This is the first post in a series on prayer.

My lovely wife and I pray every night before bed, thanking the Lord for one more day together on this earth and asking Him to give us the next one. She told me recently that a lot of her friends envy this small gesture that I make in my relationship with God and my relationship with her. I started to examine my own prayer life to see how it is, and it’s not where I want it. So I’m going to examine prayer over the next few weeks and see what kind of improvement I can make!

To start with, why should we pray?

Well, Christ did it, and He’s generally considered a pretty fair model. Mark 1:35 shows Him praying in the morning; Matthew 14:23 shows Him praying in the evening; Matthew 26:36 shows Him praying in distress. If anyone had a close relationship with the Father, it was Jesus. And He prayed a lot.

The men of the Old Testament did too. Hebrews 11, commonly referred to as the “Hall of Faith”, mentions Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and many others… Abraham prayed (Genesis 20:17), Abraham’s servants prayed (Genesis 24:12), Jacob prayed (Genesis 32:9-12), Moses prayed (Numbers 21:7)… how awesome God is to answer us when we pray! And the verses I’ve listed are just a tiny sprinkling of all the recorded prayers of the Old Testament

• they don’t even scratch the surface.

Finally, the Bible tells us in pretty uncertain terms that we are to pray. I Timothy 2:8 says that men in every place should pray. Colossians 4:2 says we should devote ourselves to prayer. Matthew 5:44 commands us to pray for our enemies. Luke 22:40 says to pray that we will not fall into temptation. Common theme? We have to pray.

I earnestly desire to follow Christ. He commands me to pray; He set an example of prayer before me. Why do you pray?

Reasons to Pray ⚫ When to Pray ⚫ Something About Prayer ⚫ With Whom To Pray ⚫ For Whom To Pray ⚫ What To Pray