We can learn what and how to pray to God from his very Word—even from the example of his own Son.
Articles on Prayer
208 results found
What Is the Sin that Leads to Death? (1 John 5)
What is the “sin that leads to death” and why does John not say we should pray for people committing such sin?
10 Disciplines of a Godly Woman
Discipline seems like a hard word, but discipline is your lifeline, something that you learn to embrace and thank God for as you grow in him.
10 Things You Should Know about Prayer
It’s easy to complicate prayer; but at its essence, prayer is simply talking with God.
How to Pray for Unbelieving Family Members
God cares for us, and our families, even as he controls the vastness of all creation. And he hears the prayers of all the children he loves—including our prayers for those whom we love.
10 Key Bible Verses on Spiritual Discipline
Godly character is developed over time—honed by the practice of spiritual disciplines and commitment to living honorably before men and God.
10 Questions to Ask at the Start of a New Year
Even those most faithful to God occasionally need to pause and think about the direction of their lives.
If Jesus Is God, Why Did He Pray?
Many theologians over the course of church history have wrestled with this question. The answer to this question is relatively simple.
10 Things You Should Know about Corporate Prayer
We tend to think of prayer as primarily a solitary and private activity, but the Bible tells a different story.
Infographic: How Is Your Prayer Life?
We recently asked over 14,000 people about the state of their prayers lives and gathered some stats about established habits as well as some common pain points.
How to Pray in Spiritual Warfare
To fight the good fight, we need to be in constant contact with God, and the means by which we stay in contact is by prayer.
Jesus is not commending hypocritical prayer. He is not calling for show-prayer. He is calling for real prayer, that is, real Godward desire for the good of our enemy.
9 Ways to Guard Your Personal Relationship with God
Like all healthy and satisfying relationships, our relationship with God needs time and energy.
How to Pray During Marital Conflict
Andreas J. Köstenberger, Margaret Elizabeth Köstenberger
The potential causes for conflict in marriage are virtually limitless. We must put on the armor of God and pray for each other and for our relationships—often!
Who Killed the Prayer Meeting?
Behind our busyness and wealth is a philosophy called secularism, which doesn’t just deny God’s existence but denies the existence of any spiritual world.
Pray your pastor would love God, and you, so much that he would be willing to disappoint you for God’s glory.
If the fear of public speaking is the general population’s greatest fear, fear of praying publicly may be its Christian equivalent.
What George Mueller Can Teach Us about Prayer
George Mueller (1805–1898) is widely considered one the greatest men of prayer and faith since the days of the New Testament.
7 Tips for Sharing the Gospel with Teens
Before teens can actually explain the gospel, they must first know it themselves. Then they must know how to articulate it.
The Right Way to Ask for Prayer
God did not create us to be self-protective, so being so will eventually lead to misery rather than safety.
How to Pray When You’re Feeling Anxious
Anxiety may misdirect us, or, properly grasped, may point us to the right path.
What is prayer and when and how should we do it? Explore answers to some common questions from To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism.
Jesus says to tell all nations the good news, but we haven’t. Jesus calls people to be fishers of men, but we prefer to watch. Peter says to always be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have, but we are not.
How to Pray and Hear Back from God
Those who pray in Christ’s name truly hear back from God in their most pressing need and are strengthened in hope that they will continue to hear in days to come.
Should the Sick Be Anointed with Oil? (James 5)
James instructs the church elders to “anoint” the sick person with oil “in the name of the Lord.” Throughout the centuries, Christians have struggled to understand and apply this verse.
10 Things You Should Know about the Trinity
God wants us to learn about and consider the Trinity. Here are 10 things you should know.
What Did Jesus Teach about Prayer?
As mediator, Jesus brings us to God, but he does so by pouring out his Spirit upon us so that our own prayer life is to replicate his prayer life in terms of how the Holy Spirit binds us to our Father in heaven.
6 Tips for Reading the Bible with Your Kids
Here are six practical suggestions for digging into God's Word with your kids.
