August 14, 2024

“Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving.” – Colossians 4:2

I have a piece of paper hanging over my desk in the office that reads, “My Prayer for Mesa Christian Fellowship: I pray that you would see more clearly and discover new beauty in your relationship with God. I pray that God’s calling in your life will give you hope even in the darkest days. I pray that you would clearly see the incredible wealth of your inheritance and that clarity would give you peace. I pray that through our study together, through your time in the Word, and through your walk with Christ you would see the incredible power of God. When I see your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for one another, I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayer.” I pray this for my church on a regular basis. But this is not a prayer I came up with on my own. It is taken almost word for word from Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian church that he records in Ephesians 1:15-19.

People often come to me, especially new believers, wanting some guidance on how to pray. The simplest answer is the answer Jesus gave when his disciples asked the very same question in Luke 11, or the extended version of that prayer recorded in Matthew 6. These passages are not the only ones we can pray, however. It is good practice to read Scripture and then learn to pray Scripture. We can pray the prayers of great men and women of the Bible, pray through different psalms, or repeat the promises of God from the Bible back to him in our prayers. As you spend time in God’s Word, begin to pay attention to the passages that can be of great use and guidance in your own prayer life.

Heavenly Father, teach us to pray. Let our time in Your Word give us the language and themes that will then guide us in our communication with You.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Shane Cannon