7 Prayers That Work

  Have you ever prayed and asked God to give us the desires of our heart? It's a Scriptural. David prayed these words. But let's look at the whole prayer for some context . How should you pray for the desires of your heart? We find this important phrase in Psalm 20 . David outlines his troubles to God, and he speaks truth over his fears. Three times, David gives a humble and worshipful response to God's character of goodness. This prayer is anything but a laundry list for desires, but it is an outpouring of desire for God and from God. Here's how it goes: Dear Lord, you answer me when I'm in distress. You protect me. You send help from your sanctuary and give me support from Zion (that's angel protection and help!). You remember my worship and my gift offerings. You give me the desires of my heart . You make all my plans succeed . I shout for joy  and lift up the banner displaying God's goodness. You grant my requests. You save me because I am yours, and ...

We all struggle to follow God consistently. We all return to our nasty habits and warped way of thinking. Keep struggling--keep fighting for truth to become the loudest voice in your head. Read the prayer below of confession and dedication. Click on the 8 prayers embedded in this one to find more encouragement to help you make the continual decision to follow God and reject your selfish nature. There is victory in Jesus! We have to stop making excuses about why we don't follow God completely or why we revise what he tells us to do (so that it fits with our lifestyle). Joy and contentment are found only in a pure relationship with God. Lord, It's me again. I'm struggling. You see me every time I go back to the things I've left behind, when I give in to my sinful habits , my selfish thinking, my comfortable natural inclinations my all-out rebellion. I don't want to keep going back to that life, that endless pursuit of happiness that never feels sati...

Hello,  It's me again, Lord. I feel stuck. There's so much to talk about, to ask you for, and to ask you about: The Coronavirus ,  the quarantine, the Chinese, the economy, the jobless, the sick, the first responders, the doctors and nurses, my work, my home, my family, my church, my community, my country, the world. There is so much. I know you're not worried. I know you have a plan. Of course, your p lan is always to glorify your Son, Jesus. Your plan is always to redeem us, your children. Somehow, you do both. It's hard to understand. Your ways are higher than mine. Your perspective is broader than mine. Your purpose is holy, while mine is selfish. You are working, and I want to join you, but I feel stuck in this crisis. Develop courage in me because I am afraid . Develop grace in me because I am judgmental. Develop patience in me because I am impatient. Develop compassion in me because I am selfish. I ask you to ans...

Dear Lord Jesus, Thank you for your love  and for demonstrating it through the love of a human family. What a beautiful concept! Thank you for creating each person in this world so carefully. Each is unique in personality and purpose. Thank you for the overwhelming blessing of children, parents, siblings, extended family. Thank you for everything-- for the struggles and the pain that living in community brings. Thank you for the joys and the surprises, the disappointments and the hope. Thank you for all of it because you use all of it to make us better and to prepare us for your purpose. Thank you for the love of my spiritual family, for friends at church, for mentors, teachers, and leaders, for all the people I'll never meet  who preached a sermon or wrote a book, or started a non-profit, or wrote curriculum that formed me and challenged me and changed me. Bless them for their service to me because they loved and obeyed you. I just need your Spirit...

Below is a guest post by James Watkins, one of the first editors to publish articles by me. He happens to be a great prayer warrior, as well as successful editor and author. And he's funny. I know you'll be challenged and inspired by this article by him (the links in parentheses are mine): On the kitchen wall in my boyhood home hung a plaque that promised “God Answers Prayer.” Because of those words, reinforced in Sunday school and Bible storybooks, I got the idea that prayer was a 100-percent-guarantee, lifetime-warranty, you-must-be-completely- satisfied-or-your-money-back, over-night-delivery promise. And so, as a first-grader, I prayed for a pony for my birthday . . . and didn’t get it. I prayed for a pony for Christmas . . . and didn’t get it. During adolescence, I prayed that my face would clear up, and those prayers weren’t answered either. As I grew up, so did my prayers. They were far less selfish and included more altruistic requests such an end to the Vietna...

When grief rolls over you like an ocean, you often don't know what to do except cry and pray. The problem is usually that you don't know what to pray. You have no words, but your heart longs to cry out. In times like these, I pray Bible verses. I figure if God inspired them, then they speak the truth He wants to hear. And since the Bible is full of people who prayed prayers of grief, I have plenty to pick from. Today I found this little gem in Isaiah 25:8-9 . Look it up to see the actual words (part of a poem). Below is Isaiah 25:8-9, made into a prayer of grief: Oh, Lord, I believe you came to swallow up death forever. Could you come and wipe away my tears today? Remove my disgrace, my shame, my heartache from being remembered in my life and in this world. Let people remember me for your influence on my life. Transform my grief into purpose and blessing. You have declared this to be your passion. Someday, people will say, "Look at what God did throug...