How to Pray through the Psalms
As a whole, the psalms comprise the best place in Scripture from which to pray Scripture.
How to Pray When You’re Struggling to Understand the Bible
Prayer is the means by which we implore the Holy Spirit to take up residence in our study time.
5 Tips for Managing Your Emotions
Carolyn Mahaney, Nicole Mahaney Whitacre
How do we handle our feelings? How do we fix them when they are broken? How do we keep our emotions from taking control of our lives?
How to Pray When You’re Fighting with Your Spouse
Every marriage is guided by a set of habits. The question is, are they healthy habits that result in a God-honoring and joyful marriage?
Is It Okay to Pray a Curse on My Enemies? (Psalm 5)
Prayers of this sort generally carry the unstated assumption that the evildoers will not repent and seek forgiveness; should they turn, these prayers are reversed as well.
Is It OK to Call God My Friend?
Jesus is—and will always be—our king. And yet, it’s also true that our king has invited us to be his friends.
Help! God Didn’t Answer My Prayer
The problem of “unanswered prayers” is one we all must reckon with. What we hear in Scripture often seems to contradict what we see in everyday experience
How to Pray When You’re Tempted by Sexual Sin
Sexual sin is a matter of the heart. When it comes to sex, we all need to say that the biggest problem in our sexual lives is us.
How to Pray for a Loved One Struggling with Mental Illness
When God gives us the right spirit in prayer—the spirit of hope, patience, and love—that will usually result in the right petitions.
4 Prayers to Pray through Spiritual Darkness
Turn to the Lord in prayer and in his word during times of despair and discouragement. He is near and read to defend, protect, and preserve those he loves.
How to Pray for Your Teen’s Spiritual Growth
Here are seven specific bibliical prayers that I’m praying for my own (almost) teenager, and which I’d encourage you to pray for yours.
How to Pray for Your Child’s Salvation
We cannot force this faith. We labor for it, we teach to it, we encourage it, and above all, we can pray for it.
4 Prayers to Pray when You’re Repentant
Turn to God and his Word and the prayers of the saints when your heart cries out to the Lord in repentance.
One Big Reason the Church Doesn't Pray
Are we living as if we can accomplish things on our own, or are we praying to God like we know we can't?
An Open Letter to the Prayerless Church
The church is a spiritual force. It is animated by the Spirit of Jesus in our midst. So, if we want to see the church brought back to life, we have to make room to listen and be led by the Spirit as a community.
Wrestling with God’s Silence in the Face of Inexplicable Suffering
God does not object to our groanings, our pleas for help, our desperate whimpers when we can’t even form words. He invites us to question him.
Your Prayer Life Might Be Better Than You Think
Scripture’s prayers, especially the psalms, are prayers we can and should take on our lips. We can pray through Scripture. It’s part of learning how to pray.
4 Prayers to Pray When You’re Anxious
Read four prayers from church history along with passages from Scripture, and be encouraged to know the Lord hears you.
Why You Should Read Augustine's Confessions
I believe that Augustine's masterpiece is a largely unread book because people approach it with the wrong expectations, quickly become frustrated, and leave the book unfinished.
10 Things You Should Know about Being Single
God made you and me for far more than marriage. If we miss this, we risk wasting our lives running in wrong directions, pursuing pitiful dreams, and serving tiny gods.
Does the Bible Direct Us to Have Quiet Times?
It may come as a surprise, but there is no explicit command in Scripture to have a time of worship each day, either as an individual or as a family.
A Simple Solution to a Boring Prayer Life
But if God invites and expects all his children—regardless of their age, IQ, education, or resources—to do the same thing—to pray—then prayer has to be simple.
10 Prayers from History to Pray for Your Loved Ones
Jonathan W. Arnold, Zachariah M. Carter
Oh Lord, with your gracious and merciful eye, look upon the contrition of my heart. According to your certain promise, stay with me as I acknowledge you to be the maker and defender of all creation.
