Adoring God in Prayer
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. (Col. 4:2)
Below is a list of how Matthew Henry suggests we adore God in our prayer. May these things help you spend more time in adoration and thankgiving in your prayers.
- Address the Infinitely Great and Glorious Being
- With Holy Awe and Reverence
- Distinguishing Him from False Gods
- Reverently Adore God as Transcendently Bright and Blessed
- The Self-Existent, Self-Sufficient, Infinite Spirit
- His Nature Beyond Our Full Comprehension
- His Perfections Matchless
- Infinitely Above Us and All Others
- Adore the Lord as:
- Eternal
- Immutable
- Present in All Places
- Perfect in His Knowledge of All
- Unsearchable in Wisdom
- Sovereign, Owner, and Lord of All
- Irresistible in Power
- Unspotted in Purity and Righteousness
- Always Just in His Government
- Always True, Inexhaustibly Good
- Infinitely Greater than Our Best Praises
- Give God Glory as Our Creator, Protector, Benefactor and Ruler
- Give Honor to the Three Distinct Persons of the Godhead
- The Father has loved us, chose us, and sent Jesus to redeem us
- Jesus has loved us and assumed our nature and shed his own blood to wash away our sins
- The Holy Spirit has loved us and entered our heart, implanted eternal life there
- The Three Persons and one God, Bless and Praise Him for love so unmerited and grace so unspeakable
- Acknowledge Our Dependence on Him and Obligation to Him
- Acknowledge the Inestimable Favor of Being Invited to Draw Near to Him
- Express Our Unworthiness to Draw New to God
- Profess our Desire for Him as Our Happiness
- Profess our Hope and Trust in His All-Sufficiency
- Pray for the Assistance of the Holy Spirit in Our Prayers
- Make the Glory of God as the Highest Goal of Our Prayers
- Profess Reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ Alone
How to Pray Using Scripture
The below comes from Kevin D Young
Sometimes it’s the simplest things that make the biggest difference. For many years I’ve used the 3 R’s I learned from Ben Patterson to pray through Scripture. This simple tool has helped me pray the Bible more than any other single strategy. I’ve used in my devotional times and have employed it often in leading others in prayer.
1. Rejoice
2. Repent
3. RequestWith every verse in the Bible we can do one (or more likely, all three) of these things. We can rejoice and thank God for his character and blessings. We can repent of our mistakes and sins. We can request new mercies and help.
Right now I just flipped opened my Bible and landed at Psalm 104. Verse 1 says “Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty.” How might you pray through this verse? Well, at first blush you might see nothing more to do than praise God. “Dear Lord, you are very great. You are clothed with splendor and majesty. Amen.” But try that again with the 3 R’s.
Rejoice – O Lord, you have richly blessed me more than I deserve. What a privilege that I can call you my God. Thank you for making me a little lower than the angels and crowing me with glory and honor too.
Repent – Forgive me for being blind to your splendor and majesty. Though you are very great, my circumstances and disappointments often feel greater. I’m sorry for being so ungrateful and taking your blessings for granted.
Request – Give me eyes to see as you are. Tune my heart to sing your praise. Help me see your glory in the world you’ve created, in the people around me, and in the face of Christ.
Obviously, some verse lend themselves to prayer more easily than others. The Psalms are particularly prayer-worthy. But with the simple strategy of Rejoice, Repent, Request there shouldn’t be a verse in the Bible that can’t be used as a prompt to pray.
You Can Never Ask Too Much
From Desiring God:
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! 12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:7–12)
This has proved, in my experience, to be one of the most motivating passages in all the Bible to pray with the confidence of being answered.
It’s an argument. Even bad dads give good things to their children when they ask. God is not a bad dad. He’s the best. Therefore, much more will he give good things to his children when we ask. I love that argument. Jesus really did want us to feel hopeful when we pray. He is trying to overcome our skepticism about prayer.
