Pray
Book of the Week: The Familiar Stranger by Tyler Staton (2025)
Song of the Week: Volver, Volver by Vicente Fernandez (1972)
Hello again. I promise I mean to write every week at some point, it’s just that this is what people would call a “hobby” for me, which is not nearly my first calling. Still it’s a commitment, and I enjoy it, and I’m encouraged by the feedback I get from people who read. It’s a nice outlet for my brain, which has a lot in it. None of it’s particularly good or well thought out, but it’s in there, and then after I write it, it’s out here.
Prayer isn’t necessarily something I’ve been thinking about in the last week or couple of weeks, but I have found myself having a good number of conversations about it. It’s one of those things that is both easy and hard to describe - simple, but complex - clear, but mysterious. All of these conversations have led up to me teaching about it to some students this next Wednesday, so I figure I’ll point out a few passages and ideas that have been helpful in forming my prayer life.
Matthew 6:5-8 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
Goldmine for requisite prayer vibes, but notice the self-policing nature of this passage - you are begged the question: why are you praying? Just be genuine. You’re angry with God, okay then tell him. You’re confused as to why God would allow something to happen to you (bad OR good by the way), tell him. You’re struggling to see Him active in your life, tell him. Your faith feels paper thin and you need a personal revival, tell him. You doubt if he’s even there, tell him. You feel fear, shame, guilt, excitement, joy, overwhelmed, sad, envious, you now know where to go and when you go, be real.
Ephesians 3:11-19 “This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
I’ll let Alistair Begg summarize some of this: “Our prayers tell us a great deal about ourselves and about our faith. Our conversation with others declares what’s on our minds, but our conversations with God in private reveals what’s in our hearts…We’re helped always to remember when we’re praying, we’re praying to a God who is able to do infinitely more than we ask and who gives accord to His will and purpose for our spiritual growth.” I would say take notice of what you’re praying for - are your prayers big and earth moving? Are you praying for God to change other people for your own benefit, or are you praying that he would bring them to himself? Are you praying for material things, or are you praying for God to invade your heart? And are you praying, knowing that he can do it?
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Pray without ceasing - this is the most profound prayer movement for me, and I think one of the keys of general spiritual growth. Simply, God is with me all of the time. I am going to tell you what I do in a day, and you can do with it what you will. Understand, it is not a brag or a flex. It’s a difficult discipline to start, but an easy one to maintain, and doesn’t mean I’m more holy than anyone else, and I’m not perfect at it either, but it’s God’s world, and I am merely learning how to live in it: I pray throughout the day. When I wake up, before I eat, before I go into a place, when I leave the car, when I get in the car, before I play sports, before I spend time with my girlfriend, before I teach, after I teach, before I write a teaching, with my coffee, with my friends, on a walk, listening to music. My prayer time isn’t grand, it’s a lot of times short, but it is life with God I’m after, not just focused bookend pockets. Give it a try!
In love,
Josh
