Building a Life of Prayer

Isaiah chapter 6 teaches us four things:  the importance of grasping the holiness of God, the importance of understanding our own sinfulness, the knowledge that a remedy is provided by God for our sin, and finally, that we should joyfully surrender to God's will.

Proverbs can guide us in many ways to build lives of prayer.  Proverbs calls us to pray for the development of wisdom in our lives. It calls us to pray for wisdom in the decisions that we make. 

Proverbs is filled with wisdom that can guide us in developing our prayer lives. Agur, the author of Proverbs 30, makes two broad requests of God. First, that God would help him become a person of integrity. Second, that God would help him to remain faithful to God.

There is little mention of prayer in the Book of Proverbs, however, there is great wisdom in the Book of Proverbs to guide us in praying. It teaches us the great value of the fear of the Lord.

The Book of Proverbs reminds us to pray that we may be kept from temptation. It also teaches us the great value of humility. Humility before God is inseparably connected to prayer. By prayer, we commit what we do to the Lord and trust that He will guide us.

The book of Proverbs is filled with wisdom to guide us in praying. It teaches us to seek God's wisdom in all we do. It guides us to seek an understanding of God's Word. 

In the midst of Job's pain, his friends added to it by hurting him with their words. They were not very good comforters. Why then was it so important that Job pray for his friends? 

The life of Job is a call to steadfastness in suffering and to remember that the Lord is indeed compassionate and merciful.

For those who come to God through faith in Jesus Christ, God's throne is the throne of grace. Believers are called to come with confidence before His throne, praying in order that they may receive mercy and find grace to help in times of need. 

Job expresses his need for an arbiter, which seems to look ahead to what Jesus would do for us. Jesus became the answer to Job's plea. 

Biblical fasting is abstaining from food or other pleasure to give focused time to seeking God and His will for our lives and the lives of others. Fasting is associated with prayer, so although prayer is not mentioned in the Book of Esther, it is implied. 

Nehemiah's example is one of constant prayer throughout the busyness of life. He prayed throughout his work. 

In Nehemiah's payer, he confesses the sins of the people, but he  also identifies himself with those sins. He requests that God will hear his prayer, he appeals to God's Word, and then he seeks God's favor in mercy. Then Nehemiah acts on his prayer. 

The priest Ezra was deeply moved by the sins of the people of Israel and he identified with them. He acknowledges they had broken God's commandments. The people responded with weeping and repentance.

King Jehoshaphat's prayer is a reminder for us to always turn to God in the adversities and challenges of life. We need to remember who God is and what he has done.

The lesson that we can learn from King Asa's life is that we must never stop seeking the Lord. We never outgrow the need for his help. We must never stop relying upon God in prayer.

In 2 Chronicles 7 we find God's instruction for the healing of a nation. It provides us with a pattern for how to pray for a nation.

King David's beautiful prayer in 1 Chronicles 29 teaches us about God, ourselves, and material wealth. It is a wonderful prayer to study when we think about our giving. 

King Hezekiah's prayer in 2 Kings focuses on the greatness of God and requests salvation from God. God then speaks through the prophet Isaiah to let Hezekiah know He has heard the king's prayer. God used Hezekiah's prayer to bring about his purpose. 

The prophet Elijah went through a period of feeling depressed and discouraged. However, God reminded Elijah that he is not alone and then give him meaningful work. When we feel isolated we should go to God's Word first and foremost so that we can hear from Him.

Elijah's prayers affected an entire nation. James reminds us that Elijah was only human—just like us. If we have been made righteous through faith in Jesus, our prayers, like Elijah's, can have great power as they are working.

Those of us who have put our faith in Jesus Christ have a  much better promise than praying toward a place. We pray not to place, but because of a person—Jesus Christ.

God approved of Solomon's prayer because he focused on God's steadfast love, was humble before the Lord, and asked for wisdom to be able to do God's will. 

It is important that we take a humble assessment of ourselves before we approach God prayer. We should focus on the greatness of God and the fulfillment of His will. We can then request blessing upon our family.

King David seemed to be quick to pray and wait upon God for guidance. This is a contrast with King Saul who was quick to take matters into his own hands.