Archives - Redeeming God

In the middle of this series on prayer, I thought I would lighten things up a bit by posting a funny video.

I love this video, because if you don’t listen to the words, it sounds like a nice, happy-go-lucky, song about praying for other people.

Well, he is praying, but not for anything good. So the next time someone says, “I’ll pray for you” it might be good to stop and think about what they will be praying for.

I wish he wouldn’t have used a Voodoo website for the video, since I think that many of us Christians pray bad things on people we don’t like without resorting to Voodoo, but whatever…. Enjoy the video!

How can I see more answers to prayer?

By Jeremy Myers

14 Comments

In a previous post, we have seen that work and prayer are both ways of accomplishing God’s will in the world.

This close connection between work and prayer as means of accomplishing God’s will in the world helps give us direction for how to see answers to our prayers, and how to go about accomplishing God’s will in this world.

Sometimes I think we confuse work and prayer: We pray when we should be working, and we work when we should be praying. There have been times in Christian history when the church has focused more on work than prayer, but I think that for the past fifty years or so, the church has focused more on prayer than work.

And this brings us back to the subject of prayer meetings. It is far more popular in many churches to get together and pray about a need in the community than it is to get together and actually do something about a need in the community.

Though prayer is a form of work, we must not think that prayer is a substitute for work.

Yet this is often what gets implicitly taught in many of our church prayer meetings.

Making Needs Known

People come together and share prayer requests for the neighbor lady whose husband is in the hospital, for the coworker who just got laid off, for the homeless people to find work, and for more people to start showing up for church.

These are all valid issues and concerns, but I think that in addition to praying for these things and then waiting for God to answer, He might want us to go and be an answer to our own prayers. I think God sometimes makes needs known to us, not so that we can pray about it, but so that we can do something about it.

I once saw a comic strip where a guy was praying, and he said, “God, why aren’t you answering any of my prayers?” And God’s reply was, “I was about to ask you the same thing.” (I tried to find this comic strip, but was unable. Do you know where it is?)

Praying for needs is important, but one way God wants to answer our prayers is by us going out to be answers to our own prayers.

Sometimes we don’t see answers to prayer, not because God doesn’t care or doesn’t want to answer them, but because God is saying to us, “Answer your own prayer.”

God often lays needs upon our minds so that we can both pray and do something about these needs.

The Church Advances on It’s Knees?

People often say that the church advances on its knees. While prayer is a vital activity of the church, when God presents to us a need we can meet, I don’t think He is pleased when we simply present the need right back to Him in prayer.

To really see God at work in our lives and in our churches, we sometimes need to get off our knees and serve. We need to unfold our hands, and help. We need to open our eyes and look around for the needs that God wants us to see.

Do you want to pray like never before?

Do you what to talk to God like you talk to a friend? Do you want to see more answers to prayer?

If you have these (and other) questions about prayer, let me send you some teaching and instruction about prayer to your email inbox. You will receive one or two per week, absolutely free. Fill out the form below to get started.

Membership-become-a-member

Thanks for visiting this page ... but this page is for Discipleship Group members.

If you are already part of a Faith, Hope, or Love Discipleship Group,
Login here.

If you are part of the free "Grace" Discipleship group, you will need to
Upgrade your Membership to one of the paid groups.

If you are not part of any group, you may learn about the various groups and their benefits here:
Join Us Today.

Membership-become-a-member

How to get God to work in response to your prayers

By Jeremy Myers

9 Comments

Many people believe that prayer is unnecessary, because if God wants something done, He will do it whether we pray or not, and if something is not His will, it will not happen, even if we pray for it.

No one refutes this idea better than C. S. Lewis. He has written about prayer in numerous places. Three of his best works on prayer are “Work and Prayer” in God in the Dock, “The Efficacy of Prayer” in The World’s Last Night, and what he writes about prayer in his Letters to Malcolm.

Essentially, the argument of C. S. Lewis is this: Any responsibility in this world which God can pass on to human beings, He does pass on to human beings.

God prefers not to do something if a human can do it.

And God has provided two means by which we can accomplish these God-given tasks: work and prayer. And just as we view work as a way of getting things done in the world, we must begin to view prayer similarly.

