Prayer is supposed to be a big part of our role as pastors (see Acts 6:4). So here are some good posts related to prayer:
9 Reasons Why Church Leaders Struggle With Prayer – Thom Rainer
13 Thoughts about Pastoral Prayers – pastors.com
Some Practical Help for Leading a Prayer Meeting – Erik Raymond
Pastors, Ask for Prayer – Kevin DeYoung
Each week, I put a prayer quote in my church’s bulletin to encourage us to think about prayer AND PRAY. Here are the quotes for this past Sunday, as well as the Sundays in August when I wasn’t blogging:
God has given us prayer because Jesus has given us a mission.
– John Piper
Prayer is designed to extend the kingdom into fruitless enemy territory.
– John Piper
He who loves little prays little, and he who loves much prays much.
– Augustine
The best prayers have more often groans than words.
– John Bunyan
We must not talk about prayer, we must pray.
– Andrew Bonar
Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:
8 Reasons to Read Christian Biographies – Paul Tautges
Whether it is the lives of the Puritans, leaders of the Reformation, or faithful believers who lived nearer to our own day, the story of another Christian’s life often lifts our eyes from our own ministries and circumstances to see something bigger.
On Not Losing the Gospel in the Next Generation – Don Carson (via Justin Taylor)
The Church of Earnest Prayer – Kevin DeYoung
Our prayer is often dull because there is so little earnestness in it. We pray as if no one is listening. We pray as if nothing will happen. We pray as if nothing were at stake. We pray without vim or vigor, without passion, without purpose. We pray to pass the time not to pull down blessings from heaven.
Why Should You Go to a Prayer Meeting? – Erik Raymond
Sometimes we forget that prayer is a privilege. And it is not a cheap privilege. When we pray we are communing with the God of the universe, the originator and sustainer of all life. Further, we are talking to our Father. He is more than a cosmic superintendent he is our caring Savior. This family relationship, this access was purchased with the highest price, the royal currency of Christ’s blood. Don’t allow yourself to crowd out privilege with inconvenience.
Why Going to Church on Sunday Is an Act of War – Daniel Darling
When your weary legs rise for another verse of the chorus and you offer praise to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, you are saying, in effect, that the reigning prince of the power of the air, Satan (Ephesians 2:2) is really not the King He thinks he is. There is another King, another Kingdom and it’s coming one day in it’s fullness and power. When you gather with your fellow believers and worship Christ, you are saying to the rest of the world that man is not ultimate. You are saying that the great movements of this world may have some power, but ultimately they are part of God’s gathering of history to Himself and for His kingdom. When you worship the risen Christ every Sunday at your church, you are telling the world that in your life, for this moment, Christ is ultimate. He is to be worshipped above all else. You’re making a statement that there is Someone deserving of more adulation and worship than the lesser things to which we pledge allegiance. You’re inviting them to ask you, “Why do you think the Kingdom of God is better than the Kingdom of man? What is it about Christ that gets you to roll out of bed, get dressed, get your family dressed, hop in the car, and go to church every single Sunday?
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day!
Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:
The Secular Salvation Story – Kevin DeYoung
The secular salvation story is a derivative and deviant version of the older Christian narrative. It tells the story of self, authenticity, and acceptance.
The Curious Incident of Modern Evangelism – Justin Taylor
When Christians meet, they talk to each other about their Christian work and Christian interests, their Christian acquaintances, the state of the churches, and the problems of theology — but rarely of their daily experience of God. (J. I. Packer)
What Do You Do When the Word Leaves You Cold – David Murray
We remember the impact sermons made on us in the past – deep impressions, piercing convictions, powerful drawings – but now we feel like cold lifeless statues as we listen to the same preachers preaching similar sermons. What’s gone wrong?
Prayerlessness Is Selfishness – Tim Challies
If I believe that prayer works, if I believe that prayer is a means through which the Lord acts, if I believe that God chooses to work through prayer in powerful ways and in ways he may not work without prayer, then it is selfish of me not to pray. To pray is to love; not to pray is to be complacent, to be unloving, to be selfish.
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day in the Word, in prayer, and in fellowship with God and your local church!
Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:
Renew Within Me a Spirit of Holiness – Ambrose of Milan (via Trevin Wax)
As you look upon the wretched creature that I am,
I ask that your eyes be filled with compassion and forgiveness.
And as I sit at your table,
I beg you to renew within me a spirit of holiness.
7 Directives for Meditating on Scripture – Joel Beeke and Terry Slachter (via Paul Tautges)
#5: Stir up affections such as love, desire, hope, zeal, and joy to glorify God. Preach the truth to your own soul (Ps 42:5; 103:1).
What Shames Us – Tim Challies
The challenge for each one of us who desires to be godly is not only to identify the sin in our lives, but to identify the better and holier trait. And this, this fruit of the Spirit, this evidence of God’s grace, is what we aim for in our desires, in our prayers, in our labors.
Waiting, Wasting, Wandering – Kevin DeYoung
Can you believe that God has something good in store for you? Will you trust that someday when you see your beginning and middle with the ending in view that it will all make sense? Can you hope against hope that God has not forgotten you, that his promises are true, and that he is up to something? He was for Abraham and Joseph and Moses. Why not you too?
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day with your local church!
Here are some good posts on afflictions and prayer:
Eight Helps for Coping with Affliction – Arthur Hildersham (via Joel Beeke)Acquaint yourself thoroughly with the Scriptures, for they prepare people for affliction, and teach us patience and comfort in affliction, like no other book can.