3 Practical Ways to Remain Faithful in Ministry
Practical things you need to do in your life to remain faithful in ministry are the same means of grace that are available to every believer.
4 Prayers to Pray when You’re Sorrowed
Turn to the Word of God and the prayers of the saints when your heart is saddened and in need of the gospel’s hope.
Help! I Don’t Know How to Initiate Meaningful Conversations
Cheryl Marshall, Caroline Newheiser
Whether speaking with strangers, acquaintances, or those we dearly love, we sometimes realize that we and they would greatly benefit if we would talk about God. But how?
The Role of Prayer and Missions in Salvation
Prayer and evangelism are both part of the plan—the all-embracing, all-pervasive, unstoppable providence of God is the only hope for making our efforts effective.
On the Crushing Guilt of Failing at Quiet Time
Meet any mature, fruitful Christian, and you can almost guarantee he regularly has something like a “quiet time”—a time set aside to talk to God in prayer and hear from God in the word.
How to Pray with the End Times in Mind
Closely connected to end-time gatherings for the sake of encouraging each other not to grow cold in love, but to persevere in faith, is the summons to end-time praying.
How to Pray when Preparing for Family Vacation
Andreas J. Köstenberger, Margaret Elizabeth Köstenberger
God knows you need rest, and wants you to get it, but we can honor him by submitting our plans to him so he can direct our steps—even in our vacation!
7 Back-to-School Prayers for Students
Students: as you head back to school, don't forget to prepare and recalibrate your hearts for the days ahead through intentional prayer.
Life is full of moments where our emotions—love, joy, sorrow, confusion, hurt—render us speechless before God. Liturgy provides structured prayers that give us a voice when our own words fall short.
C.S. Lewis and the Role of the Physical Body in Prayer
Prayer, whether it is confession, supplication, thanksgiving, or adoration, always involves a surrender, an embracing of God’s ever-present presence.
How to Pray When Your Heart Feels Cold
Many Christians experience seasons of spiritual apathy when the heart seems miles behind what we know to be true in our minds.
How the Lord’s Prayer Affected September 11, 2001
The pattern for prayer that Jesus has given to you and to me exists so that we may discover peace and contentment, hope and forgiveness, truth and assurance.
Prayer is oxygen for the Christian. It sustains us. So it follows that prayer must be a source of life for any community of Christians.
How to Pray for Your Kids This Summer
The clay is still soft, so ask God for sculpting opportunities in the lives of your young children.
How to Journal through the Psalms
In the Psalms we find how to be real with God and simultaneously reverent—how he wants us to relate to him as his children.
The Christian Faith of Jane Austen
Learn more about how Jane Austen's faith went from sympathetic to genuine.
How to Pray for Your Pastor’s Family
Would you like to show your pastor your appreciation but are unsure what might be most helpful to him? More than any other gift you could give your pastor, he will treasure your prayers for his family.
How Prayer Produces a Soul at Rest
We pray because we should, or worse, because we think we have to if we want to experience God’s blessings. A quote from John Calvin in his commentary on Matthew 6:5–6 helped me understand prayer differently.
9 Passages to Read on National Day of Prayer
Nine verses to meditate on during National Day of Prayer.
Help! I Don’t Like Praying in Public
Prayer can get repetitious, feel rote, rambly, or distracted. For these reasons, many are reticent to pray in public. How can we overcome our fears and misguided thinking?
5 Ways to Commune with Christ on a Busy Day
The crazy days will come. But with a little intentionality, and with a modest plan in place, you can learn to navigate these days, and even walk with greater dependence on God.
What to Do When It Feels Like God Is against You
When you’re facing times of trouble and it feels like God is against you, there are two important things to do.
To Cry Is Human, but to Lament Is Christian
Every human being has the same opening story. Life begins with tears. It’s simply a part of what it means to be human—to cry is human. But lament is different.
