7 Prayers That Work

Lord, God of love and justice, Teach us to love like you, and not hate in the way that comes naturally. Not to hold grudges. Not to act in violence. Not to assume the worst. Not to secretly rejoice when an enemy stumbles. Not to have enemies. Teach us to hate sin and love the sinner. We are sinners. Each of us, is no better than another in God's eyes. God does not love any of us more than any other, so why should we? Teach our leaders to love-- our governors, mayors, judges, prosecutors, and lawmakers to govern from a place of love and righteousness, not power, privilege, or prejudice. By this will all men know that we are your disciples, if we have love one for another. We don't get to choose who to love. That's not loving like you because you chose all of us. But you left the decision up to us. Heal our land through love. Love is justice . Love is collective responsibility. Love is mercy and grace and accountability. Love is being willin...

Lord Jehovah, the Great I AM,  the One who sees all, knows all, and loves all-- I pray your blessing over my children to a thousand generations. May my children and their children and their children seek you with their whole hearts! May they be found in you, may you be found in them, going behind and before them, carving out a path of blessing and purpose! Make them mighty men and women of God-- warriors who defend their hearts against evil, who nurture their minds with truth, who allow the Holy Spirit complete access and direction of their lives. Bless them, use them, protect them, challenge them, call them into your great and mighty work! In Jesus' name and his holy words ,  Amen. "Know therefore that the  Lord  your God is God;  he is the faithful God,  keeping his covenant of love  to a thousand generations  of those who love him and keep his commandments." (Deuteronomy 7:9) Click on the image above to...

In Genesis 24, Abraham sends his servant back to Ur, the country of his origin, to find a wife for his son Isaac.  Abraham instructed his servant: 1. Don't take my son away from here (the Promised Land--where God had called them to be) 2. Don't find a wife from here (because this is a pagan culture) 3. Go back to our people for his wife 4. God will send an angel ahead to prepare her Pretty cool idea. So here's a prayer for your son or daughter's future spouse -- Lord God, I have already dedicated my child to you. I trust you with him/her. You created this child in the womb, perfectly crafting every part of him/her, just as you wished, because You have a special calling and mission for him/her. You want him/her to love and serve you all his/her life. You are protecting, providing, and disciplining him/her, molding him/her into the likeness of Your Son, Jesus. You love this child more than I do, which is saying a lot. You know what is best an...

Lord in Heaven, I ask for your Holy Spirit to quicken my kids' hearts toward your mission. I pray for them to love you from genuine thanksgiving and praise, not from obligation, selfishness, or pride. May they truly believe how much they need you in every facet of their lives. Convict them when they relegate you to Sunday mornings or small group. Fan the flame of service in my children. Stir in them a desire to serve others, to disciple others, to help others. Give them compassionate hearts and eyes to see the world. Let every conversation,  every relationship, every media post, every book, every mission statement be filtered through your calling on their lives to love you and to love others. This is all I want-- I want kids who are completely committed to you. In Jesus' powerful name, Amen. "We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will  through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,   so that you may...

Dear Jesus Christ, Thank you for making the ultimate sacrifice-- for accepting the call as Savior of the world. You took on human likeness, when you were God himself, and subjected yourself to human pain and suffering. You loved us so much that you took our sins on yourself and felt them--held-them-- and died in them, after a day and a night of torture, abuse, and abandonment. It was all wrong--all unjust-- and yet you agreed to it because you loved us. You did that for me. Thank you. I can only feel overwhelmed by your love and convicted by your grace. I am so unworthy you. And you so patiently wait for me, call me, and protect me, even when I don't answer and don't want you. Oh, Lord Jesus! I love you more every day, but I will never understand the depth of your love for me. I worship you. Amen.

What kind of prayer do you pray most often? Requests, probably. Me, too. Requests    are my website's most-clicked on kind of prayer. It seems we're all looking for the right way to ask God to help us. Guess what the second-most popular prayer is? Lamentation. The lament. I love that. I have an audience of grievers and groaners. Praise God. Learning to lament has been one of the most impactful aspects of my spiritual growth. Instead of crying in sorrow, lamenting teaches you to cry out to God (that's the literal meaning of lament). Lamentation is faith in action, maybe even more than when I make a request. When I lament, I dump my heavy burdens, my grief, and my hopelessness at God's feet and say something like, "I don't know what you're doing in my life right now, but help me trust you. I choose to believe you will work all things together for my good. But oh, God, this hurts so much. Cover me with your Spirit!" When I make a req...