Here is what Lewis writes in “Work and Prayer”:

You cannot be sure of a good harvest whatever you do to a field. But you can be sure that if you pull up one weed that one weed will no longer be there. You can be sure that if you drink more than a certain amount of alcohol you will ruin your health or that if you go on for a few centuries more wasting the resources of the planet on wars and luxuries you will shorten the life of the whole human race. The kind of causality we exercise by work is, so to speak, divinely guaranteed, and therefore ruthless. By it we are free to do ourselves as much harm as we please. But the kind which we exercise by prayer is not like that; God has left Himself discretionary power. Had He not done so, prayer would be an activity too dangerous for man and should have the horrible state of things envisaged by Juvenal: “Enormous prayers which Heaven in anger grants.”

Prayers are not always – in the crude, factual sense of the word – “granted”. This is not because prayer is a weaker kind of causality, but because it is a stronger kind. When it “works” at all it works unlimited by space and time. That is why God has retained a discretionary power of granting or refusing it; except on that condition prayer would destroy us.

Read the whole on Prayer by C. S. Lewis here.

Do you want to pray like never before?

Do you what to talk to God like you talk to a friend? Do you want to see more answers to prayer?

Membership-become-a-member

Thanks for visiting this page ... but this page is for Discipleship Group members.

If you are already part of a Faith, Hope, or Love Discipleship Group,
Login here.

If you are part of the free "Grace" Discipleship group, you will need to
Upgrade your Membership to one of the paid groups.

If you are not part of any group, you may learn about the various groups and their benefits here:
Join Us Today.

Membership-become-a-member

How to Pray According to God’s Will

By Jeremy Myers

7 Comments

Once we understand that talking with God is like talking to a person who is with us always, and that Scripture (especially the Psalms) can be a helpful guide in learning what to pray and how to pray, all of mystery disappears from praying according the will of God.

Scriptures on Prayer

Several passages in Scripture have caused lots of problems over the years regarding prayer. Here are some of the more prominent:

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (Matthew 7:7-11)

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. (John 15:7)

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. (1 John 5:14-15)

Some have developed entire ministries around this idea that if you want something, all you have to do is ask God for it, and ask with enough faith, He will give it to you whatever you ask.

What is often neglected in these ministries is that the emphasis in the context of these Scriptures is not on the kind of faith or the amount of faith, but on abiding with Christ and asking according to the will of God.

Abide with Christ

What does it mean to abide with Christ? It means to remain, to dwell, to stay with. Abiding with Christ, or remaining with Him, is a prominent theme in John 14-17, and the first letter of John, and in both contexts it seems that to abide with Christ simply means to always be aware of His presence. To be in constant communication with Him. To understand that He is always with you, and you are always with Him.

To abide with Christ means to talk with Him and go through life with Him as you would someone who is always by your side.

As we develop this constant awareness and the constant communication that Goes with it, and as we learn to pray the Scriptures, we will soon find that our prayer life changes, what we pray for changes, and how we pray changes.

We will soon be praying for things that are only found in Scripture, which of course are all according to the will of God, and those things which we pray for which are not found in Scripture, our prayers for them will simply be part of a long-running conversation with God where He challenges some of our motives and requests and helps us focus on what we really need from His perspective, and what would be best for His purposes and mission in the world.

Praying According to the Will of God

As we pray Scripture, and as we pray conversationally with God, we can know that He is informing and guiding and refining our prayer requests so that we are praying according to His will.

We pray according to the will of God as we gain awareness of the presence of God.

This is important because according to the passages above, when we pray according to His will, we know that He hears us, and we know that we have what we asked of Him. When we pray according to His will, we are guaranteed that our prayers get answered.

Do you want to pray like never before?

Do you what to talk to God like you talk to a friend? Do you want to see more answers to prayer?

Membership-become-a-member

Thanks for visiting this page ... but this page is for Discipleship Group members.

If you are already part of a Faith, Hope, or Love Discipleship Group,
Login here.

If you are part of the free "Grace" Discipleship group, you will need to
Upgrade your Membership to one of the paid groups.

If you are not part of any group, you may learn about the various groups and their benefits here:
Join Us Today.

Membership-become-a-member

Hugh Hefner for President

By Jeremy Myers

43 Comments

No. I don’t want Hugh Hefner for president. I would not vote for him or someone like him.

