Building a Life of Prayer

The request in the Lord's Prayer to "forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors" is why many people prefer to call this model prayer the Disciples Prayer because Jesus never would have prayed these words since he had no sins to confess. We, however, should confess our sins daily and also allow God to show us if we need to forgive someone else.

Why does God ask us to pray for what He already knows we need? God shapes our lives and works in us as we pray and as we wait for our prayers to be answered. He develops the quality of perseverance in us. Tested faith becomes stronger faith. Jesus teaches us this in a parable in the Gospel of Luke Chapter 18. 

The Lord's Prayer is a good model for a daily time of prayer. Each statement can be thought of as a different category for prayer. For example, when Jesus teaches us to pray for our daily bread that means to ask for that which we need whether actual food, financial provision, or even strength to preserve through a difficult trial. By doing so we acknowledge our dependence on God for what we n...

How do we know what God wants so that we can pray for His will to be done? God reveals His will for us in Scripture. A broad knowledge of God's Word can give us great guidance. God has given us a number of prayers to pray and promises to hold on to when it comes to knowing and discerning His will.

If something is God's will, why do we need to pray for it to be done? Isn't God sovereign?  When we pray this way it aligns us, strengthens us, and lets us partner with God in His Kingdom work. Jesus gives us a good example of this when He is praying in the garden of Gethsemane as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke.

In the next part of Jesus' teaching on prayer in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus instructs his followers to pray for the coming of God's Kingdom. God's Kingdom is generally considered to be His rule and His reign. It is here already but, has not come in all its fullness yet. When we pray this part of the Lord's Prayer we are praying that God's work will prevail over that whic...

At the beginning of the Lord's Prayer, Jesus balances the intimacy and closeness of a relationship with God with the need for respect and reverence toward God. From beginning to end in the Bible, God is described as infinitely holy.

In Matthew 6:9, Jesus says "Pray then like this..." What follows is commonly referred to as "The Lord's Prayer." One striking thing about this prayer is how Jesus instructs His followers to address God. Jesus was bringing about a new relationship with God.

One of the best ways to see what is significant to God when we pray is to look at prayers in Scripture that God responded to. Luke Chapter 18 and Luke Chapter 23 offer two good examples of God responding to prayer.

Jesus' most foundational teaching on prayer is found in the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 6. He begins the teaching by first instructing his disciples how NOT to pray. Where is your heart when you pray? Are you coming to God with humility and sincerity?

Why is prayer so important? Why has God chosen to work through prayer? Why were God's great leaders in Scripture, and Jesus himself, such people of prayer?

Building a Life of Prayer is a short (5-minute), daily podcast designed to help you grow in your comfort and confidence in prayer. By teaching through the prayers of the Bible, Pastor David Beaty of River Oaks Community Church in Clemmons, NC, U.S.A., will help you to come to enjoy prayer more, whether praying alone or praying with others.

The apostle Peter uses verse 22 from Psalm 118 in Acts chapter 4 to proclaim that Jesus was rejected, crucified, and rose from the dead.

Psalm 118 is a psalm of thanksgiving and rejoicing in God's steadfast love. 

The importance of Psalm 110—especially verse 1—and its' use in the New Testament is extraordinary. 

Psalm 102 contains the heading "A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord."

Psalm 69 was written about one thousand years before Christ and predicted what would happen to Him on the cross.

Psalm 69 was written by King David and is considered a lament. It is quoted in the Gospel according to John and the Book of Romans.

Psalm 45 is a Messianic wedding song.

Verses 6-8 of Psalm 40 are quoted in the Book of Hebrews and applied to Jesus.

Psalm 34 was written by King David and contains a prophecy about Jesus' death on the cross.

Psalm 22 teaches us that Jesus' suffering was planned and purposeful. 

Psalm 22 is particularly important in the way that it predicts Jesus' suffering on the cross.

In the Book of Acts the apostle Paul quotes from Psalm 16 as proof of Jesus' resurrection.

In the New Testament Book of Acts the apostle Peter quotes Psalm 16 as an important proof of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.