William Carey founded the modern missions movement on the conviction that we should expect great things from God and therefore attempt great things for God. And indeed, he and a generation of missionaries expected much, attempted much, and accomplished much to the glory of God.

Perhaps Carey’s words were in the back of A. W. Pink’s mind when he pondered the tendency of Christians to expect too little from God and said, “Most Christians expect little from God, ask little, and therefore receive little, and are content with little.” Though the Bible calls us to pray and though it promises that “the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16), we can still have very modest expectations of what God will accomplish through our prayers.

Because we expect little from God, we ask little. And because we ask little from God, we receive little. And because we grow so accustomed to receiving little from God, we grow content with little. We shape our prayers according to our expectations. If we would see God act in mighty ways, we must expect he will act in mighty ways and therefore pray for him to act in mighty ways.

Every now and again I like to share an example of a pastoral prayer from Grace Fellowship Church. I do this because there are few examples of pastoral prayers online and I thought these may serve to inspire themes, passages, or ideas as other pastors and elders prepare to lead their churches in prayer. Please feel free to use or to adapt these prayers however you see fit. Here is one pastor Paul Martin prayed before our church not too long ago. (See here for other examples)

Lord God,

Thank you for the gift of prayer and allowing us to approach you now with our words and our hearts. We are all here looking to you, O God. Open your ears to our praises and petitions. Hear us as we pray.

We are so grateful that you have made yourself known to us. We praise you for your perfect Word, our Bibles. Thank you for truth and clarity and knowledge. We don’t live in the dark, and that is only because you have turned on the lights for us. What a privilege to live in this uncertain world with certainty and conviction and hope. We love knowing who you are and what you have done.

We praise you for sending your beloved and only Son, that we might have a Saviour. How we needed a Saviour, not just an example or life coach or wise sage. We needed saving and you sent your own Son to die for our sins. We will never get over how much you love us. So we praise you for being our Creator. We are not accidents, we are yours! We praise you for being our lawgiver, that we might learn how to live. We praise you for your profound patience, so that many may to come to repentance.

At the same time, Lord, we are thinking of the many in this world, even the many in this room, who have not repented from their sins and trusted in that Saviour. People who have heard lots about Jesus but never trusted in Jesus. O Lord have mercy on their souls. Even today, send your Spirit to save the lost. Bring them all the way to Jesus. Just as Joshua stood before the people and told them to choose this day whom they would serve—their idols or the real God—Lord, bring the doubting, or skeptical or denying to the crossroads today and graciously enable them to say, “I choose Jesus!”

Bring reviving in our friendships and relationships here at Grace Fellowship Church, Lord. Help the sister who feels lonely to find a sister to share life with. Give that brother that has been going solo a brother to confess his sins to and pray with.

And as our members go to the local nursing home to love the residents there, bless them in their service. We pray, O God, that you would snatch many from the fire, just as you saved that thief on the cross, save many of the residents, even those who perhaps cannot express that faith with their words anymore, but most definitely with their hearts.

As we pray for them, we ask that you would stop the euthanasia in our country. Revoke Medical Assistance in Dying. We assume this would take an action of our government, so we pray for our new Prime Minister and ask that you might use him to overturn the legislation that allows for this killing. Take the heart of Mr. Carney as you took the heart of Nebudchenezzar of old, and surprise us all by using him to advance your good in this land. Have mercy on him, Lord. Save him, his wife and his children. Let him lead this country in a way that we can live peaceful and quiet lives, being godly and dignified in every way.

And now help us to shake off all the silly distractions and discouragements that lead us to only see what is right in front of us, and show us Christ, Christ our Lord and King, sitting on your throne, waiting for us, who will look us in our eyes and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Lift up our eyes to that Great Day when all the saints from all of time will stand about that throne and exalt the one who gave his life for us. Lift up our eyes to get just a glimpse of glory today, a glimpse of what awaits those who love the Lord. Show us more of you by opening your word to us. Make us hearers who do what you say. Lord God, you are everything to us. There is none like you. So come now and help your people.

This we ask in the Name of the One who gave his life for us, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

The relationship of the Christian to the political process is one of those issues that arises time and again and cycle after cycle. It is one of those issues that often generates more heat than light and that brings about more division than unity. Yet I would like to think we can agree that there is one unique contribution that Christians alone can and must make to the process.