But you know what the American people want? They want a politician who is honest. I don’t think that most Americans would care too much if a politician was like Hugh Hefner, as long as he was honest.

Just once, I would like to hear a politician own up to what he has done.

I would like to hear a politician say, “Yes. When I was college, I smoked some marijuana. Now, let’s discuss politics.” Instead, we get, “I didn’t inhale.”

I would like to hear a politician say, “Yes. I sent a dirty picture through Twitter. I sent lots of them. Now, let’s discuss politics.” Instead, we get, “That is not a picture of me, even though it looks exactly like me, and even if it is me, I didn’t send it. Someone must have hacked into my Twitter account.”

I would like to hear a politician say, “Yes. I like women. I have slept around. Now let’s discuss politics.” Instead, we get, “Yes, I gave her money for 13 years. I like to help women. I have helped lots of women. But there is no proof that we had a sexual relationship.”

I am not trying to bash Bill Clinton, Anthony Wiener, or Herman Cain. I actually really like Herman Cain. I think he had some good ideas. And to be honest, I don’t know if he is telling the truth or not. But there is definitely something he is not owning up to, and that is the point.

Americans are tired of spin and half-truths, and twisted white lies. We want someone — anyone — who simply and honestly speaks the truth, even if it is someone like Hugh Hefner.

I think the American people would be more willing to vote for someone like Hugh Hefner who openly and honestly sins, rather than someone who sins in secret and then tries to hide his failures behind more lies and carefully woven webs of half-truths. We don’t want someone who changes their story depending on the audience in front of them. We don’t want someone who refuses to speak boldly and candidly about what they believe.

It was Benjamin Franklin who said, “Honesty is the best policy.” Where are the political leaders who believe this today?

How to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

By Jeremy Myers

10 Comments

Many people wonder what Paul meant in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 when he wrote about praying without ceasing.

But when we come to recognize prayer as a running conversation with God, it helps make sense of what Paul meant in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 when he instructed his readers to “pray without ceasing.”

If prayer is a set time and place where we go into a particular room, get down on our knees, fold our hands, bow our heads, close our eyes, and say certain things to God, it is nearly impossible to follow Paul’s instruction. How could one possibly do this nonstop?

Formal Prayer Without Ceasing is Impossible

And yet some Christians try.

You will often find illustrations in sermons and books on prayer about how prayer is a spiritual discipline, and while the new believer may only pray for five minutes a day, the longer one is a Christian, the more time they should spend in prayer, so that the truly spiritual prayer warrior will pray for several hours a day.

Martin Luther once said that he tried to spend two hours every day in prayer, but if he was really busy, he would spend three.

This sort of mentality was found in the Desert Fathers who went out into the wilderness so they could devote more time to prayer. Today, people go on “prayer retreats” so they can spend the majority of that time in prayer.

Yet in all of these cases, nobody claims to be praying without ceasing. They must sleep. They must eat. They must run errands, and talk to other people.

As long as one has a formalized definition of prayer that requires a certain posture and a certain way of speaking, then praying without ceasing is impossible.

Do not misunderstand.

I am not against formalized times, places, and postures of prayer. I think Jesus might have had all of these. We do read that He often got up very early in the morning, and went out to a solitary place to pray (Mark 1:35).

But it would be wrong to think that these were the only times Jesus prayed. Jesus understood what it meant to pray without ceasing, and these early mornings of prayer were a small part of His overall prayer life.

Conversational Prayer without Ceasing is Achievable and Enjoyable

Praying without ceasing requires us to think about prayer as we have seen in the recorded prayers of Jesus, Paul, and the Psalms.

If prayer is an ongoing conversation we are having with God, and if God is with us always, then we can always be in conversation with Him.

Sure, you will not always be talking to each other, but as in any relationship, silence is part of a conversation too. Sometimes there is a lot to say, and sometimes it is enough to just be in each other’s presence. Frequently, it is nice to sit down for a long talk, and other times, you can casually discuss issues as you run errands, take a walk, eat meals, or watch television.

When we view prayer as a conversation with a God who is always present, it opens up a whole new realm of freedom in prayer.

You no longer have to feel guilty about not spending enough time in prayer; you can always tell someone you pray nonstop during your waking hours. You no longer have to begin and end each prayer with certain words, because in an ongoing conversation, there is no beginning and end. You no longer have to remember to pray about something.

