American Reformation Church Prayer Journal 38
ARC Prayer Meeting
There are 650 prayers recorded in the Bible. There are approximately 450 listed as answers to prayer in the Bible. The Bible chronicles Jesus praying 25 different times during His earthly ministry. His prayer lifestyle provoked His disciples. They wanted to learn to pray more effectually and commune more intimately with Heavenly Father.
The Bible assures us as we negotiate through life’s challenges that we sometimes do not know how to pray as we should. Romans 8:26, 27 states, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
First, we have the Spirit of the living God to help us in our weakness when we struggle to pray as we should. We are limited in our understanding in what is going on in our lives and why is it happening. Not so with the Spirit of God. He is acutely aware of the mind of the Triune God and our specific circumstances. He can make intercession for us in accordance with the will of God. Sometimes this intercession can go so deep it is expressed by “groanings which cannot be uttered.”
Secondly, when we do not know how to pray as we should, we have hundreds of prayers recorded in the Bible that can provide a prayer list and prayer targets that are clearly important to God, beneficial for the saints, and the lost.
In the case of our church plant in Florida, the American Reformation Church, searching for prayers in the Bible that address building the Lord’s House, strengthening God’s people for the work, and expanding His Kingdom can prove to be an excellent resource to pray as we should.
Nehemiah prayed in repentance for the state of his nation. He prayed for favor with God and man (the king) to rebuild the Lord’s House. He prayed for protection and defeat of all their enemies that were arrayed to resist and destroy the good works of God. He prayed for the added strength and grace it would take to complete the work. He prayed for the people of God to stay faithful and not resort back to the disobedience and idolatry that brought God’s judgment upon them in times past. These were good, right, holy, and just prayers to say the least.
