.

Father, thank You for sending Your Son as the radiance of Your glory and the exact imprint of Your nature. We exalt Him, for He upholds the universe by the word of His power, and is superior to angels, since the name He has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

We exalt You, Lord Christ, for Your throne is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness beyond Your companions.

You, Yahweh, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of Your hands; they will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe You will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years have no end. Amen (Hebrews 1).

Gracious Father,

May we consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to You who appointed Him, just as Moses also was faithful in all Your house. Thank You that Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. Moses was faithful in all Your house as a servant to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over Your house as a son. We praise You that we are part of His house. Help us to hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

Therefore today, if we hear Your voice, let us not harden our hearts as in the rebellion. Guard us, lest there be in us evil, unbelieving hearts, leading us to fall away from the living God.

Help us to exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that we may not be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. Enable us to endure steadfastly! Enable us so that we might gain Your glorious Son.

Amen, come quickly, Lord Jesus (Hebrews 3).

God of the living word,

Only through Christ, the great high priest, who is better than angels and greater than Moses—only through Him do we come to You. We pray that, while the promise of entering Your rest still stands, we would fear lest we should seem to have failed to reach it. May Your good news meet with faith in us as we hear it.

We praise You that there remains a Sabbath rest for Your people, for whoever has entered Your rest has also rested from their works as You did from Yours. As the Scriptures say, “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works.”

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that we may not fall by the same sort of disobedience that overtook all those who left Egypt led by Moses. For Your word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from Your sight, but all are naked and exposed to Your eyes. And to You we must give an account.

Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, make us draw near to the throne of grace with confidence, that we may receive mercy and find grace in time of need (Hebrews 4).

Splendid Savior,

It is our joy to trust and exalt You as the perfect source of eternal salvation to all who obey You.

Father, through Your Son we ask that we might never become dull of hearing, but instead crave solid food, and develop skill in the word of righteousness. For solid food is for the mature. Therefore, please train our powers of discernment by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Help us to go on to maturity, past the elementary doctrine of Christ and the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward You. Keep us, and may we never be those who are enlightened, taste the heavenly gift, share in the Holy Spirit, taste of the goodness of Your word, and then fall away. May it never be! (Hebrews 5 & 6).

I must secure more time for private devotions. I have been living far too public for me. The shortening of devotions starves the soul, it grows lean and faint. I have been keeping too late hours. ~William Wilberforce

God of boundless mercy,

May we live as land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, so that we might receive a blessing from You. But have mercy on us, lest we bear thorns and thistles, for such land is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

Assure us of better things—things that belong to salvation. For You are not so unjust as to overlook our work and the love that we have shown for Your sake in serving the saints, as we still do. And we desire Your work in us, causing us to show the same earnestness, to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that we may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Convince us by the unchangeable character of Your purpose that we are heirs of the promise made to Abraham, that we might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. Thank You that You have sworn by Yourself, and we have this promise as a sure and steadfast anchor of our souls, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Lord Jesus, we exalt You as our hope and high priest! Please do not tarry in Your return (Hebrews 6).

Lofty Lover of broken men,

We come to You through Jesus, the guarantor of a better covenant. Instill within us the assurance that Christ holds His priesthood permanently, because He continues forever. Thank You that He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to You through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. May we entrust ourselves wholly to Him, for it is fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

May we exalt Him, for He has no need, like other high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for His own sins and then for those of the people, since He did this once for all when he offered up Himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. Let us cling to Him all the more!

Lord Jesus, be praised and exalted in Your holiness and perfection. Thank You that You always live to make intercession for us. Each day may we grow in love for Your appearing (Hebrews 7).

There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God. ~Brother Lawrence

O God, our wealth and our salvation,

Sink deep within us the confidence that we have a perfect and powerful high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places in the true tent that You set up, not man. For Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant He mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. Cause us to trust Christ’s sacrifice alone, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to You. By His blood purify our conscience from dead works to serve You.

Thank You that Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him. Grant us such eagerness, and may we exult in His sacrifice, offered once for all time for sins, after which He sat down at Your right hand, waiting for that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet. Let us praise and prize Him! For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified (Hebrews 8, 9, 10).

Prayer is as much a tool of our sanctification, by God’s grace, as it is a tool of ministering God’s grace to others. ~Bruce Ware

Fearful Judge,

Since we now have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great high priest over Your house, let us draw near to You with true hearts in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. May we hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for You who promised are faithful.

Help us consider how to stir one another to love and good works, not neglecting our time together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as we see the Day drawing near.

Keep us from going on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, for if we do, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Please prevent us from spurning Your Son, or profaning the blood of the covenant by which we were sanctified, or outraging the Spirit of grace. For we know that vengeance is Yours; You will repay. “The Lord will judge His people.” Sustain us! For it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10).

Self-sufficient God,

Only by Your worthy Son do we come to petition transforming and supporting grace. We ask that You would grow us in kindness and sympathy. Make us people who have compassion on those in prison. May we joyfully accept the plundering of our property, knowing that we have a better possession and an abiding one. Let us not throw away our confidence, which has a great reward. For we have need of endurance, so that when we have done Your will we may receive what is promised. We thank You that we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

Raise us up as people of faith, having the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For without faith it is impossible to please You, for whoever would draw near to You must believe that You exist and that You reward those who seek You. Make us like Sarah, who by faith received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered You faithful to Your promise. Amen (Hebrews 10 & 11).

Disciplining Father,

Assist us to lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of Your throne.

Let us consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that we may not grow weary or fainthearted. For in our struggle against sin we have not yet resisted to the point of shedding our blood.

Remind us of the exhortation that addresses us as sons: “Do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives.”

Assure us that it is for discipline that we have to endure—that You are treating us as sons. For if we are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then we are illegitimate children and not sons. May we not begrudge Your correction, but respect You and be subject to You, understanding that You discipline us for our good, that we may share in Your holiness. When Your discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, make us confident that later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12).

Gentle and fearful Healer,

We bow through the merit of our Lord Christ, asking that You would lift our drooping hands and strengthen our weak knees, and make straight paths for our feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.

Cause us to strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see You. May it never be that we fail to obtain Your grace! Protect us from any “root of bitterness” that springs up, causes trouble, and defiles many. Look after and guard our ways, that we may not be sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. Have mercy! For we know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

May we take refuge in Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and not refuse Your warnings. Help us as we strive to offer to You acceptable worship, with reverence and awe. For You are a consuming fire. Amen (Hebrews 12).

Satan trembles when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees.
~William Cowper

Faithful Helper,

Under the supreme sacrifice of Your Son we come. Please form us into people who do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. May we remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated.

Let marriage be held in honor by us, and help us to keep ourselves undefiled, for You will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Maintain our lives free from the love of money, and make us content with what we have, for You have said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Then let us confidently say, “The Lord is our helper; we will not fear; what can man do to us?”

Remind us of our leaders, those who spoke to us Your word. May we consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith, for Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Guard us from being led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by the food of carnal wisdom, which has not benefited those devoted to it. Amen (Hebrews 13).

Great Master,

Through Christ Jesus we ask that You would put a willingness in our hearts to bear the reproach Your Son endured. May we grow to love the world less and love You more. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through Christ then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to You, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name. Let us not neglect to do good and to share what we have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to You.

Cause us to obey our leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over our souls, as those who will have to give an account.

We exalt You as the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep. Please equip us with everything good that we may do Your will. Work in us that which is pleasing in Your sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen (Hebrews 13).

Power in prayer comes from being in touch with your weakness. To teach us how to pray, Jesus told stories of weak people who knew they couldn’t do life on their own. The persistent widow and the friend at midnight get access, not because they are strong but because they are desperate. Learned desperation is at the heart of a praying life. ~Paul Miller

Our Sovereign Joy,

May we be counted among the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Make us of those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Bless us with meekness so that we may inherit the earth. Create within us a hunger and thirst for righteousness, so that we may be satisfied. Let us be merciful so that we may receive mercy. Give us pure hearts so that we might see You. Number us among the peacemakers, for they shall be called Your children. When we are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, may we rejoice that we are blessed and that ours is the kingdom of heaven.

Thank You that we are blessed when others revile us and persecute us and utter all kinds of evil against us falsely on Christ’s account. May we rejoice and be glad, for our reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before us. Amen (Matthew 5).

To the degree you can shed the “unreality” of self-sufficiency, to that degree your prayer life will become richer and deeper. ~Tim Keller

Our gracious Father,

Through Jesus we kneel and ask that You would make us a brilliant light to the world. Let our light shine before others, so that they may see our good works and glorify You.

May we do Your commandments and teach them, so that we will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For unless our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, we will never enter Your kingdom. Keep us from becoming angry with our brothers, from murdering them in our hearts, and thus becoming liable to judgment. Keep us from looking with lustful intent, from committing adultery in our hearts. If our right eye causes us to sin, let us tear it out and throw it away. For we would rather lose one of our members than have our whole bodies thrown into hell.

Grant us humble longsuffering so as not to resist the person who is evil. But if anyone slaps us on the right cheek, let us turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue us and take our tunic, may we let him have our cloak as well. And if anyone forces us to go one mile, let us go with him two miles. Make us people who give to the one who begs from us; let us not refuse the one who would borrow from us (Matthew 5).

Loving Shepherd,

Please listen to our prayer because of Your Son’s righteousness. We ask that You would incline our hearts to obey His commands. May we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, so that we may be Your children. For You make Your sun rise on the evil and the good, and send rain on the just and on the unjust.

Remind us that if we love those who love us, we have no reward, for even the world does the same. Make us perfect, as You, our heavenly Father, are perfect. Help us to abstain from practicing our righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then we will have no reward from You.

When we give to the needy, do not let our left hand know what our right hand is doing, so that our giving may be in secret. For then You who see in secret will reward us.

And when we pray, keep us from being like the hypocrites who love to be seen and heard by others. Instead, let us go into our rooms and shut the door and pray to You who see in secret. Then, for what You see in secret please reward us. Amen (Matthew 5 & 6).

Faithful Father,

Through Your Son we ask that You would keep us obeying His words. May we not lay up for ourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but make us lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also. We cannot serve two masters; we cannot serve You and money.

Let us not be anxious about our lives, what we will eat or what we will drink, nor about our bodies, what we will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Turn our eyes to the birds of the air and remind us: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet You feed them. And we are of much more value than they! Teach us that we cannot add a single hour to our span of life by being anxious. Guard us from being anxious about clothing, for the lilies of the field neither toil nor spin, yet even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of them.

May we trust You, lest You say, “O you of little faith.” For if You clothe the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will You not much more clothe us? Therefore let us not be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For everyone seeks after all these things, and You, our heavenly Father, know that we need them all. So help us to seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness, and all these things will be added to us. May we not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself (Matthew 6).

