WIWO: Ephesians – Episode 14: Prayer and Perseverance

Reading: Ephesians 6:18-24 Context: How does the call to prayer connect with the spiritual warfare theme? What a wonderful, wonderful question. And here is why it is wonderful. To do justice to this question, consider what it means to receive the call to pray. This call to pray invites us to use every method available […]

WIWO: Ephesians – Episode 07: Prayer for Inner Strength

Reading: Ephesians 3:14-21 Context: Why does Paul emphasise praying to “the Father from whom every family… derives its name”? Prayers to God are vast enterprises, even as God is vast. The aspect of God that we refer to in prayer gives a great indication of what we’re saying is important in this prayer. The first […]

WIWO: Ephesians – Episode 03: Paul’s Prayer for Wisdom

Reading: Ephesians 1:15-23 Context: What prompted Paul to pray this prayer for the Ephesians? News reached a prison cell, and it turned straight into prayer. Paul opens with for this reason — pointing back to a report about the Ephesians: their faith in the Lord Jesus, their love for all the saints (v.15). This good […]

KMCD 28: Supplication and the Kingsman

What happens to the man who forgets how to ask? I don’t mean the man who’s forgotten his manners. I mean the one who has quietly stopped believing that asking changes anything, and so he just gets on with it — grits his teeth, manages the anxiety, tells himself that’s just what maturity looks like. […]

KMCD 05: Prayer and the Kingsman

There is a common practice among those who are called by God, and that is the practice of prayer. Prayer is the lifeline. Prayer is the oxygen. Prayer is the important connection set apart to clearly communicate with God in line with the understanding that all communications are primarily based in him. In prayer, we […]

WIWO: James Day 11: The Power of Prayer

Day 11: The Power of Prayer Read James 5:13-20 Context: How does James’ teaching about prayer serve as both a climax to his letter and a practical response to the various challenges he has addressed? What is James’ teaching on prayer? It’s something we do when we’re suffering. It’s something done for the one who […]

20 for 20 #16 About Prayer Part 2

There are few things in life more useful than prayer. The thing about prayer is what it does for us and through us. Being deliberately engaged in conversation with the Creator of the Universe certainly gets things off our chest to the most reliable Source in the universe. There’s something it can do to us […]

20 for 20 #10 About Prayer Part 1

Prayer is prominent in scripture. The ability to converse with God on matters great and small is something marvellous to consider and something that God is keen to get us into. It’s no surprise, then, that what’s so basic and foundational in right relationship with God is precisely the sort of thing that is often […]

WIWO: 1 Timothy Day 4 – 2:1–15 — Worship Instructions

Day 4: 1 Timothy 2:1–15 — Instructions for Worship and Community Life Reading: Guidelines for prayer and conduct in worship Study Questions: 1. Observation: What priorities does Paul establish for corporate worship and prayer? Paul’s priorities include communal opportunities to communicate with God; different types of prayers hold great significance for Paul, and he expects […]

WIWO: Prayer Requests

Nothing successful has ever succeeded without prayer. Prayer keeps the channels of communication between God and us open. It’s good to keep them open, because it’s good to stay intentionally involving God in every aspect of the initiative. It doesn’t hurt, from time to time, to check in with God, share how things are proceeding, […]