A few weeks ago I listened to this session on prayer by Joel Beeke. This is from a conference for pastors, but I’m desperate for biblical teaching about prayer, so I listened anyway. The link gives an excellent written outline of what he spoke about, but here’s what I took away.
Storm the mercy seat. Pray with boldness. Be confident God hears you. Humbly admit your right to be at His throne. Keep asking, keep talking to Him. This has become my mantra concerning prayer for Brad’s healing.
Pray when you feel least-inclined to pray. Suffering is exhausting. In the morning and late at night, when I’m most vulnerable to fears, I just don’t feel like praying. That means I need to suck some rug.
Have a list of people you pray for daily, weekly, monthly. There’s nothing unrighteous about organizing your prayer! I just started this with a list of things to pray for Brad daily, but I want to expand it.
Pray through the scriptures. Start by reading aloud a verse, then praying. Then read another verse, then pray. Or, pray the Psalms. I do it like this–I read through a Psalm and let it minister to my heart first. Then I read/pray it out loud, changing some of the words to make it more personal to my situation.
Pray out loud, so the devil can hear you. Wouldn’t you want the enemy to know you’re fighting? It’s like hanging a big “don’t mess with me” sign on your door.
Pray God’s promises back to Him. This is the one I have the hardest time with. How do I know something is a promise versus a good consequence of righteousness? In any case, God can do anything, so I’m erring on the side of taking Him at his word. Beeke says to “plead the promises” back to God. He doesn’t need to be reminded, but it’s like speaking His language. Plus, it coats your mind and heart in His word.
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