I would exhort those who have entertained a hope of their being true converts—and who since their supposed conversion have left off the duty of secret prayer, and ordinarily allow themselves in the omission of it—to throw away their hope. If you have left off calling upon God, it is time for you to leave off hoping and flattering yourselves with an imagination that you are the children of God. Probably it will be a very difficult thing for you to do this. It is hard for a man to let go a hope of heaven, on which he hath once allowed himself to lay hold, and which he hath retained for a considerable time. True conversion is a rare thing; but that men should be brought off from a false hope of conversion—after they are once settled and established in it, and have continued in it for some time—is much more rare. ~Jonathan Edwards

Everlasting King,

We bow through Christ before You. May we not judge, that we be not judged. For with the judgment we pronounce we will be judged, and with the measure we use it will be measured to us. Guide us away from hypocrisy, to first take the log out of our own eye, so that we may then see clearly to take the speck out of our brother’s eye.

Make us wise to avoid giving dogs what is holy, and to not throw our pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack us.

Move us to ask, so that it will be given to us; to seek, so that we will find; to knock, so that it will be opened to us. Thank You for Your promise that everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Remind us that if we, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will our Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Whatever we wish that others would do to us, help us do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. May we enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Keep us steadfast on the hard way! May we never stray from it! For Your namesake let our feet not slip. Amen (Matthew 7).

Righteous Father,

Please protect us from false prophets, who come in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Make us wise to recognize them by their fruits. Help us to discern the healthy tree by its good fruit, and the diseased tree by its bad fruit. May we not be diseased trees, for every such tree is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, help us to bear much good fruit.

Let the warning of Your Son safeguard and preserve us when He says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who in heaven.” May He not say to us, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” Instead, please let us hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servants.” Amen (Matthew 7 & 25).

The Spirit has much to do with acceptable prayer, and His work in prayer is too much neglected. He enlightens the mind to see its wants, softens the heart to feel them, quickens our desires after suitable supplies, gives clear views of God’s power, wisdom, and grace to relieve us, and stirs up that confidence in His truth which excludes all wavering. Prayer is, therefore, a wonderful thing. In every acceptable prayer the whole Trinity is concerned. ~J. Angell James

Revealer of Truth,

Through Christ we ask that You would make us hear His words and do them, so that we may be like a wise man who built his house on a rock. Keep us from merely hearing His words and not doing them, for then we will be like the foolish man who built his house on the sand. When the rain falls, and the floods come, and the winds blow and beat against us, keep us from falling. Your Word alone stands firm. May we build our lives upon it.

Let us never despise or neglect tax collectors and sinners. But instead fill us with tenderness and compassion for them, and the humility to eat with them. For those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Continue to teach us what this means: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” For Your great Son came not to call the righteous, but sinners (Matthew 7 & 9).

The praying life is inseparable from obeying, loving, waiting, and suffering. ~Paul Miller

Our Supreme and Everlasting Joy,

In this world we are as sheep in the midst of wolves, so please help us to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Strengthen us to stand fast when men deliver us over to courts and flog us in their assemblies. When we are dragged before governors and kings for Christ’s sake, let us not be anxious how we are to speak or what we are to say, for what we are to say will be given to us in that hour. Thank You that it will not be us who speak, but Your Spirit speaking through us.

Make ready our hearts for that dreadful time when brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death, and we will be hated by all for the sake of Christ’s name. May we endure to the end and so be saved (Matthew 10).

Prayer—secret, fervent, believing prayer—lies at the root of all personal godliness. ~William Carey

Father,

Grant us the grace to love Christ more than our fathers or mothers, more than our sons or daughters. For Your Son has said that if we fail to love Him supremely, we are not worthy of Him. And if we do not take our cross and follow Him, we are not worthy of Him. Therefore, because of Your grace and steadfast love, enable us to do so! May we not find our lives in this world and so lose them, but make us people who gladly lose our lives for Jesus’ sake so that we might find them.

We know that it pleases You well to hide things from the wise and understanding and reveal them to little children. Therefore, grow us in childlikeness, and show us Your matchless Son. Thank You that He has chosen to reveal You increasingly to us.

When we labor and are heavy laden, let us go to Christ, that He may give us rest. May we take His yoke upon us, and learn from Him, for He is gentle and lowly in heart, and we will find rest for our souls.

Lord Christ, we praise and thank You that Your yoke is easy, and Your burden is light. Amen (Matthew 10 & 11).

Great Covenant Keeper,

We cannot speak good if we are evil. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Therefore, fill us with good treasure so that we might bring forth good. Make Christ our Treasure, so that we might speak His praise. For on the day of judgment we will give account for every careless word we speak; so please do not let us be condemned by our words.

We praise You that to us it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, for to many it has not been given. Let it never be said of us, “Seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” Keep our hearts from growing dull. Help us to see with our eyes and hear with our ears and understand with our hearts and turn, that You may heal us.

May we have eyes that see and ears that hear. For many prophets and righteous people longed to see what we see, and did not see it, and to hear what we hear, and did not hear it (Matthew 12 & 13).

No man can do me a truer kindness in this world than to pray for me. ~Charles Spurgeon

Self-exalting God,

May we never prove ourselves to be as those who, when they hear the word of the kingdom and do not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in their hearts. Guard us from the evil one! And let us not be like those who hear the word and immediately receive it with joy, yet have no root in themselves, but endure for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately fall away. Please do not let us fall! Grow our roots strong and deep in You.

Save us from being people who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. Instead, make our hearts good soil, so that we hear the word and understand it, and bear fruit and yield a hundredfold (Matthew 13).

Prayer is continuing a conversation that God has started through his Word and his grace, which eventually becomes a full encounter with him. ~Tim Keller

Sovereign Ruler and King,

Your Kingdom is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Therefore, may we be like that man, who, in his joy went and sold all that he had and bought the field.

Again, make us like the merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Let us count Christ our greatest treasure, our most valuable pearl, our ultimate source of joy. And may we stop at nothing to have Him.

Keep us from breaking Your commandments for the sake of tradition. May we never, for the sake of tradition, make void Your word. Indeed, unless You preserve us with grace we will be numbered among the hypocrites who honor You with their lips, but their hearts are far from You; who worship You in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

Let us take heart, and not be afraid, for it is You who keep us. Let us not doubt, for truly Jesus, the Son of God, is our righteousness (Matthew 13, 14, 15).

No praying man or woman accomplishes so much with so little expenditure of time as when he or she is praying. ~A.E. McAdam

Lord of the heavens and the earth,

We come to You now petitioning more grace. Our hearts need continual cleansing, because what proceeds from them is what defiles us. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile us, therefore please create in us clean hearts.

Guard us from the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, from the sophistry of this age, from the false teachers who speak sweetly and humbly. Remind us of the truth of Christ. We praise You, for flesh and blood has not revealed Him to us, but You, our Father who is in heaven.

May we set our minds on the things of You, and not on the things of man. All this we ask in the name of the Christ, the Son of the living God. Amen (Matthew 15 & 16).

Take Jesus at his word. Ask him. Tell him what you want. Get dirty. Write out your prayer requests; don’t mindlessly drift through life on the American narcotic of busyness. If you try to seize the day, the day will eventually break you. Seize the corner of his garment and don’t let go until he blesses you. He will reshape the day. ~Paul Miller

Our Mighty Fortress,

Thank You for giving us Your Son. Assist us to continue going after Him, to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him. May we not strive to save our lives and so lose them, but let us lose our lives for Jesus’ sake so that we might find them.

Remind us that it will not profit us anything if we gain the whole world and forfeit our lives. For the Son of man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay us according to what we have done.

Therefore, make us like children, for unless we turn and become like children, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Help us to constantly humble ourselves like children, for such who do so are greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Amen (Matthew 16 & 18).

All hell is vanquished when the believer bows his knee in importunate supplication. Beloved brethren, let us pray. We cannot all argue, but we can all pray; we cannot all be leaders, but we can all be pleaders; we cannot all be mighty in rhetoric, but we can all be prevalent in prayer. I would sooner see you eloquent with God than with men. Prayer links us with the Eternal, the Omnipotent, the Infinite, and hence it is our chief resort. . . . Be sure that you are with God, and then you may be sure that God is with you. ~Charles Spurgeon

Holy Lord,

Remind us that only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. If we will be saved, You must do what is impossible with man: give us hearts that cherish You more than money, possessions, or comfort. Help us! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter Your kingdom. Praise be to Your name that with You all things are possible—that we can be saved!

Grant us the grace to leave houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for the sake of Christ’s name, so that we might receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life. Amen (Matthew 19).

Prayer is so great that wherever you look in the Bible, it is there. Why? Everywhere God is, prayer is. Since God is everywhere and infinitely great, prayer must be all-pervasive in our lives. ~Tim Keller

Soul-Satisfying God,

May we seek to be servants and slaves, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.

Please keep us loving You with all our hearts and with all our souls and with all our minds. For that is the great and first commandment. And continue stirring us up to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Even as You grant us grace to adore You more, protect us from becoming people who preach, but do not practice. May we never tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, and then be unwilling to move them with our fingers. Instead, enable us to humbly offer ourselves as their servants. Amen (Matthew 20 & 23).

I have so much business I cannot get on
without spending three hours daily in prayer. ~Martin Luther

Righteous Father,

There are so many pitfalls of hypocrisy that threaten to destroy us. You alone can guard our footsteps from straying from the narrow path. Keep us from doing everything to be seen by others. Let us not love the place of honor at feasts and the admiration of churches and greetings in the marketplaces and being called wise by others. May we not glory in our wisdom, for all we have is from You. For we have an instructor, the Christ. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

May we never shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. Spare us from becoming children of hell! Have mercy and save us from such woe (Matthew 23).

“Prayer doesn’t work” often means “you didn’t do my will, in my way, in my time.” ~Paul Miller

O God of truth,

Protect us. We dwell in a deceitful world; guard our minds. Keep us safe from blind guides and blind fools. Save us from following those who tithe generously and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. May we not neglect these things, lest we be like the blind guides who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.

Shield us also from the snare of merely external righteousness, like those who clean the outside of the cup and plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Please make us clean inside, that our outside also may be clean. Preserve us from becoming like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. Woe to us if You do not rescue us from outwardly appearing righteous to others, while being full of hypocrisy and lawlessness (Matthew 23).

Prayer is designed by God to display his fullness and our need. Prayer glorifies God because it puts us in the position of the thirsty and God in the position of the all-supplying fountain. ~John Piper

Mighty Ruler,

Please, because of Christ, hear our prayer, and see that no one leads us astray. For many will come in Jesus’ name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and they will lead many astray. And when we hear of wars and rumors of wars, let us not be alarmed. May we not be surprised or afraid when kingdoms deliver us up to tribulation and put us to death. For the Son has warned us that we will be hated by all nations for His name’s sake.

When many fall away and betray one another and hate one another, let us not be among them! Protect us from the many false prophets that will arise and lead many astray. And when lawlessness increases, do not let our love grow cold. But help us to endure to the end and be saved, and proclaim the gospel of the kingdom throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations. Amen (Matthew 24).

Winsome Lord,

May we be like the wise virgins, who took flasks of oil with their lamps. So that when the cry comes at midnight, “Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet Him,” we may be ready to rise and go with Him to the marriage feast. Please keep us from being like the foolish virgins who took no oil, and so came late to the marriage feast. And finding the door shut, they were not allowed to enter. Help us to watch, for we know neither the day nor the hour.

