A Guideline for Prayer

READ 2 Samuel 7-8

There is a good guideline for prayer found in 7:27-29. Notice the outline of these verses:

27 — God has spoken that He will build David’s house forever (11-17) so David has courage to ask God for something.

28 — David recognizes the promise of God.

29 — David asks God for the very thing that God had promised. The prayer of David is literally a profession of his faith in the promises of God.

What a wonderful plan for you and me to follow in our prayer lives. First, we go to the Word of God and discover His will and promise for us. Then we pray that He will do what He has promised to do. Here’s an example. God has promised that all believers will be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). So what should we pray for? We should ask God to do His work of sanctification in us and make us more and more like Jesus.

I could go on and on and on in listing examples like this. But it would be so much better for you to discover them for yourself. See what God has promised to do and then ask Him to do it. In so doing we will be confessing our faith in His Word and our faith in His faithfulness to do all that He has promised.

Prayer: Help us to abide in your Word so that we will know what you have intended for us. Help us to believe your Word. Help us to pray rightly for your will to come to pass. Help us to believe that it will and to walk in that faith.