Lord, the powerful God, Deliver my friend from spiritual bondage-- from fear, bitterness, anger, victimization, danger. I pray against the spirits of fear and confusion, of bitterness and hate. I pray for hope, healing, and restoration to the daughter you created her to be. You replace ashes with beauty. You place the orphans in families. You are a husband to the widow. You are judge to the lawless. You bring hope to the hopeless, sight to the unseeing, healing to the broken, justice to the oppressed, friendship to the friendless, love to the unloved. Delivering my friend from her spiritual struggles is no problem for you. Just another day's work for the God of the universe. I am in awe of you. In Jesus' holy and mighty name, Amen.

Lord, I'm sorry I've been away for awhile. I let my daily routines consume my time. I let my mind fill up with lists and stresses. I really just needed more of you. Help me to seek you first and your righteousness. You will take care of the rest. Change my devotional time to reflect new priorities. I long for your presence and for your Spirit. Come to me, indwell me, change me. I'm yours. Amen. Matthew 6:31-33

Dear Lord, I'm tired of praying about this. Nothing changes. Do you want to help me? Do you hear me? Will you respond to me? I'm waiting. Help me to grow while I wait. Strengthen my faith-- I don't trust you enough. Help to to readjust my focus, to remember that your plans are bigger than my plans, that your love spans generations, cultures, and centuries. You are producing good works in me and in many other people, too, while I wait here impatiently, trying to decide if I should quit praying. I'm sorry. I'm so selfish and demanding. Help me to persevere, and by being faithful in prayer, I want to bring you glory, today and every day. Strengthen my resolve. Help me not to grow weary in praying. Give me a harvest of good works, a life lived in complete surrender and total expectation of the abundance of God's love! In Jesus' name, Amen. Read Lori Hatcher's blog post today, called " Powerful Hope When You're ...

Dear God Creator, Wow! It's spring, and I'm startled by the beauty you've created. How could anyone invent such varied and delicate blossoms or paint such a canvas as Virginia in the spring? White, pink, fuchsia, purple, yellow, periwinkle, green-- the colors of flowering trees and plants blend together in shocking splendor. You did this because you love me and you can't help but create, again and again. You're doing it in me every day, re-creating something that was dormant during the winters of my life, something I've given up on and decided I can't change. I've decided that some part of me will never improve. That this is just the way I am. Yet the Spirit of God in me says,   No. You were created for something more. You are splendid. I am making you new, always pruning, always nurturing, always alive and hopeful, like spring. You are being re-born. This is what I do. I create. I make all things new. Thank you. I worship...

Heavenly Father, Why do you bless me so much? I am in awe of your perfect ways and the grace you give when you let us become involved in the work you're doing around the world. Today you let me meet a child I've sponsored for 15 years, halfway around the world. We share love and appreciation for one another, even though we had never met or talked before today. You have knit our hearts together in the Lord. Even though we don't share race, culture, economic status, gender, age, or interests, this relationship has enriched and changed our lives. Your Spirit accomplished that. Thank you for using me and blessing me in the process. How awesome are your ways, O Lord! Amen.

Lord God, Your creativity and artistry amaze me. Thank you for the beautiful snowfall. And more importantly, thank you for my home and my heat. You are too good to me. Amen.

Lord, Help me prioritize. My work is piling up. I have so many projects, pressures, and demands. At work and home, the list is endless. I've missed some family time. I haven't exercised. My devotional life is poor. Friends are waiting for lunches. I'm like Martha-- worried and upset about many things. Few things are needed-- or indeed only one. Help me see You in order to choose You. Instead of asking You to point me toward the priority that I should do first, I want to make You the priority. Help me to chose what cannot be taken away. First You. Only You. I choose You. In Jesus' beautiful name, Amen. Luke 10:40-42

Dear Lord, I want so much. I want happiness and success and impact. I want friends and family. I  need to stop a second and thank you, because your generosity has exceeded my wants. Thank you for using me. Thank you for saving me and filling me and hanging with me even when I stop hanging with you. Thank you for gifting me, even though I don't always appreciate the gifts you choose for me. Thank you for my family, for our home, for our opportunities, for all the things I grumble about that are incredible blessings. May I complain less, argue less, pout less, despair less, give up less. Because all things are possible in Christ. I want your will. I want what you want, in the way that you want it for me. I just want You. Amen.

