Prayer Tip: In this election year – What do We Pray?

Voters are very discouraged by our political choices this fall. I think our nation deserves God’s wrath for legalizing the killing of unborn children and trying to remove any mention of God from the public square. Could our current choices be God giving us what we’ve asked?

I believe the greatest impact we can have on our nation and present circumstances is through prayer. Using the Bible as a prayer book, what am I to pray for myself, others, and our nation?  Are there some scriptural guidelines for requests?

Here are some suggestions to launch your own search:

What is God’s will in the situation I/we are in and the needs I/we have?  I can actually start by asking Him what His will is for this need and what I should pray.

I John 5:14,15 And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.

Ask God to give specific scriptures to pray and then journal what He says through Quiet Times and other ways.

What would bring God the most glory?

Matt. 6:33  But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.

Another approach to understanding what I should pray might be to think of what would make my joy really full and complete in this situation.   He wants me to be joy- full, just as He is.

John 16:24   Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.

If you’ll let me know some of the answers you hear from God, I’ll try to share them as an encouragement to others.

NEXT WEEK, I’ll share some of what I think God is saying to me/us. Also check out http://prayasone.nationbuilder.com/prayer_guides for a couple of prayer guides to help you pray effectively over the next 40 days leading up to our national election.

For more information on the Grace Bible Church Prayer Team, visit begrace.org/prayer.
For more information about Grace Bible Church, visit begrace.org.

Prayer Tip: Praying for Groups of People

When you think of the needs of the people you personally know or associate with, are you overwhelmed?  And then to remember that God has the whole world on His heart and we hear about our brothers and sisters in Christ being persecuted and destitute, being driven from their homes and having tremendous need and then to think of the nations of the world and the lost and oppressed and starving and helpless and enslaved…

What can one person like you or me do about all of that?  The flesh wants to run and hide in denial, “I just don’t want to know or think about it.”

Even our prayers can seem so puny and ineffective.  “But we live by faith and not by sight.” II Cor. 5:7  “The effectual, fervent prayer of a (solitary) righteous man accomplishes much.  James 5:16

God has instructed us to keep on praying.

Ephesians 6:18  …be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

I Timothy 2:1  I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—

Obviously we will not be able to pray ‘for everyone’ by name but we can pray for groups/categories of people.  We can have broad impact by engaging in this broad praying while not neglecting pointed praying for specific people.

We will never know (until we get to heaven) the full impact of our prayers.

KEEP ON BELIEVING God for big things.

For more information on the Grace Bible Church Prayer Team, visit begrace.org/prayer.
For more information about Grace Bible Church, visit begrace.org.

Prayer Tip: ‘Giving’ and ‘Give me’ Praying

“The greatest thing anyone can do for God and man is to pray.”  S.D. Gordon

Too often we think of prayer as “the least I can do.”

“Prayer for others is a form of giving, and praying for God’s best in our lives is part of giving ourselves to Him.  As we form the habit of ‘giving’ prayers, we start growing out of our natural tendency to major on ‘give me’ prayers.”  Ruth Myers

What a privilege to be a part of God’s greater purposes for all of creation and people everywhere.  Our model for how to pray, the Lord’s Prayer, has seven requests; six relate to God’s purposes and our spiritual needs, and one to our practical needs.

Do you feel like your world is really small and not very significant?  Pray!  Pray for the nations right in your own community.  Pray for the nations around the world.  Pray for our missionaries and others who are advancing the gospel around the world.

Never give up.  Gal. 6:9  Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.

While all kinds of prayers delight God, let’s be generous this week with ‘giving’ prayer.

For more information on the Grace Bible Church Prayer Team, visit begrace.org/prayer.
For more information about Grace Bible Church, visit begrace.org.