If you learn of a need, just start talking about it with God right then and there. If you find yourself in a bad situation, you no longer have to think, “I should have prayed for protection this morning.” If you find yourself in a predicament, don’t beat yourself over the head with guilt. That’s just makes things worse. Instead, pray for protection. A word or two will do: “God! Help!”

In these ways and so many others, your prayer life can be transformed from a tired and boring religious duty that you try to fit in to your busy day, into a vibrant and inspiring ongoing conversation with a living and powerful God who is always by your side.

You say “Good morning” when you wake up, and “Good night” when you go to bed. You thank him for the taste of your coffee, and praise Him for the beauty of the frost on the grass. You discuss with him the problems you are facing with your daughter, and your worry about the meeting with your boss at work.

And when you sin (as you will every day), you don’t need to fear that God was scared off. No, He’s seen and heard it all before. So you laugh with God about your weakness and thank Him for the forgiveness He has already offered by His grace through Jesus Christ. And then you continue with your day.

This is how we pray without ceasing. It is an ongoing conversation with God. Incidentally, this is also how we learn to pray according to the will of God.

If you want to learn more about this sort of prayer, I highly recommend The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence.

Do you want to pray like never before?

Do you what to talk to God like you talk to a friend? Do you want to see more answers to prayer?

Membership-become-a-member

Thanks for visiting this page ... but this page is for Discipleship Group members.

If you are already part of a Faith, Hope, or Love Discipleship Group,
Login here.

If you are part of the free "Grace" Discipleship group, you will need to
Upgrade your Membership to one of the paid groups.

If you are not part of any group, you may learn about the various groups and their benefits here:
Join Us Today.

Membership-become-a-member

New Locations on Grace Ground

By Jeremy Myers

Reveling in Pagan Holidays

By Jeremy Myers

31 Comments

We should all revel in Pagan holidays. Why? Because Pagan holidays are so revealing.

Most Christians want to stay as far away from Pagan holidays as they can, thinking that participating in pagan holidays is participation with the world. They believe that instead, we should only participate in Christian holidays like Easter and Christmas.

Ironically, Christmas and Easter are two of the biggest Pagan holidays that exist.

I don’t mean that they have become Pagan, and we must “put Christ back into Christmas” to retake the holiday for Jesus. No, I mean that they were originally Pagan holidays, which became Christian holidays. Yes, in some ways they are becoming pagan again, but this is no reason to be scared of them, but to revel in them all the more.

Why? Here is why:

Pagan Holidays Point to Christ

I believe that Pagan holidays and pagan rituals and pagan beliefs, and all the old stories and tales and myths from pagan religions are actually the cry of the divine image of God in man to return to what was lost. Pagan holidays reveal a longing for what was lost. A desire for the reconnection of God with man.

And the only “religion” in the world which does the best job of taking all these longings, dreams, desires, and ideas, and bringing them to fruition and fulfillment, is Christianity. Let me rephrase that. Not Christianity, but Christ.

Nearly all of the old pagan stories hint at the gods returning to earth, becoming human, sharing life on earth with us, and some of them even loving humans so much that they sacrifice themselves for us.

Does any of that sound familiar? Of course. All of these stories sound strikingly similar to what happened within Jesus Christ. This is one reason why critics say that the Gospels are not true. They say that the Gospel stories are just rehashed pagan myths, where some of the details and the names of the characters are changed.

I couldn’t disagree more. There is too much historical evidence for the reliability of the Gospels. So how do we explain the similarities between the Gospel accounts and the pagan myths?

Well, why couldn’t the pagan myths be prophetic? Why couldn’t the pagan myths and traditions point people to Jesus and the Gospel?

I mean, we believe that God can reveal Himself through nature, and through conscience, and through other forms of revelation. Why not also through creative stories that were planted in the minds and hearts of men and women all over the earth? Wouldn’t this be one more way to help prepare people to hear the Gospel? When they heard the true account of how Jesus Christ came to earth, they would experience that “Ah-ha!” moment of hearing a story that fills the missing pieces in the longings and desires of their hearts.

So Why Isn’t Paganism True?