Christians can vote and perhaps should vote, but the same is true of everyone—there’s nothing unique to the Christian when it comes to the responsibility of citizenship in a democratic nation. Christians can lobby, but people of any faith or any conviction can lobby. Christians can march, demonstrate, and picket, but so can atheists, Muslims, and Hindus. None of these things is wrong—in fact, each of them has its place and can often be the good and right course of action. But none of them is unique.

Yet there is one key contribution that Christians alone can make to politics: prayer. While I’ll grant that people of any faith can pray and perhaps even do pray for the political process, only Christians can pray and be heard. Only Christians pray to the actual God who actually exists and who actually oversees and intervenes in the affairs of men. Only Christians have the privilege and even the right (through the reconciling work of Christ Jesus) to have an audience with the true and living God. Only Christians delight the heart of the Father when we speak to him. Only Christians can approach and plead with the God of whom it is rightly said, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1).

A church may express its belief that its members ought to make their Christian convictions known in the way they vote. A pastor may recommend to his congregants that they consider weighing some policies more substantially than others as they evaluate the various parties or representatives. A church may help its people get registered to vote or instead choose to remain silent about such things. There are many matters that are neither demanded nor forbidden in the Bible and in these each church must follow its own convictions.

But to be faithful to God, a church must pray. To honor Scripture, a church must pray. To express love to the country and its citizens, a church must pray. It must pray because it alone has the ear of the Almighty and it alone has been commanded to make “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings … for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Timothy 2:1–2). If we are to honor the Emperor (1 Peter 2:17) surely we ought also to pray that God would grant an Emperor who acts honorably. Voting, lobbying, and campaigning may make a difference to a nation, but we can be absolutely certain that prayer will make a difference to a nation.

We pray because prayer is expected of us and commanded of us. We pray because our prayers are heard. We pray because our prayers are effective. We pray most simply and most sublimely because God invites us to pray. And this, Christian, is our one unique contribution.

Of all the elements that once made up traditional Protestant worship, there is probably none that has fallen on harder times than prayer. It is not unusual to visit a church today and find that prayer is perfunctory, rare, or absent altogether. If that is true of prayer in general, it is particularly true of the pastoral prayer.

The pastoral prayer is an opportunity for a pastor to intercede on behalf of his congregation and bring their concerns before the Lord—to pray for his people with his people. This means it is often a comparatively lengthy prayer, which is why it is sometimes known as the “long prayer.” It may include each of the standard elements of a well-rounded prayer—Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication—but it may also leave some out if they have already been included in the service in other ways. It will usually bring to God the particular cares of specific members of the church, the general concerns of the whole congregation, and the wider concerns of God’s Kingdom.

By way of counsel:

• Because a pastoral prayer is a lengthy and intentional form of prayer, most pastors will need to put effort into preparing it in advance. Some will write out their whole prayer while others will simply prepare an outline or a list of bullet points. Few will find they have the ability to pray skillfully or serve their congregation adequately when they do so entirely spontaneously and without any preparation.
• It is often best to frame the prayer around a particular theme (e.g. God’s love, God’s mercy, God’s patience) or around a particular passage, perhaps echoing some of the themes of the key verses.
• A prayer of around 5 minutes or 800-1,000 words is a reasonable length in most settings.
• Pastors will want to consider whether they pray in the first person plural or third personal plural (i.e. “I bring our petitions before you” or “I bring their petitions before you.”). They will generally want to avoid the first person singular (i.e. “I bring my petitions before you.”).
• Pastors should understand that, while their prayers are directed to God, they are also quietly teaching the congregation to pray. There is a responsibility to not only pray, but also to teach. Thus, they will want to model the kind of prayer they’d like to hear the people praying.
• Consider keeping a copy of your prayers, returning to them a couple of years into the future, and freshening them up to make use of them a second time.

I am convinced that the neglect of the pastoral prayer, often because it is regarded as boring and irrelevant to unbelievers, has been detrimental to the church. I am always blessed to visit a congregation for which it continues to be a key element of worship and I encourage every church to integrate it into every service.

