How to Pray:
We keep NEWS on our front page so people can pray. We also send out quarterly newsletters -- so people can pray. (Please Sign up HERE!) We believe in prayer, because it works!
Here are our most recent items for prayer:
We often ask others to pray, because we believe in a God who is really there.
This same God cares for us, wants time with us, wants to hear about what we care about, and He promises to answer the sincere prayers of His people. (Matthew 7:7-12)
Jesus' disciples once asked him HOW to pray, and he answered with the Lord's Prayer..., but he first told them how NOT to pray!
- #1 - Don't repeat the Lord's prayer over and over mindlessly!!!!!!!!! (Matthew 6:7)
- #2 - Don't pray LONG prayers!!! (Insincere prayers of "many words" will not be heard! -- Matthew 6:7)
- #3 - Don't ask, if you don't think God will answer.(James 1:6-8)
- #4 - Don't demand anything by right; don't try to force God into anything; don't think that God owes you anything.
- #5 - Don't expect any answer at all unless you know Him.
- #6 - Don't expect any answer at all if you refuse to leave your sins. (James 1:26; 1 John 1:9)
- #7 - Don't ask for anything that is wrong. (James 4:3)
Our God is a Sovereign God who seeks relationship with us. This is at the root of our Reformed theology.
Here are some implications of the prayer Jesus taught:
God made everything, understands everthing, and controls everything.
If He didn't have such power, it wouldn't be worth asking him anything, because he would be too weak or ignorant.
His response just might be sympathy: "Oh, that's too bad. I'm sorry I can't help you."
However, God is totally GOOD, in spite of much that is bad in our world.
If God weren't GOOD, it wouldn't be worth asking him anything.
Prayer might just be a bother and a provocation.
Don't expect God to answer prayers for BAD things. He is 100% GOOD.
He is working out everything in a VERY complex way, but a GOOD way, in order to accomplish the very BEST that could be.
So here is how God's children should pray, and it's really quite simple:
#1 - Know God.
(See other parts of this site for more about that.)
#2 - Be sincere in everything you ask.
#3 - Ask whatever you want....
(But expect God to do what is truly BEST -- and not just be your slave boy to do your bidding. It is HIS WILL that is best and that is exactly what He will do -- because of His GOOD character and because of His love for you. What God really wants is YOU--for you to talk to Him, to realize that He is right here, right now, with you all the time, and loves you in every circumstance, no matter what.)
#4 - Expect God to answer -- LOOK for it! That's FAITH!
God may make you wait. He may want to change something in YOU before he gives you what you ask.
Or He may want you to change what you are asking a bit, so that your request is even better.
But the Bible promises that God will NOT wait any longer than absolutely necessary to do what is good and right.
So look again at the LORD'S PRAYER (Matthew 6:9-13).
Our Reformed theology says that it is a MODEL Jesus gave us for all our prayers, and there's a lot to learn there about God, about how to pray, and about our relationship with God and with others.
So please... PRAY for us! Here's what we need:
Further resources:
Westminster Shorter Catechism questions 98-107
Westminster Larger Catechism questions 178-196