There’s another reason why this is so encouraging for our prayers. He says that a good dad gives “good things” to his children when they ask for what they want. He does not say that he always gives these little children precisely what they ask for. What father ever does? Or ever would? We love our children too much for that.
One time when my son Ben was three or four, he asked for a cracker for snack time. I opened the box and found that they were moldy. I said, “I’m sorry, you can’t eat these. They are covered with fuzz.” He said, “I’ll eat the fuzz.” But I said no. He was not happy, but I loved him and would not give him a fuzzy cracker, no matter how much he pleaded.
So when Jesus says he will give good things, he means that. Only good things. And only he knows ultimately what is good for us. And notice, when he says dads don’t give stones when asked for bread, he does not say dads always give bread. Just no stones. And when he says, dads don’t give snakes for fish, he does not say dads always give fish. Just no snakes.
The point is this: God ignores no prayers from his children. And he gives us what we ask for, or something better (not necessarily easier), if we trust him.
One more point: The word “so” at the beginning of verse 12 means that verse 12 is an inference from this teaching on prayer. “So” — since God always gives you what you need when you ask — “whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.” In other words, because God loves and cares for you so much, you will be able to care about others the same way you care about yourself. Which means that confidence in prayer is one of the keys to love.
Thou art coming to a King,
Large petitions with thee bring;
For His grace and power are such,
None can ever ask too much.
Pastoral Prayer - 1/20
Holy, Almighty God, you made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them. You are steadfast, keeping faith forever; you execute justice for the oppressed; you set the prisoners free; you open the eyes of the blind; you lift up those who are bowed down; the Lord, our God, loves the righteous; you take pleasure in those who fear you. Yes, Lord, you sing over your people with exultation and joy and delight. Praise the Lord, our great and holy and majestic God.
Holy God, we have sinned times without number; we are guilty of pride and unbelief; we neglect to seek you in our daily life; we pursue lustful thoughts; we put others down by slandering and gossiping about them; with greed we build up treasures in this world; we worry and fear grips our heart and we are paralyzed and prevented from trusting in you. Yes, Lord it is true, our transgressions and short-comings present us with a list of valid accusations before the Judge of the universe.
But we bless you that these charges will not stand against us, for all have been laid on Christ. Now our pronouncement is “Righteous!” And you, the judge of the universe, become our very own Father! May this truth quench our thirst like water on a hot summers day.
Purge from us every evil desire. Deliver us from every sinful habit. When confronted with former sins and tempted to do the same, cause our eyes to gaze upon the cross of Christ and our heart to find greater satisfaction and joy in our risen Lord. Help us flee from everything that dims the brightness of your grace in our lives. Fill us with your Spirit and conform us to look more like Jesus. In every decision, every trial, every joy, every sorrow, sanctify us for the glory of your holy name.
Yes, triumphant Lord, build your people; build your church. Father, we pray for Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg. Use them as a bold gospel witness and keep them faithful all their days. For the fame of Jesus, sustain the ministry of Christ Reformed Church in Logan circle. Give their pastor Brian much grace and wisdom as he leads that congregation. And we pray for our brothers and sisters in other cities across the nation; for Summit Church in Denver, and for Cornerstone Church in Myrtle Beach and for Renewal Church in Greenville, SC. Build these churches upon the solid rock of Christ Jesus.
And build this church that we might display your manifold wisdom. Would joy and delight in Christ mark us? Would we be a people that are zealous to make and mature disciples? We praise you for the servants you have brought to serve our church. We thank you for the tedious labor of Brandi and Dawn in developing Restoration Kids. We thank you for the men and women who lead us in music weekly. We praise you for those who arrive early and cry out to you in prayer. We thank you for those who put up signs, take out trash, and do other countless and thankless duties.
We pray for our sister Preeta. As she goes back to Pennsylvania may the joy of Christ comfort her; may the gospel compel her to love and serve others. Help her find a church that faithfully teaches your word and may it warmly welcome her into their midst. We pray for Nic and Isabel and ask that you would continue to mature them in Christ Jesus. Give them both an unceasing desire to know the surpassing worth of Christ. May their marriage picture the gospel. Yes, Lord, for the sake of your name, sustain and strengthen their marriage.