I read James 5:16 today. I think I should follow its commands. It's a good, albeit humbling, cleansing method. "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."  I am proud : I care what people think and want them to respect and like me. I want to think I'm better than other people at the things I value. I am petty : I worry and obsess over things that don't really matter in life. I am unforgiving:  I sometimes harbor secret resentment toward people who have wronged me. I cover it up by being nice to them, but deep down, I probably don't want them to prosper. I am selfish: I think of my own needs and desires first. Even when I serve people, I am often aware of what I'm "giving up." This is still being self-oriented. I am forgetful : I focus on the present, to the detriment of the past and all God has already done for me. I am faith...

Lord God, the Holy One-- You are gracious and full of awesome power and purity. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. I come today on behalf of someone else. I want to pray for ________'s repentance, so first I must ask you to forgive me of my wrong-doing and selfishness. Convict and remove all the little pet sins I shelter in my life, the things I say aren't a big deal. Root them out. I'll brace myself. I know it will hurt a little to be honest with myself and change my will and behavior. But when I do, I will have peace. Forgive me, please. So now I ask you to forgive __________. I confess on his/her behalf. Forgive him/her for rebellion, selfishness, pride, and ignorance of Your laws and Your expectations. Moses confessed for Israel, and even though they rarely repented, You had compassion on them, for Moses' sake. You showed grace and mercy and lovingkindness. Because someone cared enough to ask You for it. Show Your lovingkindness to...

Here are 10 reasons you should fast and pray: 1. Jesus fasted (Mtt. 4:2). 2. Fasting accompanies fervent prayer (Ezra 8:23, Dan. 9:2-4) 3. The early church fasted before making decisions (Acts 13:1-2). 4. Jesus taught his disciples how to fast (Mtt. 6:16-18). 5. Jesus said his disciples would fast in his absence (Mk. 2:18-20). 6. Fasting accompanies worship (Lk. 2:37). 7. Fasting puts you in an attitude of repentance (1 Sam. 7:6, Neh. 9:1-3) 8. Fasting reminds you that nothing is an important as hearing from God (Jer. 36:6-9). 9. Fasting increases patience, which is a necessary part of praying (Psalm 35). 10. Fasting facilitates grief and wisdom in your response (Neh. 1:4) Dear Lord Jehovah, I am in awe of you. I confess my many sins, and I bring to you the sins of my loved ones and ask for your mercy on their behalf. Move in me, and move in them. Let your spirit pour over us and drown us with your presence. Lead us in your will and give us the courage to obey your call...

Dear Lord, It's Monday. (But you know that already.) Monday probably doesn't affect your work week one bit, but it has enormous implications for mine. Pressure (I have so much to do). Adrenaline (the fight or flight kind). Discouragement (I'll never get this all done). Despair (I'll never be free of this pressure). Now comes the breathing exercise. Hoo-hoo-hee-hee. Almost like I'm giving birth. That's not what you want for me today. It's not what you've planned. Breathe. I'm going for a walk, and I'm going to give this all back to you, just like I do every Monday. And every Tuesday-Sunday if I choose to live by faith instead of by sight. Oh, God of heaven and earth, Give me your Presence and your peace. I am way too human and way too incapable of performing what you have for me today. I want your will, your way Today and every day. Amen. image by Karen Arnold

Dear Lord, the Husband of my soul, You have blessed me with a husband here on earth. I ask you to pour out your blessing on him because you are good, not because he or I deserve your blessing. Guide his feet down the path of righteousness, Guard his ears from acknowledging worldly advice or accepting godless counsel. Keep him from forming friendships with people who mock truth and stymie mission. Give him joy in your presence. May he delight in you and in your truth! Help him to crave your Word, to read and reflect on the truth you reveal to him. Give him the wisdom to hear your voice and the courage to obey your commands. Nourish his soul so he grows like a tree with deep roots of solid faith and branches heavy with spiritual fruit. In your power, help him impact souls and change lives. Help him to stay strong in you--not to grow weary or discouraged, not to break under the stress of this world. Give him prosperity in the kingdom of God and help him remember t...

Today has been especially hard for me, for no particular reason except that I'm grieving, and today I'm grumpy and unsettled about it. I am not a perky Christian right now. I feel dried up. Parched like a wind-swept desert, I am unable to quench the emptiness of my heart. My faith is strong enough not to rage at God or question His sovereignty; I'm just unhappy, lost even. How selfish that sounds!  After a sad, scrolling-through of social media posts, I ran across my friend Bob Hostetler 's blog on Guideposts , dated yesterday, Sept. 20, 2016. I appreciate his perspective on praying through hard times. Here is an excerpt from his blog  "Pray for Blessings from Disappointments" -- "Most of us, when misfortune occurs, pray for relief or deliverance. That is natural, and it’s a good way to pray.  After all, the psalmist David prayed, “Please, God, rescue me! Come quickly, Lord, and help me” (Psalm 70:1, NLT). And “Please, Lord, rescue me! Com...