Make us like the servants who doubled that with which their master had entrusted them before he went on a long journey. May we deal wisely with what You have given us, so that when You return You will say, “Well done, good and faithful servants. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” Keep us from being like the worthless, wicked, slothful servant who was cast into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Please preserve us by grace and wisdom.

Come quickly, Bridegroom and Master! (Matthew 25).

You cannot simply manipulate God by the power of being confident in what you ask. There are moral guidelines. This is what Jesus is saying with the condition, “If . . . my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). The words of Jesus shape the attitude and content of our prayers. ~John Piper

O Lover of the sheep,

Only You can keep us for Jesus Christ when He comes in His glory and sits on His glorious throne. So we ask that You would preserve us as Your sheep, to whom the Son of Man will say on that day, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

May we be people who feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and imprisoned. Remind us that as we do so to one of the least of these, we do it to Christ.

It is our fervent desire that we be righteous people so that we might enter into eternal life. Thank You for the promise that, as we strive to enter by the narrow gate, Christ is with us always, to the end of the age.

Our great Savior and King, we long for Your return. Amen (Matthew 25 & 28).

People are far too complicated; the world is far too evil; and my own heart is too off center to be able to love adequately without praying. We need Jesus. ~Paul Miller

Yahweh of Zion,

Thank You that through Christ we are washed; we are made clean; the evil of our deeds is removed from before Your eyes because He has borne our punishment. Assist us now to cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

We praise You that though our sins were like scarlet, they are now white as snow; though they were red like crimson, they have now become like wool. Come, and lead us up to Your mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, that You may teach us Your ways and that we may walk in Your paths. O Yahweh, let us walk in Your light.

Let us stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he? Instead, give us more regard for Christ, so that on the day of the LORD we will not need to hide in the dust from before Your terror, and from the splendor of Your majesty. Prepare us for that day, when the haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and You alone will be exalted (Isaiah 1 & 2).

Eternal Source of all good,

Please continue to restrain the wicked inclinations that remain in our hearts. For if You do not, we will soon become haughty and walk in pride and lust. Continue Your work of making us holy, washing away the filth of Your children, and cleansing our bloodstains by a spirit of purging.

Thank You for loving us as a choice vineyard, and planting us with choice vines on a fertile hill. Now let us yield grapes, and not wild grapes. Make us Your pleasant planting, and let us not disregard Your deeds, or turn a blind eye to the work of Your hands.

Let us never be found lacking in the knowledge of You, so that we may not condemn ourselves to exile, hunger, and thirst. For before You man is humbled, and each one is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are brought low. But You are exalted in justice, and You show Yourself holy in righteousness (Isaiah 3, 4, 5).

I have been benefited by praying for others; for by making an errand to God for them I have gotten something for myself. ~Samuel Rutherford

LORD of hosts,

Guard us from those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes. Protect us from those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! There are many who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight; let us not be found among them. Deliver us from those who are heroes at drinking wine, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right. For they have rejected Your law, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. Let us not be like them, for their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom will go up like dust.

Holy, holy, holy are You, LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of Your glory! We exalt You that through Christ our guilt is taken away, and our sin atoned for. Therefore, we can now rejoice when our eyes see the King, the LORD of hosts.

Help us to remain firm in faith, for if we are not firm in faith, we will not be firm at all. And let us not fear what the world fears, nor be in dread. But You, O LORD of hosts—may we regard You as holy. May You be our fear, and may You be our dread. Amen (Isaiah 5, 6, 7, 8).

Omniscient Father,

Thank You that we, who walked in darkness, have seen a great light; we used to dwell in a land of deep darkness, but now light has shined on us. Please multiply our fruit; increase our joy; may we rejoice before You as with joy at the harvest, as those who are glad when they divide great spoil. For the yoke of our burden and the rod of our oppressor You have broken as on the day of Midian. For to us a child was born, to us the Son was given; and the government is upon His shoulder, and His name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

We exalt You, Lord Christ, our great Savior, for of the increase of Your government and of peace there will be no end. You have established it and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.

O Yahweh of armies, thank You that Your zeal has accomplished salvation for us through Christ. Amen (Isaiah 9).

In personal relationships, if we attempt to fake emotional intensity and put on an outward show of emotion that is not consistent with the feelings of our hearts, others involved will usually sense our hypocrisy at once and be put off by it. How much more is this true of God, who fully knows our hearts. Therefore, intensity and depth of emotional involvement in prayer should never be faked: we cannot fool God. ~Wayne Grudem

Majestic One,

In this day let us lean on You, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. Please continue to change us into the likeness of the shoot that came forth from the stump of Jesse. May Your Spirit rest upon us, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And let our delight be always in the fear of You. Clothe us with righteousness as the belt of our waists, and faithfulness as the belt of our loins.

We give thanks to You, O LORD, for though You were once angry with us, Your anger turned away because of Christ, that You might comfort us. We trust, and are not afraid, for You are our strength and our song, and You have become our salvation.

Cause us to draw water from the wells of salvation with joy. And may we give thanks to You, call upon Your name, make known Your deeds among the peoples, and proclaim that Your name is exalted. May we sing praises to You, for You have done gloriously; let us make this known in all the earth. Let us shout together and sing for joy, for great in our midst are You, O Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 10, 11, 12).

Sovereign, eternal, unchangeable LORD,

You are our God; we will exalt You; we will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. You have made us; we are the work of Your hands. Let us glorify You; let us fear You. May You be to us a stronghold; a stronghold when we are needy and in distress, our shelter from the storm and our shade from the heat. 

We long for the day when You will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. We praise You that on that day You will swallow up death forever and wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of Your people You will take away from all the earth, for You have spoken.

You are our God; we have waited for You, that You might save us. You are Yahweh; let us be glad and rejoice in Your salvation. Keep us in perfect peace because our minds are stayed on You, because we trust in You. Help us to trust in You forever, for You are an everlasting rock (Isaiah 25 & 26).

You should, in Tertullian’s phrase, with a holy conspiracy, besiege heaven. ~Thomas Manton

O Yahweh our God,

Please make level our path; for You make the way of the righteous level. In the path of Your judgments let us wait for You; may Your name and remembrance be the desire of our souls. Make our souls yearn for You in the night; cause our spirits within us to earnestly seek You. For when Your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

Please ordain peace for us; do for us all our works. Even though other lords besides You may rule over us, let us bring Your name alone to remembrance. Let us trust You, for You, Yahweh, are our keeper; every moment You water us as a vineyard. You keep us night and day; may we lay hold of Your protection. In the days to come let us blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit. Amen (Isaiah 26 & 27).

Prayer is the way that all the things we believe in and that Christ has won for us actually become our strength. Prayer is the way that truth is worked into your heart to create new instincts, reflexes, and dispositions. ~Tim Keller

LORD of power,

Please be to us a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty. For You are the LORD of armies, wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.

Protect us from hypocrisy. May it never be that we draw near with our mouths and honor You with our lips, while our hearts are far from You. Let our fear of You be genuine, and not a commandment taught by men.

Please guard our hearts, lest we turn things upside down and regard the Potter as the clay. Keep us from saying of our Maker, “He did not make us”; or of You who formed us, “He has no understanding.” Instead, let us be turned into a fruitful field. Out of our gloom and darkness cause us to see and obtain fresh joy in You. May we exult in You, the Holy One of Israel, and no more be ashamed. Let us see the work of Your hands and sanctify Your name; let us sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and stand in awe of the God of Israel (Isaiah 28 & 29).

Just as God’s Word must reform our theology, our ethics, and our practices, so also must it reform our praying. ~D.A. Carson

Exalted Fountain of Grace,

May we find our strength in quietness and in trust, for You wait to be gracious to us. Therefore, exalt Yourself to show mercy to us. For You are a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for You. Gather us into Your arms so that we may weep no more. Please be gracious to us at the sound of our cry, and answer us.

Let us trust Your promise, that though You give us the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet You will not hide Yourself forever, but our eyes shall see our Teacher. Let us also defile our idols of the flesh, and scatter them as unclean things, saying to them, “Be gone!”

Cause our hope to remain rooted and steadfast in You when calamity overtakes us. For soon the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when You bind up the brokenness of Your people, and heal the wounds inflicted by Your blow. With Your burning anger devour our enemies, and give us a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of Yahweh, to the Rock of Israel. May we hear Your majestic voice. Amen (Isaiah 30).

Worker of wonders,

Continue to make us righteous, so that we may have peace, quietness, and security forever. Be gracious to us; we wait for You. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble. For You are exalted, for You dwell on high; fill us with justice and righteousness, and be the stability of our days, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; let the fear of You be our treasure. Arise, O Yahweh, lift Yourself up; be exalted in us.

Help us to become people who walk righteously and speak uprightly, who despise the gain of oppressions, who shun bribes, who take no part in bloodshed and shut our eyes from looking on evil. Then we will dwell on the heights; our place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; our bread will be given us; our water will be sure.

Let our eyes behold You in Your beauty. Be with us in majesty, for You are our judge; You are our lawgiver; You are our king; You will save us (Isaiah 32 & 33).

Beautiful LORD,

Let us be glad as we look to the day of the Son’s return. May we rejoice and blossom like the crocus; let us blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. And may we long to see Your glory, the majesty of our God. Strengthen our weak hands, and make firm our feeble knees.

Let us not be anxious of heart. May we be strong and not fear. For You will come with vengeance; You will come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

Prepare us to set foot on the great highway, which shall be called the Way of Holiness; for the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; let us not go astray. Let us yearn for that day when the redeemed shall walk there, when the ransomed of Yahweh shall return and come to Zion with singing. Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away (Isaiah 35).

God can pick sense out of a confused prayer. ~Richard Sibbes

God of Israel,

Enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; You have made heaven and earth; You have made us. Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear all the words of those who mock You, the living God. Truly there are many who desire to lay waste all the fruit of our hands. In their wickedness they have destroyed others. So now, O LORD our God, save us from their hands, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone are Yahweh. Please defend us to save us, for Your own sake.

Please remember us and cause us to walk before You in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and to do what is good in Your sight. May we trust that it is for our welfare when we have great bitterness; let us praise You and hope for Your faithfulness. For in love You have delivered our lives from the pit of destruction, and have cast all our sins behind Your back.

Let us always thank You as we do this day; let us make known to our children Your faithfulness. For it is You who will save us, and we will play music on stringed instruments all the days of our lives at the house of Yahweh (Isaiah 37 & 38).

Wonderful God,

Thank You that you comfort us. Thank You for speaking tenderly to us and declaring to us that our iniquity is pardoned, that because of Christ we have not received from Your hand double for all our sins. May we wait patiently for the day when Your glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for You have spoken.

Remind us that all flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when Your breath blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but Your word will stand forever.

Let us behold You coming with might, with Your arm ruling. Please tend us like a shepherd; gather us into Your arms; carry us in Your bosom, and gently lead us.

May we worship You as the only one who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance. We praise You, for no man has directed Your Spirit or shown You his counsel. Amen (Isaiah 40).

As highly as Paul values marital obligations, he can envisage a couple self-consciously choosing not to have sex together for a while, so that the time they would have spent pleasing each other sexually will be devoted to prayer. That says something about Paul’s valuation of prayer. ~D. A. Carson

Creator of the ends of the earth,

Be exalted in Your wisdom and fullness, for You have never needed anyone. Whom did You consult, and who made You understand? Who taught You the path of justice, or taught You knowledge, or showed You the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, You take up the coastlands like fine dust. Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before You, they are accounted by You as less than nothing and emptiness.

