Prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. Prayer is an expression of faith in God’s power, fueled by a desire for more of him.
The Bible refuses to give us one small, simple picture or pattern for prayer. Jesus never intended for his model prayer (what we call “the Lord’s Prayer”) to be our only guide or counsel for prayer. It is a great place to start, but God’s word gives us so much more material for our prayer lives. Prayer is objectively real — a real God, real communication, real work, real answers. But ...
Six Prayers But our everyday expressions of need are not the burden of the New Testament when it comes to prayer. While Scripture encourages us to pray for all manner of things, God also clearly exhorts us to focus our prayer lives. God hears and answers every prayer, but there are a precious few to which he always says, “Yes.”
The Spirit works in and alongside our prayers, both teaching us what to pray and interceding for us. The Spirit works after our prayers, making them effective and offering himself as the ultimate answer to prayer. Finally, the Spirit is the Spirit of the one triune God to whom we pray so as to be filled with all his fullness.