An Open Letter to Those Suffering from Depression
Although you feel hopeless and helpless, I want to assure you that there is hope and there is help.
4 Prayers to Pray when You’re Waiting
Find encouragement through Scripture and the prayers of the saints for when your spirit faints and flags—the Lord is near.
5 Guidelines for Preparing Congregational Prayer
Effective public prayer must be well-prepared prayer. This is the engine that will move all the other principles.
Draw Near to the Lord in Your Fight for Purity
By persevering in prayer, your gaze will be fixed on Christ, which God will use to transform you.
3 Prayers of Thanksgiving from History
Jonathan W. Arnold, Zachariah M. Carter
As we draw near to Thanksgiving, use these written prayers from the past as examples to help give you words to express your gratitude to God.
Learn to Say “Help” to the Lord
It is not always easy to talk openly to the Lord. We need help, but it is difficult to actually ask God for it. Why is it so difficult? Why do we sometimes resist speaking to him?
When we are praying in the Spirit, we are being obedient to what the Spirit desires, and bringing those desires to God in prayer.
The Bible promises that in Jesus, we have peace. But when our circumstances and our emotions threaten us with despair, it doesn’t always feel like that is the case.
Building a Culture of Spiritually Intentional Relationships
Most Active Does Not Equal Most Fruitful Could it be that the most active members of your congregation are the least fruitful? Consider for a moment: in God’s sight, not all activity carries equal value. …
3 Kinds of Prayers That God Answers
We know we should pray. We start praying. But soon we give up. Or we pray with no expectation of an answer. Or we pray for the wrong things. Prayer becomes a problem rather than a solution.
Podcast: Disciplines of a Godly Woman (Barbara Hughes)
Barbara Hughes discusses why discipline is important for Christian women, highlighting her own struggle to cultivate a disciplined life over the years.
The Lord’s Prayer Teaches Us How to Pray Every Other Prayer
The Lord's Prayer orients us, most importantly, to the vertical dimension of our prayers. That's why we start by saying, “Our Father.”
We develop wisdom by knowing the Bible and by relying on the Holy Spirit to help us correctly live it out.
4 Prayers to Pray for the Sick
When or loved ones are burdened with suffering and illness, find comfort in Scripture and in these historic prayers of saints that have gone before.
Do This Breathing Exercise for Healthy Christian Living
Think of Scripture and prayer as inhaling and exhaling because that shows the two necessarily go together.
8 Principles of Prayer from John Owen
There are some generally allowed principles, which, though not always duly considered, yet cannot at any time be modestly denied, that give direction toward the right performance of our duty [of prayer] herein.
An Open Letter to Husbands on Mother’s Day
The fact that Mother’s Day may have secular origins does not mean that it can’t be used by Christian husbands to remind us of biblical principles related to our mothers and wives.
How to Pray When Your Kids Go Off to College
Not all parents can provide what they want for their children, but all parents can pray.
Why Good Theology Matters in Prayer
Knowing who God is and what he’s like as revealed in Scripture is very important as we approach God in prayer.
That there is such a thing as Holy Saturday in the gospel is remarkable, if oft overlooked. Why wouldn’t a simple movement from death one day to resurrection the next be sufficient?
Cultivating Habits of Grace: A 5-Day Devotional
Start this 5 day video devotional on 3 life-giving habits that can act as channels of God's grace in your life.
Help! I’ve Stopped Caring about the Things of God
I imagine all Christians sometimes feel like we don’t love God enough, don’t read our Bibles enough, don’t pray enough, don’t evangelize enough, and so forth. And there’s a sense in which we are largely correct.
The Lord's Prayer—a simple prayer which Jesus taught his disciples—can also show us how to talk with God in prayer.
God designed you with the capacity to pause and ponder. He means for you not just to hear him, but to reflect on what he says.
12 Prayer Ideas for New Believers
Praying regularly is hard work. So how do we develop the discipline of a healthy prayer life?