Therefore, we worship and adore Your greatness, taking comfort that You are powerful and lack nothing. To whom then will we liken You, or what likeness compare with You? We have known and heard, and it has been told us from the beginning, that it is You who sit above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretch out the heavens like a curtain, and spread them like a tent to dwell in. We exalt You, for You bring princes to nothing, and make the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

To whom then will we compare You, that You should be like him? Lift up our eyes on high to see: You created the stars—You who bring out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of Your might, and because You are strong in power not one is missing (Isaiah 40).

You who alone are the true God,

May we never complain that our way is hidden from You, or that our right is disregarded by our God. Instead, assure us that You are the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. Instill within us a steadfast confidence in You, for You do not faint or grow weary; Your understanding is unsearchable. Give power to us when we are faint, and when we have no might increase our strength. Even when we faint and become weary, when we fall exhausted, let us wait for You. For they who wait for You shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Thank You for choosing us, for taking us from the pit, for calling us out of bondage, saying to us, “You are my servants, I have chosen you and not cast you off.” So let us not fear, for You are with us. Let us not be dismayed, for You are our God. You will strengthen, You will help us, You will uphold us with Your righteous right hand. Hold our right hand, and say to us, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you” (Isaiah 40 & 41).

Intercession is more than specific: it is pondered: it requires us to bear on our heart the burden of those for whom we pray. ~George A. Buttrick

King of Jacob,

Defend us from all who are incensed against us; let them be put to shame and confounded; may those who strive against us be as nothing and perish. Let the evil ones who war against us be as nothing at all. May we not be afraid, for You are the one who helps us; our Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

Let us rejoice in You; in the Holy One of Israel let us glory. When we are poor and needy and seek for water, and there is none, and our tongues are parched with thirst, please answer us; O God of Israel, do not forsake us. Open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. Make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water for us. Put in our wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive. Set in our desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together, that we may see and know, may consider and understand, that Your hand has done it, the Holy One of Israel has created it.

Increase our soul’s delight in Your Servant, whom You uphold, Your chosen, just as Your soul delights in Him. May we hope in Him, for a bruised reed He will not break, and a faintly burning wick He will not quench; He will faithfully bring forth justice. Hasten the day of His return! Amen (Isaiah 41 & 42).

O God,

Who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it, remind us that You are Yahweh, and have called us in righteousness. Take us by the hand and keep us. Conform us into the image of Him who is given as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

We praise You that You are Yahweh; that is Your name; Your glory You give to no other, nor Your praise to carved idols. Let us sing to You a new song, and praise You in all the earth. Let us lift up our voices along with the sea, and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants, the desert and its cities. May we sing for joy, and shout from the top of the mountains. Let us give glory to You, and declare Your praise in the coastlands. For You go out like a mighty man, like a man of war You stir up Your zeal; You cry out, You shout aloud, You show Yourself mighty against Your foes.

Lead us in a way that we do not know, in paths that we have not known please guide us. Turn the darkness before us into light, the rough places into level ground. For these are the things that You do, and You will not forsake us (Isaiah 42).

Holy LORD,

Be pleased, for Your righteousness’ sake, to magnify Your law and make it glorious through us. Be exalted, for You created us, You formed us. May we not fear, for You have redeemed us; You have called us by name, we are Yours. When we pass through the waters, please be with us; and through the rivers, let them not overwhelm us; when we walk through fire let us not be burned, and may the flame not consume us. For You are Yahweh our God, the Holy One of Israel, our Savior.

Thank You that You give men in return for us, peoples in exchange for our lives, because we are precious in Your eyes, and honored, and You love us. Let us not fear, for You are with us. You are Yahweh, and besides You there is no savior.

Let us adore You as the LORD, our Redeemer, our Holy One, the Creator of Israel, our King. Give us water in the wilderness, rivers when we are in the desert, so that Your chosen ones may drink, the people whom You formed for Yourself that we might declare Your praise. Thank You that You are He who blots out our transgressions for Your own sake, and You will not remember our sins. For we are Your servants whom You have chosen; You made us and formed us from the womb. Help us, and let us not fear. Pour Your Spirit upon our offspring, and Your blessing on our descendants. Let them spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams. May one say, “I am Yahweh’s,” and another write on his hand, “Yahweh’s,” and name himself by the name of Israel (Isaiah 42, 43, 44).

King and Redeemer of Israel,

Glory be to Your name, for You are the first and You are the last; besides You there is no god. Who is like You? Therefore, let us not fear, nor be afraid; for You declare what is to come, and what will happen. May we trust in You, for there is no god besides You, there is no Rock; we know not any.

Let us remember that all who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. We are Your servants; You formed us; let us not be forgotten by You. We praise You that You have blotted out our transgressions like a cloud and our sins like mist. You have redeemed us.

Let the heavens sing, for the LORD has done it; let the depths of the earth shout; let the mountains and forests and every tree break forth into singing! For You, LORD, have redeemed us, and will be glorified in us. Through us be pleased to display Your beauty. May we take comfort and rejoice in the knowledge that You formed us in the womb, that You are Yahweh, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by Yourself. You frustrate the signs of liars and make fools of diviners. You turn wise men back and make their knowledge foolish. You say to the deep, “Be dry; I will dry up your rivers.” Let us love and fear You. Amen (Isaiah 44).

All progress in prayer is an answer to prayer—our own or another’s. And all true prayer promotes its own progress and increases our power to pray. ~P.T. Forsyth

God of Israel, You who call Your people by name,

We come before You because You are Yahweh, and there is no other, besides You there is no God. Please use us to make known Your might, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides You; You are Yahweh, and there is no other. You form light and create darkness. You make wellbeing and create calamity. May we exalt You as the LORD who does all these things.

We praise and adore You, for You made the earth and created man on it; it was Your hand that stretched out the heavens, and You commanded all their host.

Stir us up in righteousness, and make all our ways level. May the wealthy and men of stature come to us, saying, “Surely God is in you, and there is no other, no god besides Him.”

Many make idols and go in confusion together. But we thank You that we are saved by You with everlasting salvation; we shall not be put to shame or confounded to all eternity. For You are Yahweh and there is no other. You did not say to us, “Seek me in vain.” You speak truth; You declare what is right (Isaiah 45).

We don’t need self-discipline to pray continuously; we just need to be poor in spirit. ~Paul Miller

O God who hears prayer,

Let us turn continually to You for our salvation. For You are God, and there is no other. Therefore, let us say of You, “Only in Yahweh are righteousness and strength.” Thank You that in You we are justified and can glory. Praise be to Your name, for we have been borne by You from before our birth, carried from the womb; even to our old age and to gray hairs You will carry us. You have made, and You will bear; You will carry and will save.

We praise You that You are God, and there is no other; You are God, and there is none like You, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.”

Therefore, may we trust the word that goes out from Your mouth in righteousness. Let us hope in You as the God who brings to pass what He speaks; who does what He has purposed. For Your name’s sake be gracious to us, for the sake of Your praise make us walk in holiness, and do not cut us off. Refine us, and give us strength as You try us in the furnace of affliction. For Your own sake, for Your own sake, do this, for how should Your name be profaned? Your glory You will not give to another. Therefore, magnify Yourself in us. Glorify Yourself through us. Use us to exalt the greatness of Your name. Amen (Isaiah 45, 46, 48).

Our Redeemer,

Teach us to profit from uprightness, and lead us in the way we should go. Make us pay attention to Your commandments so that our peace will be like a river, and our righteousness like the waves of the sea. Then let our offspring be like the sand, and our descendents like its grains; may their name never be cut off or destroyed from before You.

We shout for joy, for You have redeemed us! Therefore, do not let us thirst when You lead us through deserts; make water flow for us even from the rocks, so that our souls are satisfied.

Make our mouths like sharp swords; in the shadow of Your hand please hide us; make us polished arrows; in Your quiver hide us away. For we are Your servants in whom You will be glorified and display Your beauty. May we not labor in vain or spend our strength for nothing. For surely our recompense is with You, our God.

We will praise You, for You called us from the womb, from the body of our mother You named our names. You formed us from the womb to be Your servants, therefore may we be honored in Your eyes, and may You continually be our strength. Make us as a light for the nations, that Your salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. Let kings see and arise; may princes prostrate themselves, because of You, who are faithful, the Holy One of Israel, You have chosen us (Isaiah 48 & 49).

Ruler of heaven and earth,

Please keep us. Answer us and help us; let us not hunger or thirst, and may neither scorching wind nor sun strike us. Have pity on us and lead us, and by springs of water guide us. May the heavens sing for joy and may the earth exult; let the mountains break forth into singing. For You have comforted us and will have compassion on our affliction.

We praise You that You have not forsaken us; You have not forgotten us. Even a mother may forget her nursing child, yet You will not forget us. Assure us of this, and let us know that You are Yahweh; those who wait for You shall not be put to shame. Fight for us; contend with those who contend with us. Then all flesh shall know that You are Yahweh our Savior, and our Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob (Isaiah 49).

The artless child is still the divine model for all of us. Prayer will increase in power and reality as we repudiate all pretense and learn to be utterly honest before God as well as before men. ~A. W. Tozer

Forgiving God,

Thank You that Your hand is not shortened, that it can redeem us. For by Your power and rebuke You dry up the sea, and make the rivers a desert.

Please give us the tongue of those who are taught, that we may know how to sustain with a word those who are weary. Morning by morning awaken us; awaken our ears to hear as those who are taught.

When we are struck and spit upon for Your namesake fill us with hope in You. For You will help us; therefore we will not be disgraced. Remind us that we will not be put to shame, for You who vindicate us are near.

Let us fear You and obey the voice of Christ. And when we walk in darkness and have no light let us trust in Your name and rely on You, our God. Cause us to pursue righteousness and seek You. Make our wilderness like Eden, our desert like the garden of Yahweh; may joy and gladness be found in us, thanksgiving and the voice of song (Isaiah 50 & 51).

Prayer is often represented as the great means of the Christian life. But it is no mere means, it is the great end of that life. It is, of course, not untrue to call it a means. It is so, especially at first. But at last it is truer to say that we live the Christian life in order to pray than that we pray in order to live the Christian life. ~P.T. Forsyth

Lovely God,

Turn our attention to Yourself. Let us give ear to the law that has gone out from You, to the justice that You have set for a light to the peoples. May Your righteousness draw near to us, let Your salvation go out to us; make us hope for You, and for Your arm let us wait. Lift up our eyes to the heavens, and cause us to look at the earth beneath and see that the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner. But remind us that Your salvation will be forever, and Your righteousness will never be dismayed.

Let us not fear the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings. For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; but Your righteousness will be forever, and Your salvation to all generations.

Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Yahweh; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago, and defend us. You have ransomed us, therefore let us come into Your presence with singing; crown our heads with everlasting joy; grant us gladness and joy, so that sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Teach us not to be afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, for You, You are He who comforts us. Let us take confidence in You, our Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and may we fear not the oppressors who set themselves up to destroy (Isaiah 51).

