5 VERSES TO HELP US PRAY by Kendra Dahl for Core Christianity
When my family moved across the country almost four years ago, those first few months were intensely lonely. I missed the comfort of coffee dates with old friends, the familiarity of my church family, and easy weekend trips to my parents’ house. I missed shared history—feeling known and understood, seen and heard.
Thankfully, I can say that God has provided family among his people here—the beginnings of a new shared history. But as I reflect back on those first lonely months and the many since, I’m also grateful for something else. Though I often felt without friends, the Lord became my nearest companion. He used his word—and my loneliness—to teach me to pray.
Here are five verses that can help us pray:
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#1: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” (1 Pet. 5:6–7)
Have you ever considered how prideful it is not to pray? To come to God in prayer with all of our anxieties is to humble ourselves under his mighty hand, acknowledging that we can’t handle the troubles of this world on our own. This passage points out the biblical path to glory, through suffering (see 1 Pet. 5:6–10). But it also invites us to experience this path of glorification on the daily: We humble ourselves, coming to the Lord as finite creatures with more anxieties than we can handle, and our Father lifts us up with his care. We are poor and needy, but the Lord—the sovereign God of the universe—takes thought for us (Ps. 40:17).
#2: “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” (Luke 18:13)
Including a time of confessing sin, fears, doubts, and unbelief in our daily prayers becomes a daily opportunity to remember the gospel. We keep short accounts, knowing our Father isn’t surprised by our sin and struggles, believing he’s merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love (Ps. 103:8). We come to him desperate, weighed down by our failures, filled with shame, and as we confess our sin, we can have confidence that he hears and forgives for the sake of his Son.
Attending church each Sunday is the much-needed weekly climax to this daily practice. As I join in the corporate confession of sin and hear my pastor declare the assurance of pardon, I hear the gospel from outside of myself. Receiving God’s means of grace strengthens my faith and gives me confidence in his mercy as I head into a new week.