How God Helps Us Pray according to His Will
Our focus is on God through prayer; our glance is at the Bible; and we turn Godward and pray about every matter that occurs to us as we read.
The 2 Characteristics of Revival
By divine command, we must pray for the reinvigorating of God’s people—morning and evening, today and tomorrow, this year and next year, and in all the years until Christ’s return.
10 Benefits of Reading the Bible: Part 2
Part 2 of 10 Benefits of Reading the Bible.
Turning Prayer from Monologue into Dialogue with God
Prayer is not pleading with a God who is not already there to somehow show up. Prayer is not enticing a silent God to finally speak.
How Prayer Exposes the Illusion of Control
Prayer reminds us of who we are and who God is.
The Prayers of Jesus: A 7-Day Reading Plan
Today, we're introducing a new 7-day reading plan on ESV.org to guide you through some of the prayers Jesus uttered during his earthly ministry.
God saves people for a purpose. Salvation in Christ begins a life spent growing into being like him and serving him faithfully.
How to Pray for International Missions
When we pray for the work of missions, we are joining an essential work as co-laborers with the missionary. But what should we pray?
7 Things I Prayed for My Husband through 30 Years of Ministry
Marriage to a man in any particular profession has particular difficulties. Over the years, I have learned to pray for the needs of my husband that are distinct to his calling as a pastor.
How to Pray for the Global Church
In praying for the global church, start by remembering that there is just one church of Jesus Christ.
You Have Everything You Need for Life and Godliness
Knowing that God has promised to complete the work he began in us, we are well equipped to practice perseverance.
3 Steps to Take If You’ve Been Waiting on God
If you are walking through a season that is leading you to feel frustrated, anxious, or impatient, here are some steps that can help.
Given that liturgy concerns the order of worship elements in a church service, it’s not whether a church has a liturgy; it’s just which liturgy the church has.
A Guide for Your Personal Worship Today
One day of structured content from the 31-day liturgical guide Be Thou My Vision to help you in your daily worship.
Strengthen Your Prayer Life with an Assist from Past Pray-ers
Ordinarily, desire is not enough. We usually have to be shown how to do something, with plenty of examples, before we can feel capable.
9 Conversation Starters to Help You Get Out of a Prayer Rut
How do we talk to our heavenly Father like we might to good friends? Quite simply, what does it mean to become human again as a group?
Praying in Jesus’s name is an acknowledgement of our total dependence on his provision. We push away from any personal claim on God’s blessing and lean entirely on Christ’s provision.
Why Ordinary Faithfulness Is Enough
Feeding your faithfulness is an unremarkable practice in real-time. It’s unglamorous by the world’s standards, yet it is precious as it contributes to a life of holding fast to Christ.
4 Prayers to Pray When You’re Afraid
When fear paralyzes you, turn to the Lord through his word and in prayer and be comforted by the light that overcomes darkness.
What Does Jesus Want This Christmas?
What does Jesus want this Christmas? We can see the answer in his prayers.
Jesus Prayed for Your Sanctification
On the night of Jesus’s betrayal, before he prayed for himself, he prayed for his own.
Asking people for help makes calling out to the Lord seem easy by comparison.
Making the Most of Your Bible Study
The more we are tugged, the more we have to work to guard the time we give to personal study of our Bibles.
In God’s sweet providence, I began studying Psalm 90 about a year before my eightieth birthday, asking the Lord to teach me how to glorify him in old age.
Believers of every era grapple with God’s command to give up everything for his sake, even while they strive to understand the corresponding promise of greater rewards.
What Your Church Needs More than Productivity
Prayer shows our dependence on God. It honors him as the source of all blessing, and it reminds us that converting individuals and growing churches are his works, not ours.
A Guide for Your Personal Worship Entering Holy Week
A sample day’s readings from O Sacred Head, Now Wounded, a 48-day devotional liturgy to help readers effectively prepare their hearts from Pascha (Easter) to Pentecost.