Lord of the oceans,

Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar, please put Your words in our mouths and cover us in the shadow of Your hand. For You are Yahweh of armies, who established the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and say to us, “You are my children.”

Thank You for awakening us from the slumber of death, for clothing us with strength and beautiful garments. For we were sold for nothing, and You have redeemed us without money. Therefore, make our feet beautiful upon the mountains, as those who bring good news, who publish peace, who bring good news of happiness, who publish salvation, who say, “Our God reigns.” Let us lift up our voices with our brothers and sisters, so that together we may sing for joy, and eye to eye await the return of Your Son.

May we break forth into singing, for You have comforted Your people; You have redeemed even us! You have bared Your holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

Please go always before us; O God of Israel, be our rear guard. Amen (Isaiah 51 & 52).

When our awareness of the greatness of God and the gospel is dim, our prayer lives will be small. The less we think of the nature and character of God, and the less we are reminded of what Jesus did for us on the Cross, the less we want to pray. ~Donald S. Whitney

Our Father and our God,

We thank You for Your Son who has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, who was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. May we treasure and desire Him, for upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed.

We exalt Him as the One stricken for our transgression. We praise You for crushing Him so that we could be accounted righteous. Stir up gratitude within us for His sacrifice, for bearing our iniquities, pouring out His soul to death, and for making intercession for us.

May we break forth into singing and cry aloud, for we have been reconciled to You, our Maker and Husband, to You, Yahweh of armies. The Holy One of Israel is our Redeemer!

Thank You for calling us when we were like those deserted and grieved in spirit. And now be exalted for Your great compassion toward us! Amen (Isaiah 53 & 54).

God of the whole earth,

Do not hide Your beautiful face from us or be angry with us, but with everlasting love have compassion on us. Even though the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, let not Your steadfast love depart from us, and do not remove Your covenant of peace, but continue to have compassion on us.

Although we may be afflicted and storm-tossed, let us take comfort in Your word. For You will set our stones in antimony, and lay our foundations with sapphires. You will wall us in with precious stones.

Please bless us, and may all our children be taught by You, and let the peace of our children be great. Establish us in righteousness; keep us far from oppression and fear. Protect us from terror; may it not come near us. We commit ourselves to Your hand, for You guard us so that no weapon that is fashioned against us shall succeed (Isaiah 54).

Meditation is a middle sort of duty between the word and prayer, and hath respect to both. The word feedeth meditation, and meditation feedeth prayer. These duties must always go hand in hand; meditation must follow hearing and precede prayer. To hear and not to meditate is unfruitful. We may hear and hear, but it is like putting a thing into a bag with holes…. It is rashness to pray and not to meditate. What we take in by the word we digest by meditation and let out by prayer. These three duties must be ordered that one may not jostle out the other. Men are barren, dry, and sapless in their prayers for want of exercising themselves in holy thoughts. ~Thomas Manton

Compassionate Lord,

When we thirst, draw us to the waters, draw us to Yourself. Keep us from spending our money for that which is not bread, and our labor for that which does not satisfy. Instead, make us listen diligently to You, and eat what is good, and delight ourselves in rich food—wine and milk without price. Incline our ears, and let us come to You; may we hear, that our souls may live, because of Your everlasting covenant of steadfast, sure love.

May we seek You while You may be found and call upon You while You are near! Let us forsake our wicked ways and our unrighteous thoughts; and let us turn to You, that You may have compassion on us, for You will abundantly pardon.

Holy One of Israel, we bow before You, for Your thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are Your ways our ways. We worship and exalt You, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are Your ways higher than our ways and Your thoughts than our thoughts. Amen (Isaiah 55).

You who are high and lifted up,

Be pleased to fill us with joy and lead us forth in peace. May we keep justice, and do righteousness, for Your salvation has come, and Your deliverance is revealed. Keep our hands from doing any evil, and make us hold on to righteousness.

Thank You for saving us; for giving us an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. Let the mountains and the hills break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field clap their hands! For You have made a name for Yourself; You have redeemed us! Make us joyful in Your house of prayer.

Please protect us from blind watchmen without knowledge, from shepherds who have no understanding. Revive our spirits when we are lowly, and revive our hearts when we are contrite. May we seek You daily and delight to know Your ways; let us delight to draw near to You. And when we fast, may it not be merely to quarrel and pursue our own business. But cause us to fast as You choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, to share our bread with the hungry, to bring the homeless poor into our house, and to clothe the naked. Then may our light break forth like the dawn, and make righteousness go before us, with Your glory as our rear guard (Isaiah 55, 56, 58).

A chief object of all prayer is to bring us to God…. The chief failure of prayer is its cessation. ~P.T. Forsyth

Holy Master,

When we call to You, please answer. We cry out to you: keep us from speaking wickedness. May we pour ourselves out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, for then shall our light rise in the darkness and our gloom be as the noonday. Guide us continually and satisfy our desire in scorched places and make our bones strong; may we be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Let us take delight in You; feed us with the heritage of Jacob.

We praise You that our light has come, and Your glory has risen upon us. Although darkness once covered us, now You have risen upon us, and Your glory is seen upon us. Let nations come to our light, and kings to the brightness of Christ in us.

May peoples see us and be radiant; let their hearts thrill and exult because of the abundance of our joy in Christ. Make us declare the good news—the praises of Christ. Beautify your servants so that the coastlands will hope for You, for the name of Yahweh our God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because You have made us beautiful (Isaiah 58 & 60).

O God, whose name is Holy,

In Your favor be pleased to have mercy on us. Make us majestic forever, and a joy to every age, so that all may know that You, Yahweh, are our Savior and our Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. Make our overseers peace and our taskmasters righteousness. May our clothing be called Salvation, and the gates to our house Praise.

Let us trust You, for You are our everlasting light and our glory! May we seek Your face, that You may be our beauty. Clothe us with righteousness that You may be glorified.

Please comfort us when we mourn; give us the oil of gladness instead of mourning, garments of praise instead of a faint spirit; that we may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that You may be glorified. Let us greatly rejoice in You; let our souls exult in our God, for You have clothed us with the garments of salvation; You have covered us with robes of righteousness, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. As the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to grow, so cause righteousness and praise to flourish before us. Amen (Isaiah 60 & 61).

Even as the moon influences the tides of the sea, even so does prayer influence the tides of godliness. ~Charles Spurgeon

Author of all existence,

For our sake do not keep silent, and for our sake do not be quiet, until our righteousness goes forth as brightness, and our salvation as a burning torch. Let men see our righteousness, and women our glory, because You have called us by a new name that Your mouth has given. May we be as a crown of beauty in Your hand, a royal diadem in the hand of our God. May You delight in Your servants. Fill us with the joyful knowledge that You take pleasure in us, that as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so You rejoice over us. Please establish us and make us a praise in the earth. Let those who eat the grain and drink the wine of our house praise You, and exult in Your holiness.

Help us to see and rejoice that our salvation has come, that You Yourself are our reward. For we are numbered among The Holy People, The Redeemed of Yahweh; and we are called Sought Out, People Not Forsaken.

Let us put our hope in You—You who are splendid in Your apparel, marching in the greatness of Your strength, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save. Thank You for sparing our lifeblood and bringing to us salvation by Your powerful arm. Thank You, that when we deserved to be trod in Your anger and trampled in Your wrath, You gave Christ to bear our punishment! We bless His name, for He is our joy and our salvation (Isaiah 62 & 63).

Source of all blessedness,

Let us be people who recount Your steadfast love and Your praises, according to all that You have given us, and the great goodness that You have granted us according to Your compassion, according to the abundance of Your steadfast love. Thank You for becoming our Savior; that in Your love and in Your pity You have redeemed us, and lifted us up and carried us. Please continue to lead us, to make for Yourself a glorious name.

Thank You that You are our Father and our Redeemer from of old. Please do not make us wander from Your ways and harden our hearts, so that we fear You not. Keep us, and let us wait for You. For from of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides You, who acts for those who wait for Him. You meet those who joyfully work righteousness—those who remember Your ways. Therefore, may we present ourselves to You as joyful servants of righteousness, remembering the ways of our God (Isaiah 63 & 64).

Praiseworthy LORD,

We are glad and rejoice forever in You; for behold, You have made Your face to be our joy, and Your presence to be our gladness. Give us the assurance that You also rejoice in us and are glad in Your people.

Let us live by faith, hoping for the day when You create a new heavens and a new earth—when the sound of weeping and the cry of distress shall be heard no more, when Your chosen shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, when the wolf and the lamb shall graze together.

Guard us from the subtle deceitfulness of pride; help us to fight against arrogance. For this is the one to whom You will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at Your word. 

Let us see Your glory and declare it among the nations, so that all flesh may know that You are Yahweh and come to worship before You (Isaiah 65 & 66).

“To encounter the words of the Scripture is to encounter God in action.” We must not, therefore, pit theological truth against existential encounter. Rather, we must experience the truth. ~Tim Keller

O Lord Yahweh,

Who are we, and what is our house, that You have given us such blessing? And yet this is a small thing in Your eyes. According to Your own heart You have brought us to Yourself, to make Your servants know Your abundant goodness. Therefore You are great, O Yahweh God. For there is none like You, and there is no God besides You.

We praise You that we are Your children, the people whom You went to redeem to be Yours, making for Yourself a name and doing for us great and awesome things. You established us for Yourself to be Yours forever. And You, O Yahweh, became our God.

And now, let Your name be magnified forever through us. Let us say, “Yahweh of armies is God over His people.” Your promises are sure; You are our God, therefore Your servants have found courage to pray this prayer to You. May it please You to bless Your servants, so that we may continue forever before You. For only with Your blessing shall Your servants be blessed forever (II Samuel 7).

The great fault of the children of God is, they do not continue in prayer; they do not go on praying; they do not persevere. If they desire anything for God’s glory, they should pray until they get it. Oh, how good, and kind, and gracious, and condescending is the One with Whom we have to do! He has given us, unworthy as we are, immeasurably above all we had asked or thought! ~George Mueller

LORD of thunder,

Please be our rock and our fortress and our deliverer, our God, our rock, in whom we take refuge, our shield, and the horn of our salvation, our stronghold and our refuge, our savior; save us from violence. We call upon You, who are worthy to be praised, to plead for our perseverance.

When the waves of death encompass us, when the torrents of destruction assail us, let us hope in You. When the cords of Sheol entangle us, when the snares of death confront us, in our distress let us call upon You; may we call to our God. Hear our voice, and may our cry come to Your ears. Send from on high and take hold of us; draw us out of many waters. Rescue us and bring us out into a broad place; rescue us because You delight in us.

Enable us to keep Your ways and let us not wickedly depart from our God. May all Your rules be before us, and from Your statutes may we not turn aside. Make us blameless before You, and help us to keep ourselves from guilt. Mold us into merciful, pure people, for with the merciful You show Yourself merciful; with the blameless person You show Yourself blameless; with the purified You deal purely, and with the crooked You make Yourself seem tortuous (II Samuel 22).

