“God has provided us with inspired scripts to guide us in our prayers. When words fail us in prayer—and they will fail us often—we have God’s own Word to guide us…. The Psalms offer us words to guide our praise and thanks, words to express our fears and failures, words to enlarge the scope of our prayers, enrich the power of them, and rest the hope of them in the mighty and saving works of God. …
“God has given us three great helps to assist us in our prayers. His Spirit groans for us; His Word guides us; and His Son governs and intercedes for us. …
“If we’re not praying, if prayer is not the defining discipline of believers and their churches, then what are we doing in the Name of the Lord? All those programs. All that frenzied activity. Those buildings and staff, budgets and grounds—what’s all this for, if not to promote and practice prayer without ceasing?
“Prayer, in the last analysis, is not about the things of men, but the things of God. It’s not about seeing things or making requests as we see or want them to be, but as God does, according to His agenda in Christ Jesus. If we keep trying to make prayer be about the things of men, we’ll never get to the things God really wants us to realize through prayer. A precondition for effective prayer, therefore, is that we make up our minds going in, that what we want in prayer is God’s will, not ours—the world and our lives as God intends them, not as we might wish they could be. …
“You cannot pray in Jesus’ Name if all you’re really seeking is to add a little comfort, convenience, or pleasure to your life. …
“The grace gained in prayer will flow through us like rivers of living water to touch others with life.” —T.M. Moore
Craig T. Owens 