Some Thoughts on Prayer from a Stranger
Posted by Matt Postiff April 30, 2014 on Matt Postiff's Blog under General
A couple of weeks back, while I was taking a group from our church to the Creation Museum, we stopped for dinner at a restaurant in Lima, Ohio. Members of our group got into a conversation with a businessman there who was a Presbyterian. He has a ministry of encouraging people to pray. He handed me a laminated card that had these two lists on it:
We Are to Pray For
- Ourselves - for cleansing from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9) and for wisdom from God (James 1:5)
- Our spiritual leaders - open to them a door for the word to speak the mystery of Christ (Col. 4:3)
- The believers who are sick - save and raise them (James 5:15)
- Our rulers - all in authority to come to knowledge and truth (1 Timothy 2:2 and 4)
- Our enemies - help us to love them and do good to them (Matthew 5:44)
Rules for Prayer
- In praying we must be reverently single minded with a purity worthy of God as we contemplate God.
- We must be aware of our insufficiency and whether prayer be free or liturgical it must never be casual or perfunctory.
- Humbled through awareness of our residual depravity, we must give glory to God alone.
- Pray with confidence while laying before God or predicament and its perplexity and horror and expectantly look for God to extend his helping hand.
To be sure, this is not a comprehensive theology of prayer. It is a good reminder nonetheless. I have no idea if it comes originally from another source, but I was thankful to meet someone else out there who is not ashamed to name the name of our great God and speak of honoring Him in prayer!
