Category: Prayer

Giving Thanks Before Eating

Have you ever considered the importance of giving thanks before eating? The practice of giving thanks before meals is rooted in Scripture and demonstrated by faithful children of God, including Jesus and the apostles. Every blessing comes from the Father (James 1:17), and expressing gratitude for God’s blessings should be a fundamental part of the Christian’s life.

1. Jesus Consistently Gave Thanks Before Eating

  • Jesus gave thanks before distributing food to the four thousand (Matthew 15:36; Mark 8:6).
… Read more

What A.I. Says About the Catholic Church

An Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) chatbot allows people to ask it questions of practically any kind, and it “works by processing large amounts of text data and using patterns in that data to generate responses that are relevant and coherent” (chatgpt.com). The most widely used chatbot is called ChatGPT: “As of September 2024, ChatGPT is the most popular AI tool in the world. The AI chatbot receives 3.1 billion monthly website visits from over 180 million users” (explodingtopics.com).… Read more

10 Questions for Those Who Doubt God’s Providence

Although we do not understand everything about God’s providence (Esther 4:14; Rom. 11:33), faithful Christians should firmly believe in the non-miraculous providence of God today. We can ask our loving Heavenly Father for anything according to His will, and He hears and grants our requests (1 Pet. 3:12; 1 Jn. 5:14-15). Sometimes we do not know what God’s will is (such as when we are deciding where to live or what job offer to accept), and we simply pray for wisdom and for God’s will to be done (Mt.… Read more

10 Things for Which Christians Can Pray

Those who believe and obey the Gospel of Christ are blessed to have access to God the Father through His Son (Acts 2:36-42), and they may pray for things such as:

1. Forgiveness (Acts 8:22-24; Jam. 5:16; 1 Jn. 1:9)

2. Daily necessities (Matt. 6:11)

3. Deliverance from evil (Matt. 6:13)

4. Strength, boldness (Eph. 3:14-21; 6:18-19)

5. Opportunities (Col. 4:3; cf. 1 Cor. 16:9)

6. Wisdom (Jam. 1:5)

7. Other Christians (1 Thess. 5:25; Heb. 13:18)

8. Government leaders and all men (1 Tim.… Read more

The “Model Prayer” of Matthew 6 (for us)

1. Address the Father

2. Honor His name

3. Pray for the kingdom (the kingdom/church has come, but we can pray for it to spread, pray for the members, congregations, etc.) 

4. Pray for God’s will to be done

5. Pray for daily necessities (“daily bread”)

6. Pray for forgiveness

7. Pray for deliverance from the evil one

8. Acknowledge God’s sovereignty and glory

9. Today we pray in Jesus’ name (John 16:23-24)

10. Say, “Amen”       

Note: Jesus gave us an example of prayer, not to be quoted verbatim.… Read more

Ten Tips for Leading Public Prayers

1. Speak clearly and respectfully to God the Father in Jesus’ name

2. Use first person plural pronouns (we, us, our), not I, me, my

3. Think about your prayer in advance if possible

4. Honor prayer requests as much as possible (glancing at a note is ok)

5. If you make a mistake, fix it if possible and move on

6. Pray pertaining to the situation (Is this an opening prayer? closing prayer? prayer before communion? prayer before giving? prayer for someone to be forgiven?… Read more

Does Revelation 5 Teach Prayer to Jesus?

On several occasions, Jesus taught His disciples how to pray. He taught them how to pray before His death (Mt. 6:9-13; 7:7-11; Lk. 11:1-4), and He taught them how they should pray after His death, burial, and resurrection (Jn. 14-16). On every occasion, Jesus taught His disciples to pray to the Father, not to Jesus or the Holy Spirit. In fact, Jesus explicitly told His disciples not to address Him in prayer after He left them in the Father’s care: “And in that day ye shall ask me nothing.… Read more

Running from a Lion to a Bear

When Amos addressed Israel regarding the judgment of the Lord, he wrote, “Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord!  to what end is it for you?  the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.  As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him. . .” (Amos 5:18, 19).  With these verses Amos was referring to inescapable judgment, but it can also be said that sometimes when people attempt to avoid something harmful they may often go to an extreme which can be just as harmful as the issue they were initially trying to avoid. … Read more

The Question of Praying to the Holy Spirit

Should Christians pray to the Holy Spirit? Considering the clarity with which the Scriptures teach men to pray exclusively to the Father, one may wonder why this question even needs asking. Sadly, some openly teach that Christians may address the Holy Spirit in prayer. What are the repercussions if Christians begin believing such a doctrine? In the future, will congregations all over the world be praying to the Holy Spirit in worship assemblies? This is a dangerous doctrine which needs to be answered.… Read more