How to Pray for the African Church
Major news outlets in the world tend to concentrate on the economic poverty and social deprivation that characterizes much of Africa, but then many believers miss what God is doing in his church across the continent.
A church’s commitment to prayer is one of the greatest determiners of its effectiveness in ministry.
Can Jesus Pray “Imprecatory” Prayers?
There is a great difference between letting loose a curse against someone and praying for God to execute his just judgment on them.
Revival Is a Corporate Blessing
Revival is a work of the Spirit, it is extraordinary, and it comes to a group of people.
Infographic: 4 Biblical Ways to Pray
How do you pray biblically? Paul Miller outlines four ways to help you pray biblical prayers.
The Hidden Prayers and Pray-ers behind Great Movements
God designed his church to look like his Son who spent most of his life hidden, so the most important people in the church are often invisible.
We won’t be able to overcome our insecurities if we do not have a biblical understanding of who God is and respond appropriately to that understanding.
Podcast: Real Faithfulness Is the Kind No One Sees (Glenna Marshall)
Glenna Marshall talks about the life-changing practice of Scripture memory, the oft-given advice to give ourselves grace, and the importance of perseverance in the Christian life.
Nehemiah's Deeper Concern for Building Up God's People
The work of God gets done when there is a good heart for God and his work. It starts in a heart with a deep concern for the glory of God and the health of his church.
4 Ways Paul Prayed for You to Be Strengthened
Kneeling shows that we are coming to a sovereign whom we depend on. It is also often associated with extreme passion and neediness. It reflects our desperation.
John Piper shares a helpful guide for how to pray over the Word in the fight for joy.
Podcast: Reading the Psalms with Jesus in View (Dane Ortlund)
Dane Ortlund discusses how the psalms uniquely invite us into prayer and devotion, how they reflect the greatness of God, and how he cares for his people.
Praying to Our Father Is a Spiritual Privilege
To pray with intimacy to God as father is not a human right; it is a spiritual privilege. It is a privilege for the people of God who have been born again by the Spirit of God.
9 Notable Quotes from ‘Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy’
Lament gives us a language to express our grief and sorrow to God, while asking him to lead us to deeper trust.
Prayer Is and Should Be Trinitarian
I am more convinced than ever that prayer is and should be Trinitarian. Of course, this doesn’t mean that every single prayer must reference the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
How to Pray in Times of Trouble
When we cannot articulate our prayer requests to God, the Holy Spirit understands our groanings and translates them into intelligible prayers that God the Father can understand and will answer.
The church is led to maturity on her mission through intentional, earnest, persistent intercessory prayer. A man of God leads from his knees!
Why Use Written Prayers? A Personal Reflection
I understand and respect the hesitations that some believers have regarding the use of written prayers—either privately or publicly. I have close friends who fall on both sides of this discussion.
How Thankfulness Increases Your Capacity for Wonder
Thankfulness greatly intensifies one of life’s most precious capacities—namely, the capacity to marvel. We are created for it.
John Piper’s Prayer for the COVID-19 Pandemic
Grant recovery. Grant a cure. Deliver us—your poor, helpless creatures—from these sorrows, we pray.
Take Your Doubts about God to God
God always invites us to take our troubles straight to him. This is what godly people have done throughout history.
The following prayers are from The Primer (1652) by John Owen and can be used to give children a framework for talking to the Lord in prayer.
Why Spontaneous Prayer and Planned Prayer Are Both Important
Praying about something right in the moment reminds us of our dependence, but planned prayer has its place, too.
How to Pray for the Advent Season
How do you pray to prepare for Advent season?
The Counterintuitive Path to Blessing
When we pray for God’s kingdom to come “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10), we sometimes imagine the kingdom to be far away.
4 Things to Remember When Reading the Bible
Proper Bible reading begins before we open the book. It begins in our approach.
If you are responding to Jesus and following him, then you are praying.
9 Notable Quotes from Seasons of Waiting
God uses seasons of waiting to teach us patience and make us more like himself.
