Praying Persistently | July 27th Day of Prayer
Praying Persistently | July 27th Day of Prayer
Once again, we devote ourselves to earnest prayer this Wednesday, July 27. Please join us in the evening as we engage in united prayer from 5:30 until 8:15 p.m. You may come & go anytime as your schedule permits.
J.C. Ryle wrote, “I have read the [pages] of many eminent Christians who have been on earth since Bible days. Some of them, I see, were rich and some were poor. Some were learned, some unlearned. Some have loved to use a liturgy, and some chose to use none. But one thing, I see, they all had in common. They have all been people of prayer.”
The same thing could be said of Christian churches. May New Covenant Bible Church be a house of prayer!
At least half the battle in prayer is remembering to Whom we are praying.
In Luke 11, Jesus teaches us about the character of our Heavenly Father in order to encourage us to persist in prayer.
Our Father is a Friend Who is Always Available
You remember the story of the friend knocking on the door at midnight. Finally, just to get rid of the annoyance of his friend’s interruption of his family’s sleep, the man gets out of bed and gives his friend whatever he needs.
The man knocking on his neighbor’s door was shameless. It takes some nerve to wake your neighbor up in the middle of the night—especially when his whole family is sleeping in a one-room house! You may be stretching the bounds of friendship to its limits—your friend may be grumpy and reluctant to get out of bed—but if you are shamelessly bold enough to knock on your neighbor’s door in the middle of the night, he will rise and give you whatever you need. But he might tell you the next morning, “Hey, bud, don’t make a habit of that!”
What is Jesus’ point? He wants us to know that God is never asleep. The Throne of Grace is never closed for business. Because of the blood of Jesus which reconciles us to God, we now have a Friend in heaven who is always available, always ready to draw near to us when we draw near to him. If you’d finally crawl out of bed in the middle of the night for a needy neighbor, how much more will your God who never sleeps nor slumbers pay attention to you? He’s always working, even while we are sleeping. He’ll never tell you to go away until a more opportune time. There’s never a bad time to come to God. He will meet you in the midnight of your life.
Our Father is a God Worth Seeking
Jesus says, “I tell you, ask [and keep on asking], and it will be given to you; seek [and keep on seeking], and you will find; knock [and keep on knocking], and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened” (Luke 11:9-10).
Press in. Pray with intensity. Learn to prevail with God in prayer. You can never come too often —he doesn’t tire of hearing his children. He is the Rewarder of those who diligently seek him. No exceptions. When we’re praying according to God’s will, no prayer goes unheard or unheeded.
Our Father Always Gives Us His Very Best
I love how Jesus ends his teaching on prayer: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him” (Luke 11:13).
In giving us His Holy Spirit, our heavenly Father gives us the best gift He can give: Himself. And as Ray Ortlund says, “The best prayer to God is a prayer for God.”
Let’s unite in prayer for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit that will result in nationwide revival and awakening, to the glory of God alone!
Your brother in Christ our All,
David Sunday
Once again, we devote ourselves to earnest prayer this Wednesday, July 27. Please join us in the evening as we engage in united prayer from 5:30 until 8:15 p.m. You may come & go anytime as your schedule permits.
J.C. Ryle wrote, “I have read the [pages] of many eminent Christians who have been on earth since Bible days. Some of them, I see, were rich and some were poor. Some were learned, some unlearned. Some have loved to use a liturgy, and some chose to use none. But one thing, I see, they all had in common. They have all been people of prayer.”
The same thing could be said of Christian churches. May New Covenant Bible Church be a house of prayer!
At least half the battle in prayer is remembering to Whom we are praying.
In Luke 11, Jesus teaches us about the character of our Heavenly Father in order to encourage us to persist in prayer.
Our Father is a Friend Who is Always Available
You remember the story of the friend knocking on the door at midnight. Finally, just to get rid of the annoyance of his friend’s interruption of his family’s sleep, the man gets out of bed and gives his friend whatever he needs.
The man knocking on his neighbor’s door was shameless. It takes some nerve to wake your neighbor up in the middle of the night—especially when his whole family is sleeping in a one-room house! You may be stretching the bounds of friendship to its limits—your friend may be grumpy and reluctant to get out of bed—but if you are shamelessly bold enough to knock on your neighbor’s door in the middle of the night, he will rise and give you whatever you need. But he might tell you the next morning, “Hey, bud, don’t make a habit of that!”
What is Jesus’ point? He wants us to know that God is never asleep. The Throne of Grace is never closed for business. Because of the blood of Jesus which reconciles us to God, we now have a Friend in heaven who is always available, always ready to draw near to us when we draw near to him. If you’d finally crawl out of bed in the middle of the night for a needy neighbor, how much more will your God who never sleeps nor slumbers pay attention to you? He’s always working, even while we are sleeping. He’ll never tell you to go away until a more opportune time. There’s never a bad time to come to God. He will meet you in the midnight of your life.
Our Father is a God Worth Seeking
Jesus says, “I tell you, ask [and keep on asking], and it will be given to you; seek [and keep on seeking], and you will find; knock [and keep on knocking], and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened” (Luke 11:9-10).
Press in. Pray with intensity. Learn to prevail with God in prayer. You can never come too often —he doesn’t tire of hearing his children. He is the Rewarder of those who diligently seek him. No exceptions. When we’re praying according to God’s will, no prayer goes unheard or unheeded.
Our Father Always Gives Us His Very Best
I love how Jesus ends his teaching on prayer: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him” (Luke 11:13).
In giving us His Holy Spirit, our heavenly Father gives us the best gift He can give: Himself. And as Ray Ortlund says, “The best prayer to God is a prayer for God.”
Let’s unite in prayer for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit that will result in nationwide revival and awakening, to the glory of God alone!
Your brother in Christ our All,
David Sunday
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