praying | Christian Library

Why It Makes Sense to Persevere in Prayer

You should not give up praying, and so this article gives seven reasons for persevering in prayer.

Weeping and praying do well together; tears put life into prayers...and prayers help to wipe away tears. Matthew Henry

Powerful Prayer

How can Christians be helped to grow in their praying? This article lays out some suggestions. We first need to understand the gospel aspect of our praying, that Christ is our mediator and is interceding for us in heaven. We may also be helped in making use of the Psalms, in ordering our prayers, in concentrating on God first, and in reading works that contain the prayers of saints.

Five Benefits of Praying the Psalms

This article presents five benefits for the believer praying with the Psalms as the guide for prayer.

Praying for Your People

This article underlines the importance of pastors praying for their congregation. It looks at various Scripture passage in its consideration of how pastors should pray.

Beating the Prayer Bluff

When you tell someone that you will pray for him, do you really do it? How can you start praying for those you tell you will pray for them? This article discusses three shifts we can make in order to be constant in prayer for those around us.

How to Pray Using Scripture

This article provides a simple strategy for praying the Bible. It discusses three Rs: rejoice, repent, request.

Prayerful Praying: Taking Hold of Yourself and God in Prayer

While showing the cause of prayerless praying — praying with your lips only — this article aims at encouraging prayerful praying — praying with an intense desire of the soul. Ways in which one can take hold of himself and God in prayer are shared.

Matthew Henry on a Practical Method of Daily Life

Giving a short biography on the life of Matthew Henry, this article shows what he taught about daily prayer. Showing that daily prayer is a result of your understanding of your relationship with God in Christ, the article urges starting, spending, and closing the day with God, and praying the Scriptures in your daily prayer.

The Puritans on the Help of the Holy Spirit in Prayer

This article shows the role of the Holy Spirit in shaping the content of prayer and the manner of praying.

Prayer Is a Great Place to Begin Biblical Counselling

What do your prayer requests look like? How do they match up with the focus of Scripture's prayers? This article explains how right praying and prayer requests are good avenues to pursue in order to care well for one another.

Leading in Prayer

Have you ever been asked to publicly lead in prayer? How can we prepare for praying publicly? This article discusses some common faults made in public prayer, and highlights some positive characteristics of public prayer.

The Lord's Prayer (Part 3): Your Will Be Done

This is the third article in a seven part series on the Lord's Prayer. By praying, "Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven" (the third petition), Christians express their desire to see God in His sovereignty conforming events on this earth to His revealed will. It is also an expression of delighting in God's will.

The Lord's Prayer (Part 5): Forgiveness

This is the fifth article in a seven part series on the Lord's Prayer. Praying for forgiveness (the fifth petition) is necessary because sin is directed against God. The author discusses the relationship between confession of sins and repentance, and points to God as the model for forgiveness.

The Holy Spirit, His Ministry, and the Preacher of God (Part 2)

The minister and his ministry depend on the work of the Holy Spirit for its success. By looking at the person of the Holy Spirit and His power, the author of this article shows that the minister can experience the work of the Holy Spirit by praying for the Holy Spirit.

Maintaining the Vision

This article is about maintaining the vision for the reformation of the church and society, and praying for a blessing on our work as Christians.

Ephesians 3:14-16 - Paul’s Prayer

This article on Ephesians 3:14-16 is about praying for the strength of the Spirit.

You May Become the Answer to Your Own Prayer (Backfire Casualties)

Jesus instructed His disciples to pray for workers in His kingdom. That instruction is then immediately followed up Him sending out the very ones who were praying (Matthew 9:38). This article discusses the task of praying for missionaries.

The Sovereignty of God and Prayer

If we believe that God works all things according to His will (Ephesians 1:11), and if we believe that His knowledge of all things is perfect, then what is the point of prayer? Or: If God has determined some to be His sons and has chosen them before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4,5), is there then any point in praying for anyone's conversion?

Christian Ethics and Pastoral Counseling

This article looks at different aspects of counseling (listening, applying the Word, praying etc.) and then also looks at different examples of good counseling (marital problems, thinking of abortion, and incest).