Discovering Depth and Renewal through Daily Liturgy
If we are dissatisfied with our times of devotion with the Lord, enriching our daily liturgy can lead to renewal and rejuvenation.
Two of Prayer’s Essential Ingredients
The resurrection is the most important thing to behold in God’s word to fuel our desire to pray. But really, we need all of God’s word. We also need God’s people.
Giving Thanks Is Better Together
Thanksgiving is not simply a thank-you card, sealed in an envelope and intended only for the eyes of the divine addressee. Thanksgiving is an open, public declaration.
Praying the Bible vs. Interpreting the Bible
One hurdle many people face when trying to pray the Bible is confusing prayer time with Bible study, interpretation, and application.
Podcast: How Ancient Liturgy Can Renew Your Walk with Jesus Today (Jonathan Gibson)
Jonathan Gibson talks about why liturgy can be such a powerful force for good in the life of the Christian when rightly understood and practiced.
How to Pray in the Wake of Hurricane Dorian
Natural disasters can be a doorway for spiritual questions and eternal decisions. We can do more than just watch and marvel.
Podcast: Prayer as an Invitation, Not an Obligation (John Onwuchekwa)
In this episode, John Onwuchekwa discusses how prayer can deepen our relationship with God instead of being a source of guilt.
How Do You Pursue Neighbors Who Continually Avoid Your Invitation?
Here are a couple of barriers you can remove to make people feel loved and welcomed.
How to Prioritize Family Prayer as a Leader
We must proactively pursue the priority of prayer in the home and somehow make the time for it.
3 Words of Counsel to Sufferers
Be aware that you're always preaching to yourself some kind of gospel.
How to Pray When You’re Feeling Shame
Here are three things to pray for when you’re feeling ashamed.
How to Stop Praying the Same Old Things about the Same Old Things
“Empty phrases” are ruinous in any area of spirituality, but especially in prayer.
Help! My Daily Worship Feels Stale
When we experience a time when our quiet time becomes stale, it’s easy to become discouraged, especially if we don’t know where to look for help. However, help is at hand in two ways.
How Our Theology Shapes Our Prayers
Theology helps us uncover what we know about God and turn it into prayer and praise to God.
14 Notable Quotes from Habits of Grace
“Habits of grace” are the God-designed channels through which his glorious grace flows—making them life-giving practices for all Christians.
We live in a world that has trivialized God, having reduced him to human proportions.
Our need to anchor our souls with the reminder of God's goodness and greatness hasn't changed.
The Prayers of Jesus: A 5-Day Devotional
Jesus’s ministry on earth as a human was marked by a devotion to prayer. Through his prayer life, we see what it means to truly depend on God.
Podcast: Struggling to Pray? Start Here. (Kevin DeYoung)
Kevin DeYoung talks about our common struggle to pray and how the Lord's Prayer—the prayer that Jesus offered as a model for our prayers—can help us to pray to God day in and day out.
Use this prayer as a guide as you lead your family at the table or as spend time in personal prayer this Thanksgiving.
A Word of Encouragement for Those Who Don't Journal
Those of us who have not journaled before might wonder where to even begin. We might ask why journaling is important or how it helps us in our walk with the Lord.
The one prayer Christ calls us all to pray requires us to let go of our momentary agendas and take up his eternal one.
How to Keep Corporate Prayer Focused
We want to avoid the various negative experiences many of us have faced in corporate prayer.
3 Ways You Can Ignite a Passion for Church Planting in Your Church
If you desire to spread a passion for church planting in your church, go to Scripture, partner with other churches, and pray, pray, pray.
On May 3rd, across the country, countless will gather to come before the Lord for the National Day of Prayer.
Psalm 23 The Lord Is My Shepherd A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He …
The means of grace—the Bible, prayer, and fellowship—are regular channels by which we can experience God's grace.
Let's pray. How many times have you been privileged to say or hear those words?