Father, we pray for our government. We praise you for the many freedoms we enjoy and the multiplied privileges that go with living in this nation. May we use our freedom to pray boldly for our government officials that you would guide them. We pray for our President Barrack Obama. We bring our president before the occupied throne of heaven, and we ask you to be at work in his heart and through his hands. As with all rulers, you set them up and you sit them down at your discretion. So we trust you for the accomplishment of your sovereign purposes through our president, in keeping with the eternal wisdom of your heart.
Gracious God, we approach your throne and ask these things solely upon the merit of Jesus as we are united to him by your Holy Spirit. Grant our prayers for your glory and our good, in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer - 1/13
Father, we pray that you would hallow your name around the globe. Draw all peoples and nations to yourself that you might receive the worship you are due. Draw all peoples and nations to yourself that we might experience the fullness of joy found in your presence.
We praise you that you make salvation possible. We praise you Father that you elected a people for yourself before the foundation of the world. We praise you Jesus, the eternal Son, that you ransomed a people by your blood. We praise you Holy Spirit that you regenerate hearts and are the guaranteed of our salvation. Oh, Holy, Triune God – three persons and one God, we bless you and praise you, for love so unmerited, so unspeakable, so wondrous and might to save us rebellious sinners and raise us to glory.
As we gaze upon your holiness, we see that we are a people of unclean lips and unclean lives. We have taken your grace and abused it. We have presumed upon your mercy and kindness. We have gone about our days as if we have no dependence upon you. We ignore your commands thinking we know better than you. We lust after others treating them as objects rather than fellow image bearers. We yell at our children and disrespect our parents. We steal from our employers by being lazy on the job. In these and so many other ways we have sinned against you, and against others.
We plead the name of Jesus in asking for forgiveness. Grant us repentance that we might continually turn from our sin and trust in Christ. Help us to go ask those we have sinned against for forgiveness. Help us grant forgiveness to others when wronged. Fill us with your Holy Spirit and sanctify us; change us from the inside out that the fruit of our lives would increasingly match the confession of Jesus upon our lips. When we are hypocritical help us be the first to confess it, and turn from it. Yes, clean our lips and our lives that we might rightly show you to a watching world.
As we send Alex Fischer from this place, would you grant that to him. That as he goes overseas with work you would use him to be a faithful, fruitful employee. Give him redemptive relationships with co-workers that he might impart the gospel to them. We ask, that for the sake of your name, you would provide a community of people for him to gather with on a regular basis to hear your word preached and worship with others in Christ Jesus. Yes, build him up as he goes. We also pray for our students who are graduating this semester – Misael, Matt Lozada, Rachel, Alexandra, Paul, Alex Capetstany, Katherine, and Travis. Give them perseverance to finish well. Help them leave an impact by pouring their lives into other students who would continue to proclaim the gospel on those campuses. Give many of them jobs here in DC we pray that they would continue with us at Restoration Church.
Father, we pray that our church would be one of many in this city that proclaim the greatness of your name. Use the District Church in Columbia Heights to trumpet the glorious person and work of Jesus. Give their pastor Aaron much wisdom as seeks to shepherd that congregation. We also pray for Pastor Bergfalk at Wisconsin Avenue Baptist and Pastor Yoon at Capital Memorial 7th Day Adventist. Keep both of them faithful to the gospel. Help them preach Christ crucified and resurrected. Give them the mind of Christ and a deep desire to see your kingdom grown here in Washington, DC.
As we ready ourselves to hear your word preached, help us be strong in is power, happy in it’s joy; help us abide in the sweetness of your word as it points us to Jesus. May we feast upon the bread of life and be filled that we might not be tempted to fill ourselves with the crumbs of this world. Increase our faith we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.