“The measure of how much we believe in the goodness of God is measured by how long we will wrestle with God in prayer and not give up and not turn away to another source.”
“We look at prayer as preparation for the ministry. If we’re going to pray, it’s to prepare for the real ministry, which is the ministry of the Word. But the Apostles looked at themselves like, ‘I’m here to actually lead in prayer.’”
“When Jesus described the church, he said it’s to be a house of prayer for all nations. Is that how people would describe your church?”
“Prayer is not going to be an auxiliary. It’s not going to be something that supports the ministry. It is the ministry.”
“We’ve seen so much failure and frustration over the last few years, so what a mercy if it drives us back to say, ‘God, We need you in this moment and we’re going to pray.’”
“If you’re the kind of person that you struggle to pray for a half hour at a time, I would say divide that up into three 15-minute segments throughout the day…I’ve found that a little intentionality, a little planning can actually guide you in prayer in ways that make it more meaningful and not just a time of mind wandering.”
“Use the Lord’s Prayer like a jazz musician uses a melody line. Jazz musicians don’t play completely chaotic notes. They personalize a melody. And I think that’s the way that Jesus intended for us to use the Model Prayer.”
“If you had to come up with one through line, one theme for Jesus’ parables of what he taught on prayer it was: Approach your heavenly father like kids approach a daddy.”
“You cannot ignore that throughout, especially the New Testament, what you’re seeing is not just prayer as dumping a laundry list of things on God’s doorstep that he already knows about anyway. It’s dialoguing with the Holy Spirit. It’s letting him pray through you and guide you.”
“All Scripture is true all the time, but I do think that there are times that God takes specific promises and puts it in your heart to pray over somebody.”
Mentioned in the Show
Acts 6
1 Corinthians 14:25
Luke 11 and 18
John 15:5
1 Thessalonians 5:16-17
“Just Ask: The Joy of Confident, Bold, Patient, Relentless, Shameless, Dependent, Grateful, Powerful, Expectant Prayer” by J.D. Greear
Check out J.D.’s website
Follow J.D. Greear on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
“Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire: What Happens When God’s Spirit Invades the Hearts of His People“ by Jim Cymbala, with Dean Merrill
Jacob wrestles with God
John Mark Comer
Martin Luther
“A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World” by Paul Miller