Leading Our Emotions: Depression – Chris Brauns
Only Christ satisfies the needs of our soul (though we often idolize other things such as children and believe they will satisfy). Does the use of your time indicate that you believe only Christ will satisfy the thirst of your soul?
Spiritual Depression: A Strategy for Defeating It – Chris Brauns
A central strategy in the battle depression must be to turn from a private focus on self, to a corporate worship of Christ.
You Asked: Can I Pray to Jesus? – Graham Cole (via Gospel Coalition)
So can you pray to Jesus? Of course you can. But let me suggest if this is the predominant way we pray we may lose something of enormous importance. We may lose sight of the glorious gospel with the Father as the architect of our salvation, the Son as the achiever, and the Spirit as the applier.
To Hell with the Devil and His Destructive Lies – John Piper (via Justin Taylor)
I hate the devil, and the way he is killing some of you by persuading you it is legalistic to be as regular in your prayers as you are in your eating and sleeping and Internet use. Do you not see what a sucker he his making out of you? He is laughing up his sleeve at how easy it is to deceive Christians about the importance of prayer.
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day celebrating our great Savior!
Here are some good posts to help you pray and continue to ponder thanksgiving:
Let My First Thought Today Be of You – John Baillie (via Trevin Wax)
Eternal Father of my soul,
let my first thought today be of You,
let my first impulse be to worship You…
A Prayer for Overflowing with Thanksgiving – Scotty Smith
Dear Lord Jesus, I want to be a man who gives you the quality and quantity of thanks of which you are so absolutely worthy. Not like a slow drip, a babbling brook, or a meandering stream, but like a geyser—a gospel geyser—spontaneously erupting with gratitude any and every moment. I want to overflow with thankfulness…
Entitlement and Thanksgiving – Thom Rainer
If I feel entitled, I complain to God about why He is treating me so unfairly.
If I am thankful, I know that I deserve nothing good, that all gifts are an act of grace.
A Prayer for our President – Kevin DeYoung
Grant him wisdom, courage, and integrity as a man and as a leader.
Keep him faithful, kind, and loving as a husband and father…
Pray For Your Pastor – Tim Challies
Pastors see the reality of the spiritual battle they face and they long for prayers—your prayers…
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshiping the Lord with His people!
Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:
In Evil Long I Took Delight – John Newton (via Trevin Wax)
In evil long I took delight, Unawed by shame or fear,
Till a new object struck my sight, And stopped my wild career.
I saw One hanging on a tree, In agonies and blood,
Who fixed His languid eyes on me, As near His cross I stood…
Why Are You Afraid of Humility? – Chrysostom (via Trevin Wax)
Before he humbled himself, only the angels knew him.
After he humbled himself, all human nature knew him.
Free Me From My Need To Exalt Myself – Prayers For Today (via Trevin Wax)
Lord, free me from my need to exalt myself.
Where I am prone to seek things for myself,
help me to seek the best things for You and others…
John Calvin’s 4 Rules of Prayer – Joel Beeke (via Ligonier)
For John Calvin, prayer cannot be accomplished without discipline. He writes, “Unless we fix certain hours in the day for prayer, it easily slips from our memory.” He goes on to prescribe several rules to guide believers in offering effectual, fervent prayer…
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day humbly worshiping our great Savior!
Here are some good posts on the Word and prayer for your weekend reading:
How to Listen to a Sermon – Phil Ryken (via reformation 21)
So what is the right way to listen to a sermon? With a soul that is prepared, a mind that is alert, a Bible that is open, a heart that is receptive, and a life that is ready to spring into action.
A Smorgasbord of Bible Memorization Methods – Jean Williams (Matthias Media)
Every Bible memorization method has one or more of the three Rs at its heart: Repeat, Recall, Review. Repeat a passage over and over until you’re familiar with it; practise recalling it until it’s worn a path in your memory; then review it so you don’t lose it. But there are different ways to do these three things, and not all of them will suit you.
Does Your Church Pray Together? – Sinclair Ferguson quoted by Justin Taylor
I greatly wish that our churches would learn to keep the main things central, that we would learn to be true Churches, vibrant fellowships of prayer, Gospel ministry and teaching, genuine mutual love.
31 Petitions to the Lord on the Occasion of my 31st Birthday – Trevin Wax
My knowledge of You as a loving Father is what compels me to come before You, to ask You, plead with You, beg of You: Accomplish these 31 things in the years to come….
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshipping the Lord as you sit under His Word and come before His throne.
Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:
How To Watch the Olympic Games – David Mathis (via Desiring God)
Why would the Christian Scriptures mention the games? To help us upgrade our two weeks of Olympic watching by opening our eyes to what they have to say about God, the gospel, and the Christian life.
You might also be interested in this interview video of Olympian Gabby Douglas at Valley Church in Des Moines. (via Chris Brauns)
And then, how do we deal with conflict? Here is a helpful trilogy of posts:
3 Ways We Must Handle Conflict, Conflict: When Desires Become Demands,
Conflict: Recognize, Repent, Refocus, Replace – Robert D. Jones (via Crossway)
While my initial desire might be legitimate, it becomes sinful when it grows into a demand. And when it becomes a demand and you don’t meet it—and of course you can never meet every demand of my selfish heart—I then judge you in my heart and condemn you. In the final step, my internal judgment produces some outward expression of punishment toward you. I might yell at you, speak sarcastically about you, gossip about you, or avoid you.
Prayerlessness – Nancy Leigh DeMoss (via Tim Challies)
As God opened my eyes to this matter of prayerlessness, I asked Him to let me see it from His point of view. Here is what I wrote in my journal one day when God first began to deal with my heart. Convicting stuff!
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day!
Brian J. Mikul 