Inspiration & Examples

Over the years, I have shared a collection of pastoral prayers that were prayed by one of the elders at Grace Fellowship Church. These are not meant to be textbook examples, but rather real-world examples from normal pastors in a normal church. While I would not recommend simply duplicating one of these prayers and praying it at your own church, I do think there is value in reading examples, being inspired by them, and even adopting some of their structure or elements. You are free to do that with any of these:

• Example 1
• Example 2
• Example 3
• Example 4
• Example 5
• Example 6
• Example 7
• Example 8
• Example 9
• Example 10
• Example 11
• Example 12

Here are a few other resources on the pastoral prayer you may find helpful. Their relative scarcity is probably proof that the pastoral prayer has indeed fallen on hard times and would benefit from greater attention.

• Article: Tony Merida on Why I Look Forward to the Pastoral Prayer at Church
• Article: Josh Buice on Pastoral Prayer as Worship
• Article: Putting the Pastoral Prayer Into Practice by Justin Deeter
• Article: A Plea for the Pastoral Prayer by Jesse Johnson
• Book: The Pastor in Prayer by Charles Spurgeon is full of examples of Spurgeon’s prayers
• Book: The Christian Ministry by Charles Bridges provides a robust defense of the pastor’s ministry of prayer
• Journal: The Church Praying by 9Marks
• Additional resources might include The Valley of Vision or Into His Presence by Tim Chester. While the prayers are generally too complex and the language too antiquated to pray verbatim, they can provide ideas, structures, and other forms of inspiration.

However, like so much of life and ministry, the best way to learn to prepare and deliver a pastoral prayer is through experimentation, experience, and feedback.

There are many ways to pray. There are many ways to pray that are good, appropriate, helpful, and honoring to God. Christians have often found it a blessing to pray words that others have written. Perhaps you have benefitted from praying the words of The Book of Common Prayer or The Valley of Vision. But I ask: Have you ever tried praying poetically?

In years past, Christians often wrote and prayed poetic prayers. My new book Pilgrim Prayers: Devotional Poems That Awaken Your Heart to the Goodness, Greatness, and Glory of God provides a selection of them—prayers you can integrate into your own times of devotion. And to prove to you how helpful such poems can be, I thought I would provide a few examples I have drawn from my archives.

Pre-order it at Amazon or Westminster Books

Here is a prayer a person might pray when he is considering his words and actions and wishes to ensure he is living for the good of others.

If any little word of mine
May make a life the brighter,
If any little song of mine
May make a heart the lighter,
God help me speak the little word,
And take my bit of singing,
And drop it in some lonely vale
To set the echoes ringing.

If any little love of mine
May make a life the sweeter,
If any little care of mine
May make a friend’s the fleeter,
If any lift of mine may ease
The burden of another,
God give me love and care and strength
To help my toiling brother.

Here is a prayer a person might pray when enduring a time of chastening—when suffering the consequences of his own sinful actions.

LORD, dost Thou give the painful wound?
And shall we turn away?
Nay, rather for the sorest stroke 
The trusting heart would stay.

For faithful are Thy kindly wounds,
Though ‘neath the bruise we bend;
Sweet is the secret of Thy love,
Unfolded in the end.

They deepen in our fickle hearts
The knowledge of Thy ways;
They put new songs within our lips,
And give new themes of praise.

And when Thy chastening is past,
More gladness far is ours,
Than when the sweets of earthly joy
Increased on us in showers.

Then do for us, O blessed Lord,
Whate’er Thou thinkest well;
Let sorrow sound upon our souls
Its deep, its dismal knell,

If but the music of Thy love 
With soft, yet deeper tone,
Awakes the soul to find in Thee
Delights before unknown.

Here is a prayer a pastor or congregant might pray on a Sunday morning:

Lord, give Thy people hearing ears
Who worship here today;
Obedient, may they follow Thee
Along the narrow way.

May they be strengthened by Thy might,
Built up in faith and love,
To fit them for life’s service here
And for their Home above.

Should sorrow be their portion, Lord,
Oh, bring Thy comfort nigh.
In storm of trials, calm their fear
And all their need supply.

And as they, Lord, receive from Thee
Thy blessings, rich and free,
May they with glad and thankful hearts
In all things yield to Thee.

Pilgrim Prayers includes a selection of poems like these—poems that are written as prayers to the Lord. Each one is accompanied by a brief devotional and a question for reflection. I’ve also included guides on reading poetry and praying it. I trust you will find, as I have, that these poetic prayers can become a precious and meaningful part of your devotional life.

Pilgrim Prayers will be released on September 10 and is now available for pre-order at Amazon, Westminster Books, and other booksellers.

