“…the ancient Christians who prayed for hours were, mostly, people who had organized their entire lives around that practice. The ordinary layperson in fourth-century Antioch prayed three times a day for a few minutes each.” - A Whole Soul
“Spurgeon is unpacking a truth often repeated in Scripture. God doesn’t keep time like we keep time. His ways are not our ways (Isa. 55:8). What is unanswered to us is simply moving right on his timetable for him.” - TGC
Read the series.
I groaned when I read the first sentences of a WORLD magazine article that appeared a while back: “My husband lost a week’s pay. It must have fallen out of his pocket at the hardware store.” I’d sure hate to be that guy! I don’t even want to think about what losing a week’s pay would do to my family’s budget.
“[F]riends are fallible. The wisest among them is still prone to misjudgment, and the most knowledgeable among them is still prone to ignorance…. Even the best-intentioned friend can provide counsel that hurts, harms, or leads astray…. It is a tremendous comfort, then, that when we pray, we are not praying to someone else who is just trying to figure it all out, as we are.” - Challies
“Five ways that believers can unite in prayer, regardless of their views on the military conflict” - World
“More than 2 in 5 (44%) confess to God every day, while a quarter (26%) do so a few times a week. Fewer say they ask for forgiveness once a week (13%), a few times a month (8%) or once a month (4%).” - Lifeway
“To have peace, we must loosen our grip on our lives. And there’s one simple but powerful habit that consistently helps us do this: prayer.” - Lifeway
Read the series.
You’ve had a few days on the first exercise machine—the Scripture—and if you’ve been diligent, you may have some sore muscles, ones you haven’t exercised in a while. Good for you.
What’s the next exercise machine?
Recall that we’re finding New Testament uses of the word grace where the context indicates that the word is speaking of spiritual strength, and where there’s some sort of practice indicated that builds up the grace.
Our second passage is probably familiar to you; it’s commonly included in Bible memory programs.
“prayer connects us to our Creator by giving us the opportunity to make our thoughts, hopes, and sorrows known to Him. That’s not something you want to get wrong! Fortunately, God did not leave us in the dark to stumble around” - P&D
A sermon (No. 1469) delivered on Lord’s-Day morning, April 20th, 1879, by C. H. Spurgeon
At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
“In every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”—Philippians 4:6.
