Pray About...

We've looked at several kinds of prayer in my last few posts, and at why we should pray. What should we pray about?  Here are some topics, from the words of Jesus and others in the New Testament:

• "Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!  (Matt. 5:44)
• "Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you." (Mat. 7:7)
• "So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields." (Mat. 9:38)
• "Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!"  (Mat. 26:41)
• "Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God" (Rom. 1:9)
• "And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words." (Rom. 8:26)
• "Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying." (Rom. 12:2)
• "I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit." (Rom. 15:13)
• "And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety." (2 Cor 1:11)  
• "We pray that you will become mature." (2 Cor 13:9) 
•  "I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called."  (Eph. 1:18)
• "So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should." (Eph. 6:20)
• "Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart." (Col. 4:2)
• "So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call."  (2 Thess. 1:11)
• "Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity." (1 Tim. 2:2)
• "In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy." (1 Tim. 2:8)
• "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." (James 5:16)

With this much to pray about, it shouldn't be a surprise that Paul would write "Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion" (Eph. 6:18) and "Pray about everything" (Phil. 4:6) and "Devote yourselves to prayer" (Col. 4:2) and "Never stop praying" (1 Thess. 5:17).  We can pray alone in our own homes, or in a group with others as the early church often did, or while we're stopped at a traffic light, or whenever a need for prayer comes to us (which is often by a prompting from the Holy Spirit). 

Whatever else you do...pray!