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.
Articles on Prayer
209 results found
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.
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.
The Christian Faith of Jane Austen
Learn more about how Jane Austen's faith went from sympathetic to genuine.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. …
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.
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?
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.
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.