Not Ashamed To Pray by Cheryl Odden

"Perhaps one of the biggest stumbling blocks in our prayer life and our relationship with Christ is disappointment. We are disappointed in our spiritual life, job, country, church, and perhaps even our family.

If we get to the heart of the issue, our disappointment is directed not at these areas of our lives but at God. We may ask: How could he allow this (circumstance) to happen? Why isn’t he helping me overcome these sin issues in my life? Why isn’t he rewarding me for my hard work? Why isn’t he bringing about revival in our nation? Why isn’t he working in our children’s hearts?

The apostle Paul had every "right" to be disappointed in God. Paul was given a dramatic salvation experience and was launched into ministry. People were coming to Christ; religious and government officials were being convicted. It couldn’t get any better than that, could it? It did. Paul was thrown in jail. There he wrote several letters, which today are cornerstones of the Christian faith.

Yet Paul saw his chains not as a disappointment or a setback, but as an opportunity. He wrote to Timothy, advising him not to be ashamed of him, and used Onesiphorus as an example of one who was "not ashamed" of his chains." He invited Timothy to share in his sufferings through God’s power. Then earlier in his letter to the Philippians, he tells them that his imprisonment has furthered the gospel not frustrated it (1:12-14). And more so, his bonds have emboldened believers to preach without fear.

As we pray for the persecuted church, let us first evaluate our relationship with Christ. Spend some time alone with God, asking him to reveal any areas of your life where you are disappointed in him. If we allow ourselves to be honest, have we accused him of being indifferent toward our trials? Are we viewing our current sufferings as an obstacle for the gospel or an opportunity? Agree with him that your disappointment ultimately is sin. Thank him that he uses all things for his good purposes, and then stand on what’s true about him: Jesus is the chief cornerstone (Matthew 21:42); the earth is his and all it contains (Psalm 24:1); and he is the "ruler over the kings of the earth" (Revelation 1:5).

Then start praying for your persecuted family who is inviting you to fellowship in their sufferings according to God’s power." This artical wascopied from www.persecution.com

The Gospel Prayer by J. D. Greear

The Gospel prayer is from the outstanding book,Gospel, by J.D. Greear.I posted this prayer a few months ago, but I am currently using Pastor Greear's book for my morning devotional. I am participating in, The Gospel Project, which is reading through the four Gospels in the forty day reading plan in his book. And praying the Gospel Prayer daily.

"In Christ, there is nothing I can do
that would make You love me more,and nothing
I have done that makes You love me less."


"Your presence and approval are all
I need for everlasting joy."


"As you have been to me,so I will be to others."


"As I pray, I'll measure Your compassion by the cross
and Your power by the resurrection."

A Secret Trait of Effective Intercessors: J D Greear

“Not only does Isaiah understand that sin separates us from God, he also identifies himself completely with his sinful people:

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” (Isa 64:6).

The greatest intercessors have always recognized that far more connects them with the common lot of sinners than what distinguishes them—and in any case they do not hesitate to plead with God on behalf of those who will not plead for themselves.”

A Prayer For Thanksgiving by Dr. Peter Marshall

A prayer for Thanksgiving:

Lord God of Heaven, Who hath so lavishly blessed this our beloved land, make us, Thy people, to be humble. Keep us ever aware that these things have come from Thee, and that Thou has lent them to us. Impress upon our smugness the knowledge that we are not owners but stewards, and remind us, lest we become filled with conceit, that one day a reckoning will be required of us. Sanctify our love of country, that our boasting may be turned into humility and our pride into a ministry to all men everywhere. Teach us that Thou dost love them as well as us, and make America thy servant, Thy chosen channel of blessing to all lands, lest we be cast out, and our place be given to another. Make this God's country by making us willing to live like God's people.

Dr. Peter Marshall
December 12, 1946

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

"Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen." - (Book of Common Prayer)

Our Hearts are Restless: A Prayer of Augustine of Hippo

Everlasting God,
in whom we live and move and have our being:
You have made us for yourself,
so that our hearts are restless
until they rest in you. - Augustine of Hippo (345-430)

Paraphrase On The Lord's Prayer - Matthew Henry

Another paraphrase on the Lord’s Prayer, in the words of the Assembly’s Shorter Catechism.


Our Father in heaven, we come to thee as children to a Father able and ready to help us.

We beseech thee, let thy name be sanctified; enable us and others to glorify thee in all that whereby thou hast made thyself known, and dispose of all things to thine own glory.

Let thy kingdom come; let Satan’s kingdom be destroyed, and let the kingdom of thy grace be advanced; let us and others be brought into it, and kept in it, and let the kingdom of thy glory be hastened.

Let thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven; make us by thy grace able and willing to know, obey, and submit to thy will in all things, as the angels do in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread; of thy free gift let us receive a competent portion of the good things of this life, and let us enjoy thy blessing with them.

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us. We pray that for Christ’s sake thou wouldst freely pardon all our sins, and that by thy grace thou wouldst enable us from the heart to forgive others.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Either keep us, O Lord, from being tempted to sin, or support and deliver us when we are tempted.

For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever. Lord, we take our encouragement in prayer from thyself only and desire in our prayers to praise thee, ascribing kingdom, power, and glory to thee: And in testimony of our desires and assurance to be heard through Jesus Christ, we say Amen.