Note: the first poem is anonymous, the second by A.M. Hull, and the third by Grace E. Troy. Though these particular poems are not in Pilgrim Prayers (I can’t give too many of them away!), they are representative of the kind of poems that are.

Sir Walter Raleigh filled many roles and wore many hats over the course of his life, among them politician, soldier, and writer. But he is best known to history as an explorer. In 1584, Queen Elizabeth granted him a charter to explore, colonize, and rule any “remote, heathen and barbarous lands, countries and territories, not actually possessed of any Christian Prince or inhabited by Christian People.” In return, he was expected to extend the reach and riches of the crown. The first region he claimed, he named “Virginia” in honor of Elizabeth, the virgin queen.

Over the course of his first illustrious and then ignominious career, he repeatedly came before the queen to ask for funds, favors, appointments, and opportunities, for all of this had to flow through the hands of the monarch. It all required her assent and her largesse. Many observed that the more she gave, the more he asked, and the greater her generosity, the greater his importunity.

It seemed inevitable that over time she would become weary of his constant requests and escalating entreaties. Sure enough, one day in exasperation she asked when he would finally stop being a beggar. His reply was simple: “When you stop giving.” Or more literally, “When, madam, you cease to be a benefactress.”(1)

What a wonderful illustration of our relationship to God! We need to express some caution, of course, when drawing a comparison between the perfect God and an impatient queen. But then again, we need to be cautious when reading Luke 18 and drawing a comparison between the perfect God and an unjust judge. The purpose of the parable is to conclude “If even an unjust judge will eventually grant a good petition, how much more a perfect God?” And the purpose of the comparison to Queen Elizabeth is to conclude “If we should stop making petitions of an exasperated queen only when she ceases to give, how much more the God who never grows impatient?”

We serve a God who commands us to bring our petitions before him. He commands us to ask for those things we need and even those things we long for. He commands us to pray without timidity, to pray without ceasing, and to pray without losing hope. But we are also to pray with patience and perseverance, trusting that God knows far better than we do what we actually need and when it would be best for us to have it. He knows far better than we do what he may need to accomplish within us so we can receive his gifts rightly instead of idolatrously. He rewards us for our patience, honors us for our perseverance, and sanctifies us through our endurance.

God will never become exasperated with us and never snap at us. But if we ever lose our confidence and lose our hope, we would do well to echo the old explorer. “I will stop asking only when you stop giving. I will stop praying only when you make it clear that you no longer answer prayer.”

This means that the time for you to quit lifting your petitions is the time when God tells you that he will no longer listen. The day to give up praying is the day when God tells you that he has closed his ears and become deaf to your voice. The moment to stop pleading is the moment when God speaks to assure you that his heart is now hardened and his hand, once opened to supply your needs, is now closed to cut them off. Until that day—a day that will never come—continue to pray, trusting that God continues to listen and to provide.

Inspired in part by De Witt Talmage

I have yet to meet the Christian who has mastered prayer. In fact, I have yet to meet the Christian who feels like much more than a beginner in the school of prayer. Though I know many who pray, I know few who are convinced they really understand prayer. In a strange way, I find it heartening to learn that even one of my most trusted and respected theologians has declined to write a book on the subject and wondered, “Who can write or speak at any length easily on the mystery of prayer?”

I am thankful that we do not need to understand prayer in order to pray. At least, we do not need to exhaustively understand prayer in order to pray. We do not need to have an answer to every question or a resolution to every mystery. The biblical command is not to figure out prayer or iron out every dilemma of prayer, but simply to pray.

I take that to mean that we should not allow our lack of understanding to lead to a lack of prayer. We should not allow our confusion to excuse hesitation. Instead, we should press on in obedience and faith—obedience to God’s clear command and faith that prayers are meaningful to God. We should press on in earnest prayer, in confident prayer, in constant prayer, and in all kinds of prayer, trusting that God loves to hear them and act upon them.

It has been my experience that the path to a deepening understanding of prayer does not lead through libraries as much as through closets, and not through reading as much as simply through praying. You can learn about prayer in a sermon, but it’s in a prayer meeting that you really learn to pray. Books and sermons have their value, of course, in teaching us to pray. God’s book has the greatest value of all. But we learn the most about prayer as we actually pray. Prayer is its own guide, its own instructor. Or, perhaps better said, the Spirit teaches us not so much through our questioning or searching but through our praying. He guides us and instructs us as we pray.