But if what I am suggesting is true, that God has revealed His plan prophetically through the myths and tales of paganism, why can’t we all be pagans, and how do we know that Christianity is not just another pagan myth?

Well, there is a problem with the Pagan myths. Most of the gods and deities do not really love mankind, but toy with humanity for their own amusement. They are self-serving, devious, game-playing deities, who are benevolent on one day, and malevolent the next.

Humans have never liked the idea that a god who loves me one day, may be out to destroy me the next. And why do the gods change? Nobody really knows, but numerous theories and ideas are proposed which sometimes seem to appease the gods and make them love us again. Maybe we have to give him some fruit, or a chicken, or a cow, or in really dire situations, one of our own children.

But it is here that Christianity takes a different route, and comes up with an idea that no man could ever invent. Christianity teaches an idea that could have come only from God, for it is found in no other religion, and even still, is so hard to grasp that most people within Christianity do not even believe it.

In Christianity, and Christianity alone, all these negative elements of pagan mythology are stripped away, and we are told that God loves us so much, that He does not want us to sacrifice our own children, but instead, He will sacrifice His own Son for us. And this isn’t necessary because He is angry at us, but because we have rebelled against Him. We have done everything wrong, and we have turned away from Him, and we have gone to war with Him, yet rather than make us claw our way back to Him and grovel before Him, begging for his forgiveness, He comes running after us, seeking to restore the friendship with us that He lost when we left.

It would be appallingly shameful, if it weren’t so shockingly loving.

And what does Christianity call this shocking love of God?

Grace.

There is no concept like it in any other religion. It is grace and grace alone that sets Christianity apart from every other system of belief.

And I’m not referring to some weak-kneed grace of contemporary Christianity where we teach that God has done His part, and so we must do ours. No, God has done it all. Nor do I mean some half-hearted concept of grace where we must prove our acceptance of it by showing God that we are worthy of it. No, what part of “God has done it all” do we not understand?

It is grace from first to last.

And this brings us back to Pagan myths and pagan holidays. It was grace that was absent from all pagan myths, and therefore, it is grace that fulfills all pagan myths, which is why I revel in them.

Grace to Pagans

People are uncomfortable with the idea of pagan myths prophetically pointing to Jesus Christ. But I’m not sure why.

Can nature point people to Jesus? Of course. Can our conscience? Absolutely? How about art and music? Sure. What about stories? Why not? Especially when they reflect what we have seen in nature and felt in our conscience.

And what else are pagan myths except an attempt to explain in story form what has been observed in nature and felt in our conscience? They are nothing if they are not that.

And so why should we be amazed that Jesus fulfills these stories?

But more than that, and here is the best part, and also the part that explains why I revel in pagan holidays, through the grace of Jesus, if He can redeem me from my slavery to sin, why cannot He also redeem stories? Why cannot He also redeem holidays? Which is harder? To redeem a person, or to redeem a day? To redeem a rebellious sinner, or to redeem an imaginative story?

But so that you may know that the Son of Man has power to redeem both stories and days, just look at yourself. If you have risen from your mat of pagan sin and death, then the core of paganism (you and me) has already been redeemed! If Jesus Christ can redeem us, then certainly He can redeem our past, our present, our future, our mistakes, our holidays, and our stories.

So this Christmas season, revel in the exchanging of gifts, the decorated trees, the lights and glitter, the songs and poinsettia. None of this has anything to do with the Jesus of the Gospels. It all has pagan roots. But thank God, I have pagan roots too! And so I revel in the paganess of it all. And just as God has made me into a new creation, so also I take the pagan traditions of Christmas, and rethink, reimagine, rework, and recreate them all to point to the person and work of Jesus Christ. In this way, they are brought out of the dominion of darkness and into the kingdom of light of the Son of God.

P.S. I wrote more about this topic in my short eBook, Christmas Redemption. You can get it on Amazon for only $0.99.

Why you should try Praying the Psalms

By Jeremy Myers

5 Comments

In previous posts, we have seen that both the prayers of Jesus and the prayers of Paul were conversational prayers with God. They talked to God about the same sorts of things they would talk to anyone else about, and used the same sort of language. The book of Psalms reflects something similar about prayer. When we pray the Psalms, we learn to pray to God in a way that sounds like we are talking to anyone else.