Savior of a humble people,

Be our lamp, and lighten our darkness. Lead us in Your way, for Your way is perfect; Your word proves true; be a shield for us as we take refuge in You. For who is God but You? And who is a rock, except You? Therefore, please be our strong refuge and make our way blameless. Make our feet like the feet of a deer and set us securely on the heights. Train our hands for war, so that we may use the shield of Your salvation.

By Your gentleness make us great. Give a wide place for our steps under us, and let our feet not slip. Equip us with strength for battle; make the evil that rises against us sink under us.

We praise You, for You are the living God; we bless You and exalt You, O Rock of our salvation! We will praise You among the nations, and sing praises to Your name! Bring great salvation to us, and show steadfast love to us forever (II Samuel 22).

The prayerless spirit saps a people’s moral strength because it blunts their thought and conviction of the Holy.… Prayerlessness is an injustice and a damage to our own souls…. The root of all deadly heresy is prayerlessness. ~P.T. Forsyth

God of Jacob,

Raise us up to live in the fear of You, so that we may dawn on our children like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.

Thank You that You have shown great and steadfast love to us, and have caused us to walk before You in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward You. Please keep for us this great and steadfast love.

Give us understanding minds that we may discern between good and evil. Grant us wise and discerning hearts, so that we may walk in Your ways, keeping Your statutes and Your commandments. For there is no God like You, O Yahweh, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart. Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, yet have regard to the prayer of Your servants and their plea, O Yahweh, our God, and listen to the cry and to the prayer that Your servants pray before You this day. Let us fear You all the days that we live, and may we shine forth the greatness of Your name, Your mighty hand, and Your outstretched arm (II Samuel 23, I Kings 3, 8).

There are many good resources for learning how to pray, but the best way to learn how to pray is to pray. ~Donald Whitney

Rock of Israel,

There is no God like You, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart. Therefore, we ask that You would incline our hearts to walk in Your ways, keeping Your statutes. Keep us in the way everlasting; let us pay close attention to our way, to walk before You as David walked before You. Listen to the plea of Your servants when we pray; hear from heaven and teach us the good way in which we should walk, and rain grace upon us that we may fear You all the days of our lives.

Let Your eyes be open to our pleas, giving ear to us whenever we call You. For You chose us from among all the people of the earth to be Your heritage.

Blessed are You, O Yahweh, who have given rest to us. Not one word has failed of all Your good promise, which You spoke to Moses. Be with us, and do not leave us or forsake us, that You may incline our hearts to Yourself, to walk in all Your ways and to keep Your commandments, Your statutes, and Your rules. Maintain our cause, that all the peoples of the earth may know that Yahweh is God; there is no other. Let our hearts therefore be wholly true to You, our God, walking in Your statutes and keeping Your commandments (I Kings 8).

O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim,

You alone are the God of all the kingdoms of the world; You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear; O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of our prayer.

Let us give thanks to You; let us call upon Your name and make known Your deeds among the peoples! May we sing to You; let us sing praises to You and tell of all Your wonderful works! Cause us to glory in Your holy name; let our hearts seek You and rejoice!

We seek You and Your strength; we seek Your presence continually. We exalt You as we remember the wondrous works that You have done, the miracles and judgments You uttered.

Help us to remember Your covenant forever, the word that You commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that You made with Abraham. Let us sing to You with all the earth and tell of Your salvation from day to day! May we declare Your glory among the nations, Your marvelous works among all the peoples! For great are You, O LORD, and greatly to be praised, and You are to be held in awe above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but You made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before You; strength and joy are in Your place (II Kings 19 & I Chronicles 16).

God of our salvation,

We ascribe to You glory and strength. We ascribe to You the glory due Your name and come humbly before You. We worship You in the splendor of holiness, trembling before You with all the earth.

Let us be glad with the heavens, and rejoice with the earth, and let us say among the nations, “Yahweh reigns!” Let us roar with the sea, and all that fills it; let us exult with the field, and everything in it. Then make us sing for joy with the trees of the forest before You, for You come to judge the earth.

We give thanks to You, for You are good and Your steadfast love endures forever. Keep us to the end, and deliver us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to Your holy name, and glory in Your praise. For blessed are You, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen. Praise the LORD! (I Chronicles 16).

The opposite of planning is the rut. If you don’t plan a vacation you will probably stay home and watch TV. The natural, unplanned flow of spiritual life sinks to the lowest ebb of vitality. There is a race to be run and a fight to be fought. If you want renewal in your life of prayer you must plan to see it. ~John Piper

Lord of all being,

Let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer of Your servants. And now arise, O LORD, and come to us. Clothe us with salvation, and make us rejoice in Your goodness. Do not turn away our faces; remember Your steadfast love for us. We worship You and give thanks to You, for You are good, for Your steadfast love endures forever.

May we continually humble ourselves, and pray and seek Your face and turn from wicked ways. Open Your eyes and let Your ears be attentive to us, for You have chosen and consecrated us that Your name may be exalted forever. Let us praise You as the God of heaven, who rules over all the kingdoms of the nations—as the God in whose hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand You. May we give thanks to You, for Your steadfast love endures forever (II Chronicles 6 & 20).

Our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God,

May we delight ourselves in Your great goodness! Thank You that even when we forget You and stray from Your commandments, in Your great mercies You do not make an end of us or forsake us, for You are a gracious and merciful God.

When hardships befall us, let them not seem little to You; when we cry to You, hear from heaven and deliver us according to Your mercies.

Be exalted in Your grace, for although we have acted wickedly, You have dealt faithfully. Let us not boast in our wisdom, nor in our might, nor in our riches, but let us boast in this: that we understand and know You, that You are Yahweh who practices steadfast love, and justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things You delight.

There is none like You, O Yahweh; You are great, and Your name is great in might. May we fear You, O King of the nations. For this is Your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like You (Nehemiah 9, Jeremiah 9 & 10).

As it is the business of tailors to make clothes and of cobblers to mend shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray. ~Martin Luther

Eternal God,

Let us rejoice in the Word, through whom all things were made. May we seek life only in Him. We praise You for causing us to receive Him and believe on His name, for giving us the right to become Your children. Open our eyes to the glory of the Word, the glory of Your only Son, full of grace and truth. From His fullness let us receive grace upon grace—the grace and truth that come through Jesus Christ. Help us to do what is true and come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that our deeds have been carried out in You.

Help us not to judge by appearances, but instead to judge with right judgment. And when we thirst, let us go to Christ and drink. Let us follow closely after Him always, so that we will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Make us abide in His word as true disciples so that we may know the truth and be set free by it (John 1 & 8).

Great Life-Giver,

May we never faint in following after our Shepherd’s voice. Let Christ go before us and lead us, calling us by name and guiding us with His words. Let us flee from the stranger, from the thief, and from the robber, for we do not know their voice.

We praise You that we have entered by Your Son into salvation and plentiful pasture. May we have life and have it abundantly in Him, for that is why He came. Let us trust Him always as our good Shepherd who lays down His life for sheep like us. For You have given us to Him, and You are greater than all, and no one is able to snatch us out of Your hand (John 10).

Nothing would do more to cure us of a belief in our own wisdom than the granting of some of our eager prayers. And nothing could humiliate us more than to have God say when the fulfillment of our desire brought leanness to our souls, “Well, you would have it.” It is what He has said to many. But He has said more, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” ~P.T. Forsyth

Almighty Father,

Stir within us a stronger desire to glorify the Son of Man. Let us seek to glorify Him even in our death. For unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. And our desire is that we bear much fruit for Your name. Therefore, let us not love our lives and so lose them, but help us to hate our lives in this world so that we may keep them for eternal life. May we serve Christ and follow Christ, for then You will honor us.

Even in this very hour, Father, glorify Your name in us. Draw us to Yourself and let Christ always be our light, that we may not walk in darkness. Thank You that we have believed in the light and have become children of light. We praise You that You did not blind our eyes or harden our hearts so that we could not believe. But in grace You shone into our souls and made us to love the glory that comes from You more than the glory that comes from man (John 12).

Father of our Lord and Teacher,

Help us to persevere in washing the feet of others in all humility and joy. For Christ has given us an example, that we should do as He has done. Help us to do what we know as servants, for servants are not greater than their master.

Please deliver us from the treachery that still indwells us, for if You remove Your hand of grace we will surely betray Your Son. Spare us that dreadful end! Keep us faithful and steadfast in Jesus all our days, so that He may be glorified, and You may be glorified in Him.

Cause us to grow in love for one another—to strive wholeheartedly to love one another just as Christ has loved us, so that all people will know that we are His disciples, if we have love for one another.

Let not our hearts be troubled! May we believe in You, and also in Christ. Fill us afresh with hope for the time when Your Son will come again and will take us to Himself, that where He is we may be also (John 13 & 14).

Prayer is a special exercise of faith. Faith makes the prayer acceptable because it believes that either the prayer will be answered, or that something better will be given instead. ~Martin Luther

Author of Life,

All thanks and praise belong to You for showing us the way to Yourself, which is through Jesus alone. Blessed be Your glorious name for revealing Christ to us as the way, and the truth, and the life. May we grow to know Him, which is to know You, His Father. We ask this only in Your Son’s name, that You may be glorified in Him.

Create within us deeper love for Christ, and let this love constrain us to keep His commandments. Thank You for giving us another Helper to be with us forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. Let us sing praise to You, for Your Spirit dwells in us.

We thank You that we need not despair, for Christ has not left us as orphans; He will come to us. May we love Him and keep His words. And by Your Holy Spirit, teach us all things and bring to our remembrance all that Christ has spoken. Grant His peace to us. Amen (John 14).

Sovereign Vinedresser,

Let not our hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Remind us that Christ is mighty to save, and You will not leave us or forsake us. Help us to do as You have commanded us, so that the world may know that we love You.

Please make us a branch that bears fruit because we abide in the vine, which is Christ. Prune us, that we may bear more fruit. Keep us abiding in Christ and may He abide in us, so that we bear much fruit, for apart from Christ we can do nothing. And may His words abide in us.

Glorify Yourself by making us bear much fruit, and so proving us to be Christ’s disciples. May we abide in His love, for as You have loved Him, so has He loved us. Cause us to keep His commandments, for then we will abide in His love, just as He abides in Your love by keeping Your commandments.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen (John 14 & 15).

Humbly I asked of God to give me joy,

To crown my life with blossoms of delight;

I pled for happiness without alloy,

Desiring that my pathway should be bright;

Prayerfully I sought these blessings to attain, —

And now I thank him that he gave me pain….

For with the pain and sorrow came to me

A dower of tenderness in act and thought;

And with the failure came a sympathy,

An insight that success had never bought.

Father, I had been foolish and unblest

If thou had granted me my blind request!

~L. M. Montgomery

Everlasting God,

Thank You for choosing us and appointing us that we should go and bear fruit and that our fruit should abide. We praise You for calling us friends.

Fill us with love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. And if the world hates us, remind us that it hated Christ before it hated us. Prepare us to expect the world’s hatred, for You chose us out of the world and we are no longer of the world. Help us to remember the word spoken by Christ: “A servant is not greater than his master,” so that we will not be surprised or lose heart when persecution comes.

Let us persevere in bearing witness about Your glorious Son, and enable us to do so by Your wonderful Helper, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from You. In the midst of persecution, keep us from falling away. May our hearts not falter in unbelief (John 15).

