Day 272

Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day.

Chapter 22, Paragraph 4.

“Prayer is to be made for things lawful, and for all sorts of men living, or that shall live hereafter;…”

Scripture Lookup

1 Timothy 2:1,2

2 Samuel 7:29

Reflection

When we gather for prayer, or even we we pray by ourselves, we can become tongue-tied knowing what to pray about. Healing from sickness tends to be a popular request. Praying for missionaries is also one that is common. But more often than not, prayer meetings are mostly silent as we draw a blank as to what we should pray about.

Despite the limitations placed upon our prayers in order that they may be acceptable to God, who and what we may pray for is vast. All sorts of people living on this earth may be offered up in prayer. Our neighbors, our leaders, the victims, the oppressors – all may be brought before the throne of grace. Future generations, those who are to come after us, our children not yet born – we may petition the Lord on their behalf.

Just what do we pray concerning all these people? Anything that the Lord has declared lawful. We can pray for the Gospel to spread and many to receive faith, leaders to rule with wisdom, compassion for the poor and helpless, and much more. When we stop to consider the numerous amount of people we may pray for, and what things we may pray concerning them, we will find that there is no difficulty in remembering something to pray about.

Questions to Consider

• What are some people you could be praying for? What can you pray concerning them?