The Psalms as Prayers

The Psalms are not exactly prayers. They are actually songs that were intended to be sung. But they are not just songs, either. They were intended to be sung when Israel worshiped God in the temple and during their annual festivals. As such, it is safe to think of the Psalms as prayers to God that are sung.

And the great thing about the Psalms is that they reflect the full range of human emotions. If you are feeling something … there’s a Psalm you can use to pray about it.

Most of the Psalms are about giving praise and honor God, and calling on the people to faithfully love and serve Him, but sometimes the Psalmist is angry with God, and tells Him so (Psalms 10:1; 22:1; 42:9; 74:1, 11). Other times the Psalmist is angry and people, and tells God about this too, to the point of asking God to destroy his enemies (Psalms 54:5; 79:10; 143:12). Sometimes the Psalms are quite long (Psalm 119). Sometimes short (Psalm 117). Sometimes they use repetition (Psalm 136). Sometimes they focus on simply praising God (Psalm 150), while others focusing on His past works (Psalm 78).

Walter Brueggemann, in his excellent little book, Praying the Psalms, says that the Psalms are not the voice of God addressing us, but rather contain the voice of a common humanity addressing God (p. 1). When you pray the Psalms, you are praying together with believers throughout the world and throughout time.

Conversations with God

When people wonder what sorts of things they can and should pray about, and what kind of language and words to use when communicating with God, it is often not enough to just tell them that they can have a conversation with God just like with any other person. For some, this seems too informal.

So it is often always a good idea to also recommend the Book of Psalms a helpful guide to learning how to pray and what to pray for. As people pray through the Psalms, they learn that pretty much anything can be said to God, and any emotion is welcome by Him. There are no taboo topics or emotions.

Again, from Walter Brueggemann: “The Psalter knows that life is dislocated. No cover-up is necessary” (Praying the Psalms, p. 9).

But this is just like our real relationships in life, right? Your genuine relationships, your meaningful friendships, are the ones where you interact with each other with honesty and reality. You share your emotions, feelings, and ideas without fear of being judged. Where you do not have this freedom to be real, you do not have a real friendship.

So why do we so often hold back in our prayers? We should not and we must not, if we desire true friendship with God. When we pray the Psalms, we learn to express all our feelings and emotions to God, just as we do with any true friend.

But this is just like life, isn’t it? Our conversations with others cover the whole spectrum of emotions and subjects. Sometimes we are careful with our words and ideas. Other times we don’t hold back.

Just like the prayers of Jesus and the prayers of Paul, praying the Psalms helps us see that prayer is an ongoing and open conversation with God.

All of this, I think, helps us understand what Paul meant when He instructed the Thessalonian believers to “Pray without ceasing.”.

What about praying the Scriptures?

Do you want to pray like never before?

Do you what to talk to God like you talk to a friend? Do you want to see more answers to prayer?

Membership-become-a-member

Thanks for visiting this page ... but this page is for Discipleship Group members.

If you are already part of a Faith, Hope, or Love Discipleship Group,
Login here.

If you are part of the free "Grace" Discipleship group, you will need to
Upgrade your Membership to one of the paid groups.

If you are not part of any group, you may learn about the various groups and their benefits here:
Join Us Today.

Membership-become-a-member

How to Pray like Paul

By Jeremy Myers

3 Comments

We have previously learned that the prayers of Jesus were most likely conversational prayers with God. They were very similar in substance and language to any conversation Jesus might have with His disciples.

But what about Paul’s prayers? Were they this way?

The Prayers of Paul

There are few examples of Paul actually praying in the New Testament, but there are several places in Paul’s letters where he writes about his prayer requests and how he prays (See Rom 15:5-6, 13; Eph 1:16-19; 3:16-19; Php 1:9-11; Col 1:9-12; 2 Thess 1:11-12).

By looking at these short descriptions of Paul’s prayers, we can learn a few things about how to pray like Paul.

The short descriptions of Paul’s prayers provide a small glimpse into what Paul prayed for and how he prayed. And as we look at what Paul tells the various churches about his prayers for them, it often sounds as if he transitions from writing about what he prayers to actually praying. That is, some of his descriptions of his prayers actually sound like prayers themselves.

So if someone is looking for written prayers which can help guide our own prayer life and helps us know how to pray according to the will of God, the prayers of Paul are always good places to start.

