NEW TESTAMENT PRAYERS
Introduction
We are so glad you are joining us for these daily prayer posts. Over the next few weeks we are going to listen to the prayers we find in the Bible, and some of God’s most faithful saints and servants. Through their prayers, we will learn better how to pray and connect with our heavenly Father.
Each devotion will take less than ten minutes of your time.
- We will look at an insight from those who know something important about prayer.
- We will listen to the prayers of people in the Bible—people just like us. And to people who gained a deep measure of spiritual intimacy with God because they prayed.
- We will reflect, asking the same four questions each day that invites us to look and listen with intent.
- And we will pray, for it is in praying that we learn to pray. And it is in praying that the Spirit changes our hearts.
We want to encourage you to grab a journal or a notebook – something to write on as you walk through each prayer guide. Yes, it will add a few minutes to the time it takes to do the devotion, and it will also deepen your experience and shape your walk with God for years to come. This journal or notebook will be a keepsake to remind you of God’s faithfulness during this challenging season for all of us.
Look
“Truth is not a text. Truth is in the text, but it takes the text plus the Holy Spirit to bring truth to a human soul. A person can memorize a text, but the truth must come from the Holy Spirit through the text. Faith comes by hearing the Word, but faith is also the gift of God by the Holy Spirit.” – A.W. Tozer in Faith Beyond Reason
Listen
The book of Hebrews is a letter of encouragement to Christians in a time of trial. It focuses on the supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus, who accomplished complete salvation for those who trust in Him. The letter reminds Christians of how God fulfilled promises for those who had faith and calls Christians to listen to God, work at living a holy life and look after one another. Chapter 12 reminds us to be careful to listen to Jesus–the One who mediated between God and people with His blood–for just as Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, an earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject Jesus, who speaks to us from heaven.
Hebrews 12:26-29 (ESV)
“[When God spoke from Mount Sinai] His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ 27 This phrase, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of things that are shaken–that is, things that have been made–in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.”
Reflect
1. Having read the Word, sit silently for a minute and give God’s Word a moment to settle within you.
2. Re-read the verses slowly and write down some thoughts that resonate with you.
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you reflect on how this text might inform your prayer life. (For example: you might write down, “How am I showing gratitude and awe in my prayer and worship? Am I approaching these with reverence and looking after other Christians in living holy lives?“) The Spirit can help you understand what God is saying to you in these moments.
4. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in your encouragement of others and to look out for areas where you are holding on to things that have been made, rather than focusing on the things that cannot be shaken because they are of God’s kingdom.
Pray
Father, thank you for Hebrews, a letter of encouragement to believers that is as relevant to me today as it was to Christians in the first century. Thank you for providing all I need for faith through your word, the community of believers surrounding me, your church, and the Holy Spirit. Please help me discern the truth about areas I need to improve in my prayer and worship life to bring you the reverence and show the gratitude you deserve for loving me enough to send your only son as a spotless sacrifice for my sins. Help me remember and help me be open to reminders around me that the heavens and earth will someday shake but your kingdom will remain. Please light up my faith and let me not hold dearly the things made by people, but strengthen my love for others more than for myself, as your Son commanded. You are mighty, oh God, and I will follow where you command! Amen.
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These devotionals are adapted from various sources, including The Holy Bible, The Book of Common Prayer, The Seeking Heart by Fenelon, Fellowship Bible Church Nashville, Handbook to Prayer by Kenneth Boa and others.
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