10 Ways the Bible Feeds My Prayer Life - NavPress

"I think I have taken it for granted that everyone who is excited about prayer is also excited about Scripture. But several conversations I’ve had recently have caused me to start questioning that assumption. So, by way of encouragement—or perhaps challenge—I want to share with you some reasons why as a pray-er, I can’t live without spending time in God’s written Word."

1. It helps me get to know and love the God I’m praying to. Which helps me to understand what He’s like—what brings Him joy, what grieves His heart, what He longs for, what He likes doing, how He feels about me, about my friends, about my enemies—it reveals what kind of Person He is. Which is not just making requests at a celestial service desk—it’s relating with a real Person who has feelings, opinions, and a definite personality.

2. It shows me what kinds of things God has already done—as well as the things He has opposed. It teaches me about what kinds of prayers He loves to answer, and which ones He doesn’t. It helps me see His purposes in history—which helps me to better align with what He is doing now.

3. It helps me to pray beyond my personal scope and small perspective on the world. I see how big God is. And as I become better acquainted with the things that concern Him, I pray larger, broader prayers.

4. It gives me faith-building promises that give me confidence as I pray.

5. It provides a way for God to initiate conversation with me. Instead of prayer always starting with me talking to Him, I can let Him talk to me through His Word and respond to Him. In this way He gets a chance to talk about what He wants to talk about for a change.

6. It teaches me what God’s voice sounds like and the kinds of things He says so that when He speaks to me, I can be assured that it’s really Him.

7. It introduces me to prayer mentors from whom I can learn how to go deeper with God in prayer.

8. It gives me words for prayer—words to express praise, adoration, wonder, thanksgiving—as well as words (and permission!) to cry for help, complain and groan, lament, or express my contrition.

9. It inspires me to persevere in prayer, grow in faith, live honestly before God, and love others—because in His Word I learn that God especially honors the prayers of those who seek to live in these ways.

10.It shows me the possibilities for relationship with God. When I look at how Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, Paul, and others related to God and enjoyed Him, I am inspired also to go after a similar degree of intimacy, companionship, mutual trust, and meaningful partnership with God. His Word lets me know that He wants to have that kind of closeness with me, too—and teaches me how to cultivate that relationship.

How does the Bible help you in prayer? Or, perhaps you struggle to get into the Word. I’d like to hear about that, too. Let’s keep learning from each other.

. . . the mature . . . have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. - Heb 5:14

"The relationship between conduct and character is an intimate one. In the form of repeated actions over time, conduct produces character. That's the teaching of 2 Peter 2:14 and Romans 6:19. But it's also true that character determines actions. What we do, we become; what we are, we do.

Conduct is always feeding character, but character is also always feeding conduct. Paul's experience while shipwrecked on the island of Malta furnishes a good example of this relationship. The islanders built the refugees a fire because of the rain and cold. Luke related in Acts 28 that Paul gathered a pile of brushwood, and, as he put it on the fire, a snake came out of the brushwood and fastened itself on Paul's hand. Under the adverse circumstances of shipwreck, why would Paul have gone about gathering fuel for a fire built and tended by someone else? Why not just stand by the fire and warm himself? Because it was his character to serve (Acts 20:33-35; 1 Thessalonians 2:7-9). He'd learned well the lesson Jesus taught when He washed His disciples' feet. Because it was Paul's character to serve, he gathered the brushwood instinctively.

Because conduct determines character, and character determines conduct, it's vitally important— extremely necessary—that we practice godliness every day. That's why Peter said, "Make every effort to supplement your faith with ... godliness" (2 Peter 1:5-6). There can be no letup in our pursuit of godly character. Every day that we're not practicing godliness we're being conformed to the world of ungodliness around us. Granted, our practice of godliness is imperfect and falls far short of the biblical standard. Nevertheless, let us press on to know Christ and to be like Him."

-- Jerry Bridges

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Bedrooms: 4	Acreage: 0.16
Bathrooms: 2	County: Orange
Floors: 1
Type: General Residential
Style: Spanish
Size: 1889

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The Price of the Vision

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord . . . —Isaiah 6:1

Our soul’s personal history with God is often an account of the death of our heroes. Over and over again God has to remove our friends to put Himself in their place, and that is when we falter, fail, and become discouraged. Let me think about this personally— when the person died who represented for me all that God was, did I give up on everything in life? Did I become ill or disheartened? Or did I do as Isaiah did and see the Lord?

My vision of God is dependent upon the condition of my character. My character determines whether or not truth can even be revealed to me. Before I can say, “I saw the Lord,” there must be something in my character that conforms to the likeness of God. Until I am born again and really begin to see the kingdom of God, I only see from the perspective of my own biases. What I need is God’s surgical procedure— His use of external circumstances to bring about internal purification.

Your priorities must be God first, God second, and God third, until your life is continually face to face with God and no one else is taken into account whatsoever. Your prayer will then be, “In all the world there is no one but You, dear God; there is no one but You.”

Keep paying the price. Let God see that you are willing to live up to the vision.

-- Oswald Chambers

What is prayer?

Prayer is an opportunity to bring our will into line with God's plan.
Prayer is an opportunity to demonstrate our trust in God.
Prayer is speaking with God.
Prayer is listening to God.
Prayer is an awesome privilege.
Prayer reflects our dependence on God.
Prayer can restore relationship with God.

Max Lucado on Prayer –
*Prayer reminds you who is in charge.
*Prayer gives permission to God to complete the request according to his will.
*Prayer relieves the stress of perceived inactivity.

Remember, God always answers our prayers, according to His will!