Many of the recorded prayer requests of Paul are nearly identical to the recorded prayer requests of Jesus in John 17. Both Jesus and Paul pray that believers would glorify God through faithful obedience and grow in unity with each other. One other similarity is that just as we saw with Jesus, there is no special language or terminology.

The very things Paul writes about in his letters are the very things he prays about to God, using the same ideas, the same language, and the same style.

Conversational Prayers of Paul

It seems that with Paul, as with Jesus, there is no set structure, form, language, or requests that must be used in prayer. Just as there is no set structure, form, language, and topics that must be used in any other conversation, Paul simply talked to God the way he talked to anyone else.

This means that we don’t need special outlines or languages for prayer. Paul didn’t need these. Jesus didn’t need these. And we don’t need them.

For example, in the past, I have counseled people to use the acronym ACTS for their prayers: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication. In recent years, I have had second thoughts about this. I suppose it is not a bad pattern, but it misses the point of prayer. I don’t have acronyms for conversation topics with anyone else … so why should I have them when I talk to God?

Paul gives us a glimpse into his prayer life here where prayer is like having a conversation with God. Just as conversations with people get dull and boring if we talk about the same things all the time and always in the same order, so also conversation with God can get dull and boring if we always come to Him with the same prayers, the same items, the same requests, always in the same order.

When we talk with God, we can talk to Him just as we would any other person.

This will make it real, meaningful, and lively. Sometimes the conversations are short; sometimes they are long. Sometimes they are heated with debate and disagreement; sometimes they are full of praise and love. Sometimes more can be said simply by remaining silent.

We have seen that Jesus prayed this way, and that Paul prayed this way, and in the next post, we will look at the book of Psalms, which contains numerous examples of this type of praying. My book, What is Prayer? also contains more details on this subject.

Do you want to pray like never before?

Do you what to talk to God like you talk to a friend? Do you want to see more answers to prayer?

Membership-become-a-member

Thanks for visiting this page ... but this page is for Discipleship Group members.

If you are already part of a Faith, Hope, or Love Discipleship Group,
Login here.

If you are part of the free "Grace" Discipleship group, you will need to
Upgrade your Membership to one of the paid groups.

If you are not part of any group, you may learn about the various groups and their benefits here:
Join Us Today.

Membership-become-a-member

I’ll Pray for You

How can I see more answers to prayer?

Making Needs Known

The Church Advances on It’s Knees?

Do you want to pray like never before?

How to get God to work in response to your prayers

Do you want to pray like never before?

How to Pray According to God’s Will

Scriptures on Prayer

Abide with Christ

Praying According to the Will of God

Do you want to pray like never before?

Hugh Hefner for President

How to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

Formal Prayer Without Ceasing is Impossible

Conversational Prayer without Ceasing is Achievable and Enjoyable

Do you want to pray like never before?

New Locations on Grace Ground

Reveling in Pagan Holidays

Pagan Holidays Point to Christ

So Why Isn’t Paganism True?

Grace to Pagans

Why you should try Praying the Psalms

The Psalms as Prayers

Conversations with God

Do you want to pray like never before?

How to Pray like Paul

The Prayers of Paul

Conversational Prayers of Paul

Do you want to pray like never before?

Theological Study Archives

Bible Study Archives

Advertise or Donate

Search (and you Shall Find)

Get Books by Jeremy Myers

Schedule Jeremy for an interview

Click here to Contact Me!

Do you want to learn how to BETTER study the Bible?

Making Needs Known

The Church Advances on It’s Knees?

Do you want to pray like never before?

Do you want to pray like never before?

Abide with Christ

Praying According to the Will of God

Do you want to pray like never before?

Formal Prayer Without Ceasing is Impossible

Conversational Prayer without Ceasing is Achievable and Enjoyable

Do you want to pray like never before?

Pagan Holidays Point to Christ

So Why Isn’t Paganism True?

Grace to Pagans

The Psalms as Prayers

Conversations with God

Do you want to pray like never before?

The Prayers of Paul

Conversational Prayers of Paul

Do you want to pray like never before?

Theological Study Archives

Bible Study Archives

Advertise or Donate

Search (and you Shall Find)

Get Books by Jeremy Myers