Podcast: Do You Know That Jesus Is Praying for You? (Joel Beeke)
Joel Beeke discusses the doctrine of Christ's ongoing intercession in heaven and why it's more important and spiritually edifying than you may realize.
Though God’s loving disposition toward us was settled at the cross, our feelings and circumstances often shake our confidence in who God is for us.
How We Can Best Pray for Our Hurting Friends
Rather than just telling people you're praying for them, pray aloud for them in their presence.
Podcast: The Antidote to a Boring Prayer Life (Donald Whitney)
Donald Whitney talks about a simple, proven approach to prayer that has the potential to transform your spiritual life for the better.
Podcast: Christianity Is Both Easier and Harder Than You Think (Kevin DeYoung)
Kevin DeYoung discusses the reasons we’re so hard on ourselves and what it looks like to truly embrace the freedom and joy of being beloved children of our heavenly Father.
Psalm 37 He Will Not Forsake His Saints Of David. Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. …
Journey through the Psalms: A 7-Day Devotional
Humans are relational, emotional beings—and nothing reveals this more beautifully than the book of Psalms.
Praying in Response to God's Word
We have a conversation when we hear God speak to us in the Bible and then we speak to him in prayer.
Video: Don Whitney on the Benefit of Praying the Bible
In this video, Justin Taylor sits down with Don Whitney to discuss what it means to pray through God's Word.
Podcast: The Most Important Thing Our Churches Have Forgotten to Do (Paul Miller)
Paul Miller deepens our understanding of prayer by highlighting why we need to pray with one another if we really want to experience the full blessing of prayer.
Podcast: How to Lament after Two Years of Loss (Mark Vroegop)
Mark Vroegop considers what it looks like to lament the COVID-19 pandemic—and how that lament can help us heal, both individually and as churches.
Podcast: Am I Really Supposed to Forgive and Forget? (Erika Allen)
Erika Allen discusses the emotional challenge of forgiving someone who has sinned against us and thoughtfully answers questions about what is required for true forgiveness.
Video: 6 Reasons to Pray the Bible
Here are six benefits of praying through the Bible.
Psalm 67 Make Your Face Shine upon Us To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song. May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, …
Slay the idol of focusing on only what can be seen, lauded, noticed.
1 Thessalonians 2 Paul's Ministry to the Thessalonians For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as …
The Battle of Accepting Our Limits
This gospel meditation explores the idea of being worried and confused with the Christian life, offering an invitation to turn to God when life doesn't make sense.
John 5 The Healing at the Pool on the Sabbath After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a …
Preview: ‘Be Thou My Vision’ by Jonathan Gibson
Today's episode is a special audio preview of Jonathan Gibson's new book, Be Thou My Vision: A Liturgy for Daily Worship.
Ask a Pastor's Wife: Prayer Life
Gloria Furman responds to Laura who writes, "How do you organize your prayer life?"
Podcast: How Journaling Could Reinvigorate Your Prayer Life (Erika Allen)
Erika Allen talks about the struggles of consistent prayer, how journaling can help us with that, and what God really thinks about our baby steps towards him.
Practical Help for Times of Trouble
The things that have helped me in times of trouble are the ordinary things that God talks about in his Word.
Prayers of Old Remind Us That We Are Not Alone
Looking at prayers that came from those before us was just an opportunity for me to personally dive into where the church has been and to understand that we’re not alone.
Podcast: How Jesus Is Both the Singer and the Subject of the Psalms (Christopher Ash)
Christopher Ash discusses how we should understand the psalms in light of Christ and what role they should play in our lives today, both personally and corporately in the church.
Podcast: A Guide for Weary Pray-ers (Doug O’Donnell)
Doug O’Donnell discusses the new Daily Liturgy Devotional, sharing how he really wrote the book for himself first and foremost, and how it has impacted his devotional life recently.
Podcast: What We Can Learn from the Prayers of Church History (Zach Carter and Jonathan Arnold)
Zach Carter and Jonathan Arnold help us understand and engage with written prayers throughout church history.