Pray To Survive
We have always needed to pray but now it seems more than ever for a call to prayer.
Prayer Time As Never Before
Prayer, according to Scripture, is conversation directed to God that, like human conversation, may take many different forms. It may come as an expression of desire or appeal, of sorrow or apology, of love or admiration, of gratitude or appreciation, of dissatisfaction or frustration—or of hopes and joys, fears and doubts, questions and curiosities.
All these forms of communication can be broadly grouped under three major conversational categories: (1) entreaty (or request), (2) esteem (or worship), and (3) fellowship (or communion).
Prayers of request include (a) supplication, which arises from a sense of need, whether (i) petition (supplication for oneself) or (ii) intercession (supplication for others); (b) confession, which arises out of a sense of offense (i.e., an acknowledgment of sin and request for forgiveness and acceptance); and on rare occasions, (c) imprecation, which arises out of a sense of sanctified indignation and not personal vengeance (i.e., a request for God to deal righteously and decisively with the wicked).
Prayers of worship include (a) adoration (praise, admiration), and (b) thanksgiving (gratitude, appreciation).
Prayers of communion include (a) fellowship (conversing with God on any subject), and (b) grievance (expressing to God one’s frustrations, doubts, wrestlings; sometimes called “complaint” in Scripture).
All Christian prayer is heard and answered not on the basis of the petitioner’s merit but solely on the basis of God’s grace, extended to those who are reconciled to a right relationship to him through the redemptive work of Christ.