Magnificent Father,

Now that Your Spirit of truth has come, let Him guide us into all the truth. May He glorify the Son by taking what is Christ’s and declaring it to us. When we are sorrowful, turn our sorrow into joy. Fill us with hope that we will see Christ again soon, and then our hearts will rejoice and no one will take our joy from us. Give us confidence to ask of You in the name of Christ, for then we will receive, that our joy may be full. Imbue our souls with joy in Jesus. Cause us to listen to His words, that in Him we may have peace.

Thank You that, although we will have tribulation in the world, Christ has overcome the world, and we can take heart. Grant us to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, for that is eternal life. Enable us to glorify You and accomplish the work that You have given us to do. Holy Father, keep us in Your name, that we may be one, even as You and Christ are one. Guard us so that we may never be lost. Open our ears to the words spoken by Your Son that we may have His joy fulfilled in ourselves. Thank You for giving us Your word through Christ! Amen (John 16 & 17).

O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer!

~Joseph Scriven

God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Praise be to Your name because You have blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as You chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before You. Please continue to sanctify us by the love with which You predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of Your will, to the praise of Your glorious grace, with which You have blessed us in the Beloved. Worthy is He! Let His name be exalted, for in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of Your grace, which You lavished on us, in all wisdom and insight.

We praise You that in Christ we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to Your purpose. Thank You that You work all things according to the counsel of Your will, so that we who hope in Christ might be to the praise of Your glory.

Father, remind us of our former state as children of wrath by nature, like the rest of mankind, when we were dead in our trespasses and sins. Remind us of this so that we will rejoice afresh that You, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which You loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive with Christ and saved us by grace. Continue showing us the immeasurable riches of Your grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Amen (Ephesians 1 & 2).

Mighty God,

Thank You for saving us by grace, so that we cannot boast as if it were our own doing, for our salvation is a gift of You and not a result of works. We praise Your name, for we are Your workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. Therefore, help us to walk in the good works which You have prepared beforehand for us.

Remind us that we were at one time separated from Christ, having no hope and without God in the world. Remind us, so that we may rejoice that now in Christ Jesus we have been brought near by His blood. Fill us with the confidence that comes from knowing that Christ Himself is our peace—that He has reconciled us to You through the cross. Let us sing for joy because He has broken down the dividing wall of hostility.

In Christ please continue building us together into a dwelling place for Yourself by the Spirit. Amen (Ephesians 2).

No tongue can express, no mind can reach, the heavenly placidness and soul-satisfying delight which are intimated in these words [Eph 2:18]. To come to God as a Father, through Christ, by the help and assistance of the Holy Spirit, revealing him as a Father unto us, and enabling us to go to him as a Father, how full of sweetness and satisfaction is it! ~John Bunyan

God of revealed mystery,

Please grant us insight into the mystery of Christ by Your Spirit! Give us more and more depth of understanding of this marvelous mystery—that in Christ, through the gospel, we are fellow heirs with the commonwealth of Israel, members of His body, and partakers of the promise. By the working of Your power give us much grace to minister to those in need. Grant us more grace to love and spread the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for many what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in You who created all things. Through us make known Your manifold wisdom.

Empower us to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with others in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Keep enlarging our hearts and minds with the knowledge of Your Son, unto maturity, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may not be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine. Guard us from human cunning, from craftiness in deceitful schemes. Enable us to speak the truth in love, to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, and to work properly as members of His body, helping to build it up in love (Ephesians 2 & 3).

Forgiving God,

Prevent us from walking as the world does, in the futility of their minds. Do not let us live as those darkened in their understanding, hard of heart, callous, or greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

Instead, help us to put off our old selves, which are corrupt through deceitful desires. Renew us in the spirit of our minds, and empower us to put on the new self, created after Your likeness in true righteousness and holiness. Make us put away falsehood and speak the truth with our neighbors.

When we are angry keep us from sin; may the sun not go down on our anger. Let no corrupting talk come out of our mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And let us not grieve Your Holy Spirit, by whom we were sealed for the day of redemption. Put all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander away from us, along with all malice.

Grow us in kindness toward one another, make us tenderhearted, so that we may be always forgiving one another as You forgave us in Christ. Amen (Ephesians 4).

The first reason why prayer leads to fullness of joy is that prayer is the nerve center of our fellowship with Jesus. He is not here physically to see. But in prayer we speak to Him just as though He were. And in the stillness of those sacred times, we listen to His Word and we pour out to Him our longings. ~John Piper

Father of glory,

May we be imitators of You, as Your beloved children. Make us walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to You.

Keep us from any form or appearance of sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness. And let us guard our tongues, so that there might not be any filthiness or foolish talk or crude joking, which are out of place, but instead make us abound with thanksgiving.

Guide our feet to walk as children of light, and enable us to discern what is pleasing to You. Let us take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. Open our eyes to watch carefully how we walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, help us to understand what Your will is.

Fill us with Your Spirit so that we may address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to You with our whole heart, giving thanks always and for everything to You in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is in His name that we come to You with this plea for grace. Amen (Ephesians 5).

I do not understand prayer. Prayer is deeply personal and deeply mysterious. Adults try to figure out causation. Little children don’t. They just ask. ~Paul Miller

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

According to Your foreknowledge, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with His blood: please multiply grace and peace to us.

Let us bless You, for according to Your great mercy, You have caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us. Thank You that by Your power we are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Let us rejoice in this. May we rejoice even when it is necessary that we be grieved for a little while by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of our faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though we have not seen Him, let us love Him all the more. Though we do not now see Him, we praise You that we believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls (I Peter 1).

Prayer does not fit us for the greater work,
prayer is the greater work. ~Oswald Chambers

Father of our living hope,

O that You would assist us to prepare our minds for action, and to be soberminded. Let us set our hope fully on the grace that will be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, may we not be conformed to the passions of our former ignorance. Instead, as You who called us are holy, make us holy in all our conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And since You are our Father who judges impartially according to our deeds, cause us to conduct ourselves with fear throughout the time of our exile on this earth, knowing that we were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from our forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

We praise You that Christ was made manifest in the last times for our sake, for through Him we believe in You, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that our faith and hope are in You.

Enable us to purify our souls by our obedience to the truth for a sincere love, so that we may love others earnestly from a pure heart, since we have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through Your living and abiding word. Praise be to Your name! For this word is the good news that was preached to us. Amen (I Peter 1).

Eternal LORD,

By Your mighty Spirit enable us to put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Make us long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it we may grow up to salvation—since indeed we have tasted that You are good.

Thank You that as we come to Christ, a living stone rejected by men but in Your sight chosen and precious, we are being built up like living stones into a spiritual house to be part of a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to You through Jesus Christ.

We praise You that we are Your chosen race, Your royal priesthood, Your holy nation, and a people for Your own possession. And because we are, let us proclaim Your excellencies, for You are the God who has called us out of darkness into Your marvelous light. Thank You that although we once were not a people, now we are Your people; once we had not received mercy, but now we have received mercy.

As sojourners and exiles, may we abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against our souls. Keep our conduct honorable, so that when others speak against us as evildoers, they may see our good deeds and glorify You on the day of visitation (I Peter 2).

To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world. ~Karl Barth

Lord of unbounded mercy,

Help us to live as those who are free, not using our freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as Your bondservants. Let us honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear You, and honor the governing authorities.

Grant us the grace to endure sorrows while suffering unjustly, being mindful of You. For if we endure when we do good and suffer for it, this is a gracious thing in Your sight.

For to this we have been called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving an example, so that we might follow in His steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth.

O God, make us like Him, so that when we are reviled, we will not revile in return. When we suffer, let us not threaten, but continue entrusting ourselves to You who judge justly. Thank You that we have a perfect example in Christ Jesus. He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. May He be exalted! For by His wounds we have been healed. Thank You, that even though we were straying like sheep, now we have returned to You, the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. Amen (I Peter 2).

Everyone talks now about how prayer is relationship, but often what people mean is having warm fuzzies with God. Nothing wrong with warm fuzzies, but relationships are far richer and more complex. ~Paul Miller

You who have called us to Your eternal glory in Christ,

Do not let us repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, may we bless, for to this we were called, that we may obtain a blessing. We desire to love life and see good days, therefore keep our tongues from evil and our lips from speaking deceit; let us turn away from evil and do good; let us seek peace and pursue it. For Your eyes are on the righteous, and Your ears are open to their prayer. But Your face is against those who do evil.

Thank You that even if we should suffer for righteousness’ sake, we will be blessed. Therefore, let us rejoice, and have no fear of man, nor be troubled. May we regard Christ the Lord as holy in our hearts, and always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks us for a reason for the hope that is in us. Let us do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when we are slandered, those who revile our good behavior in Christ may be put to shame (I Peter 3).

God delights in the aroma of his own glory
as he smells it in the prayers of his people. ~John Piper

God of all grace,

If we are insulted for the name of Christ, let us take comfort in the truth that we are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon us. If we suffer as Christians, let us not be ashamed, but let us glorify You in that name. Indeed, when we suffer according to Your will, let us entrust our souls to You, our faithful Creator, while doing good.

Let us not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon us to test us, as though something strange were happening to us. But make us rejoice insofar as we share Christ’s sufferings, that we may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.

Father, help us to lead and guide others whom You have entrusted to us, not under compulsion, but eagerly and joyfully, as You would have us; not domineering over them, but being an example. Please clothe us with humility toward others, for You oppose the proud but give grace to the humble. Humble us, therefore, under Your mighty hand so that at the proper time You may exalt us. We cast our anxieties on You, because You care for us. Make us soberminded. May we be watchful. Enable us to resist our adversary the devil firm in our faith, and remind us that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by our brotherhood throughout the world. And when we have suffered a little while, restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us. To You be the dominion forever and ever. Amen (I Peter 4 & 5).

Compassionate Father,

May grace and peace be multiplied to us in the knowledge of You and of Jesus our Lord. Thank You that Your divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of You who called us to Your own glory and excellence, by which You have granted to us Your precious and very great promises, so that through them we may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Because of this great blessing, help us to make every effort to supplement our faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. Please make these qualities increase in us, to keep us from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. May we never be so nearsighted as to be blind, forgetting that we were cleansed from our former sins. Therefore, assist us to be all the more diligent to make our calling and election sure, for if we practice these qualities we will never fall. Please uphold us! And richly provide for us an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Hasten the coming of His kingdom, we pray. Amen (II Peter 1).

Prayer is the power that wields the weapon of the Word; but the Word itself is the weapon by which the nations will be brought to faith and obedience. ~John Piper

Faithful King,

Make us people who live lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn. While we wait for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells, let us be diligent to be found by You without spot or blemish, and at peace.

Protect us from false teachers that will rise up and secretly bring destructive heresies. Let us not be found among the many who will follow their sensuality and blaspheme the way of truth. Keep us far from the way of the unrighteous, who speak loud boasts of folly and are slaves to corruption. May it never be that after we have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we are again entangled in them and overcome! Guard us from such a fate, for our last state would become worse for us than the first.

Therefore, help us to take care that we are not carried away with the error of lawless people and so lose our own stability. But cause us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To You be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen (II Peter 2 & 3).

Father,

Let whatever happens to us serve to advance the gospel, so that even our suffering and imprisonment may magnify Christ. May our lives be a source of confidence for others in You, that makes them much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Keep us from proclaiming Christ out of envy or rivalry, and instead let us do so from good will and out of love. More than that, let us rejoice in Christ, and in His truth proclaimed. And help us to continue stirring up one another for our progress and joy in the faith.

Please let our manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that we may stand firm in one spirit, with one mind striving for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by our opponents. Thank you that it has been granted to us that for the sake of Christ we should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake.

Fill us with the joy of being of the same mind with one another, having the same love, and being in full accord. Keep us from doing anything from rivalry or conceit, but let us in humility count others more significant than ourselves. Let us look not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others, having the very mind of Christ. Amen (Philippians 1 & 2).

True theology is warm, and it steams upward into prayer. ~P.T. Forsyth

Highly exalted God,

Please grow us into people who do all things without grumbling or questioning, that we may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. Let us shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ we may be proud that we did not pray in vain or find encouragement in vain. Enable us to rejoice and be glad to suffer for the sake of others—even to pour out our lives as drink offerings upon the sacrificial offering of our faith. Likewise let us also be glad and rejoice to endure hardship for the name of Christ. Make us genuinely concerned for the welfare of others, seeking not our own interests but those of Jesus Christ.

Help us to look out for the dogs, for the evildoers, and for those who put confidence in their works. Help us to remain steadfast in worship by Your Spirit, glorying in Christ Jesus, and putting no confidence in the flesh. More than anything, strengthen us to forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead, and press on toward the goal for the prize of Your upward call in Christ Jesus. Let us also hold true to what we have attained. Amen (Philippians 2 & 3).

Great Savior,

Thank you that our citizenship is in heaven! Therefore let us not set our minds on earthly things, but instead await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself. Therefore, may we stand firm in Him and rejoice in Him always.

Teach us how to be content in every situation. Help us to know how to be brought low, and how to abound. In any and every circumstance show us the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. Strengthen us to do all things through You. Please supply every need of ours according to Your riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To You, our God and Father, be glory forever and ever! May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with our spirits. Amen (Philippians 3 & 4).

When you encounter trial and suffering, what’s the content of your prayer? If yours is primarily a plea for relief from suffering, then please know that this is biblical. It’s certainly not unbiblical. We’re encouraged by God in Scripture to pray for relief from suffering. But this should never be the exclusive focus of our prayers in those times.  ~C.J. Mahaney

Sovereign Yahweh of Zion,

Let us sing aloud and shout! May we rejoice and exult with all our hearts as children of Jerusalem. For You have taken away the judgments against us because of Christ. You have cleared away our enemies—death, sin, and Satan. Let us never again fear evil, for You—the King of Israel, Yahweh—are near us. May we not fear, and let not our hands grow weak.

We thank You that You, the mighty one who will save, are with us; You rejoice over us with gladness; You quiet us by Your love; You exult over us with loud singing.

When we mourn, please gather us and bring us to Your festival, so that we will no longer suffer reproach. Deal with all our oppressors. Change our shame into praise and renown in all the earth. Restore our fortunes so that You will be renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth (Zephaniah 3).

Restraining pray’r, we cease to fight;
Pray’r makes the Christian’s armour bright.
~William Cowper

God our Savior,

Thank You for Christ Jesus our hope. Watch over us and guard us from those who teach any different doctrine, or devote themselves to myths, who promote speculations rather than the good order from You that is by faith. And as you protect us, fill us with the love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Let us not swerve from these, or wander away into vain discussion.

We thank You, Christ Jesus our Lord, for giving us strength, and because You judged us faithful, appointing us to Your service, though formerly we were so unworthy. Thank You that we have received mercy from You, and that Your grace has overflowed for us with the faith and love that are in You.

We praise You, Father, for showing us mercy, so that in us Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who are to believe in Him for eternal life.

To You, the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen (I Timothy 1).

There is nothing so abnormal, so unworldly, so supernatural in human life as prayer…. The whole Christian life insofar as it is lived from the Cross and by the Cross is rationally an extravagance. ~P.T. Forsyth

Mighty LORD,

We entrust ourselves entirely to Your charge and care, in accordance with Your grace in Christ Jesus toward us. By Your power may we wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. Let us never make shipwreck of our faith!

Protect us from those who depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons. Let us have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train us for godliness, for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

May we toil and strive to this end, because we have our hope set on You, the living God (I Timothy 1, 2, 4).

If we do not abide in prayer,
we shall abide in cursed temptations. ~John Owen

Savior of the weak,

Let us set an example for believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Make us find full delight in the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness. And keep us from an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words. Let us instead pursue godliness with contentment, for therein there is great gain.

May we be content that we have food and clothing, and let us not desire to be rich, for those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. Guard us from craving riches! For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Keep us from the fate of those who, through this craving, have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Let our love and craving be for Christ (I Timothy 4 & 6).

As for my heart, when I go to pray, I find it so loath to go to God; and when it is with him, so loath to stay with him, that many times I am forced in my prayers; first to beg God that he would take my heart, and set it on himself in Christ, and when it is there, that he would keep it there (Psalm 86.11). ~John Bunyan

Father of glory,

Let us flee from the desire to be rich and the love of money. Help and enable us to pursue with renewed vigor righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness. Strengthen us to fight the good fight of the faith, and to take hold of the eternal life to which we were called.

Please keep our conduct unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, which You will display at the proper time—You who are the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see, who gives life to all things. To You, O God, be honor and eternal dominion!

If You bless us with plenty, let us never become haughty or set our hopes on the uncertainty of riches. Rather cause us to set our hopes on You—the One who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. Help us to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for ourselves as a good foundation for the future so that we may take hold of that which is truly life (I Timothy 6).

God and Father,

May grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied to us. Please grow our faith in sincerity. Fan into flame the gifts You have given us, and remind us that You gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Therefore, let us not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, but cause us to rejoice to share in suffering for the gospel. For You are the one who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of Your own purpose and grace, which You gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. Thank You that He is our Savior, even He who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Let us not be ashamed to suffer for this gospel, for we know whom we have believed. Convince us that You are able to guard what has been entrusted to us until the day of Christ’s return.

Help us to follow the pattern of the sound words that we have heard from the Scriptures, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, may we guard the good deposit entrusted to us (II Timothy 1).

It is not well for a man to pray cream and live skim milk. ~Henry Ward Beecher

Father in heaven,

Please strengthen us by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, so that we may be able to share in suffering as His good soldiers. May we constantly remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David. Let us rejoice to endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

We praise You that if we have died with Christ, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him. May we never deny Him, for then He also will deny us. Thank You that if we are faithless, He remains faithful—for He cannot deny Himself.

O God, remind us of these things. Compel us to do our best to present ourselves to You as those approved, workers who have no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. May we avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Thank You that Your firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity” (II Timothy 2).

Were it not for the Spirit, none would be able to persevere in prayer. ‘A man without the help of the Spirit’, John Bunyan once declared, ‘cannot so much as pray once; much less, continue…in a sweet praying frame.’ It needs to be noted that, for all who persevere in this struggle and discipline of prayer, there are times of exquisite delight when the struggle, and duty slides over into pure joy. ~Michael A. G. Haykin

Holy Master,

Let us cleanse ourselves from what is dishonorable so that we may be vessels for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to You, ready for every good work. Make us flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. May we have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies, since they breed quarrels. Let us not be quarrelsome, but instead may we be kind to everyone.

Help us to patiently endure evil. Protect us from those who are lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of You, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Help us to avoid such people.

Enable us to lead righteously in our teaching, our conduct, our aim in life, our faith, our patience, our love, our steadfastness, and our persecutions and sufferings.

Remind us that all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for us, may we continue in what we have learned and have firmly believed, becoming more and more acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. May what You have breathed out teach us, reprove us, correct us, and train us in righteousness, that we may be competent, equipped for every good work (II Timothy 2 & 3).

God and Father of Christ Jesus,

Who is to judge the living and the dead, may we delight in and spread Your word all the more. Make us ready to bear witness to Christ’s appearing and His kingdom in season and out of season. Let us reprove, rebuke, and exhort our brothers in Christ with complete patience and teaching.

Guard us from becoming people who will not endure sound teaching, who, having itching ears, accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. May it never be! Instead, keep us always sober-minded. Enable us to endure suffering, to do the work of an evangelist, and to fulfill the ministry to which You have called us.

Please strengthen us to fight the good fight. Carry us onward to finish the race. Keep us so that we might keep the faith. Make our hearts love Christ’s appearing all the more, so that there may be laid up for us the crown of righteousness, which He, the righteous judge, will award to us on that Day.

May Christ Jesus and His grace be with our spirits. Amen (II Timothy 4).

May God give us a heart and a will to make prayer, prayer for the exaltation of God and extension of the kingdom, a daily reality in our lives. ~Michael A. G. Haykin

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Montgomery, L.M. The Story Girl

Mueller, George. Autobiography of George Mueller

Murray, Ian. Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography

Owen, John. The Glory of Christ

Packer, J.I. Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God

Piper, John, and Justin Taylor. A God Entranced Vision of All Things

Piper, John. A Hunger for God: Desiring God Through Fasting and Prayer

Piper, John. Pierced by the Word

Piper, John. The Pleasures of God

Piper, John. The Roots of Endurance

Piper, John. What Jesus Demands from the World

Spurgeon, Charles. Lectures to My Students

Torrey, R.A. How to Pray

Tozer, A. W. God Tells the Man Who Cares

Ware, Bruce. God’s Greater Glory

Whitney, Donald. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life

Whyte, Alexander. Lord Teach Us to Pray

For Further Reading on the Subject of Prayer

1. Bennett, Arthur. The Valley of Vision: Puritan Prayers and Devotions

2. Beeke, Joel. Taking Hold of God: Reformed and Puritan Perspectives on Prayer

3. Calvin, John. The Institutes of Christian Religion (Book 3)

4. Johnstone, Patrick, Operation World: A day-to-day guide to praying for the world

5. Keller, Timothy. Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God

6. Miller, Paul. A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World

7. Piper, John. Desiring God (Chapter 6)

8. Piper, John. When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy

9. Whitney, Donald. Praying the Bible

About the Author

Andrew Case grew up on the mission field in Oaxaca, Mexico, and is a graduate of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Canada Institute of Linguistics. He and his wife Bethany serve in Bible translation and training, helping make the Bible available in different languages of Mexico and Equatorial Guinea, and teaching Hebrew to the world over at freehebrew.online. Andrew’s fiction and nonfiction writing, along with the music he creates can be found on his website hismagnificence.com. His podcast on Bible translation is called Working for the Word. Visit workingfortheword.com to find out more.

Also Available from Andrew Case

• Water of the Word: Intercession for Her

• Setting Their Hope in GOD: Biblical Intercession for Your Children   

• Prayers of an Excellent Wife

• Praying the Light

• Cristina of Aspen Aisle

• Evangeline of Sky Valley

• Pronouncing and Translating the Divine name

• The Story of the Septuagint