And so the task of the Christian is not first to understand prayer, though may be a very good thing, and not first to solve prayer, which I suspect is an impossible thing. Rather, the Christian is to pray, knowing that part of the beauty of prayer is that even if we aren’t confident in how prayer works, we can have confidence in the one who tells us to pray. Even if we haven’t resolved the dilemmas and solved the mysteries, we can trust the one who issues the command and who insists that he hears and responds to our prayers. Our task, our calling, and our joyful duty is to pray.

It is one of the most important habits that any married couple can form. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most rare. For a husband and wife to live well together before the Lord, they must pray together. For a couple to honor God in their marriage, they must be as intimate spiritually as they are physically. At times it can be difficult to know what to pray or how to pray. This prayer by George Swinnock is a wonderful model of a prayer a couple can (and perhaps should) pray together.

Lord, who are the guide of all relationships, may our marriage befit those married to the Lord Christ. Like Abraham and Sarah, may we be famous for faith; like Isaac and Rebecca, may we live in dearest love; like Zachariah and Elizabeth, may our walk be blameless.

May the meditation of each other’s frailty spur us to greater fidelity. May you be our guide, and Scripture our compass. Whatever stony paths we walk on earth, may we enjoy a comforting sunshine from heaven. And since you have tied this knot between us, may we do nothing which might loosen it through angry thoughts or quarrelsome deeds.

May our thoughts of each other be sweetened with love; may our words to each other be seasoned with love; and may our actions towards each other be given a relish and savour by love.

May love be the strength with which we bear one another’s burdens. May love be the mantle with which we cover one another’s infirmities. And may love be the fire which consumes opposition between us! May we cleave close to one another in our affections as those who are bound together by God himself.

As those who are equal sharers in gains and losses, may we stand and fall together, not wasting wealth through our extravagance but concerned for the needs of the other. Let us be more tender of each other’s reputation than of our own. And may we imitate your Majesty in covering and forgiving one another’s infirmities.

May we conspire for each other’s welfare, and carry domestic burdens on both our shoulders, joining together to bear personal hardships. As fellow-travellers through life, may we cheer up one another to make our journey more pleasant, until we come to rest in the true paradise!

We pray, above all, that with great faithfulness, we may serve each other’s souls, conspiring together to walk in step with the Spirit, praying, and fasting and reading together. Let us take sweet counsel together, that our house may be a Bethel, “a House of God”.

Enable us, Lord, as husband and wife to shine like the sun and moon, and our children as stars, so gloriously and powerfully with the light of holiness, that our house may be your lesser heaven.

George Swinnock as quoted in Into His Presence. I have slightly adapted and truncated it.

From time to time I like to share an example of a pastoral prayer that was prayed at Grace Fellowship Church. The pastoral prayer is a time for one of the pastors or elders to pray before the congregation and to intercede on their behalf. It’s a precious element of a service. I prayed this prayer earlier this month.

Our Father in heaven, what a joy it is that we can call you “Father.” You rule over this earth, but don’t tell us to pray to “your majesty.” You are high and lifted up, but you don’t tell us to address you as “your highness.” You are judge of the living and the dead, but don’t tell us to say “your honor.” Instead you invite us to call you “our Father.” And so we don’t speak to you today as subjects before a king, or citizens before an emperor, or plaintiffs before a judge—we speak to you as children before a father. We speak as children who are confident that our Father loves us, confident that our Father hears us, confident that our Father is eager to act for our good.

Father, we have already confessed that we are like sheep who have gone astray. But we are also like children who have rebelled against a kind and benevolent father, a father who has only ever loved us, a father who has only ever acted in ways that benefited us. We have chosen to defy you, to revolt against your authority, to go so far as to wish you were dead. We are so sorry. And we are so thankful that you continued to love us, that you continued to care about us, that you patiently and willingly drew us to yourself. What a God you are! What a Father you are!

For those of us who are fathers, we pray that we would learn from you, that we would model our fathering after yours, that we would look to the way you relate to us and extend all of that mercy, all of that love, all of that compassion to the children you’ve blessed us with. Let us love as we have been loved. Let us be fathers in the way you are a Father.

Father, we thank you for the many precious gifts you’ve given us, not the least of which is this church. Thank you that since we are all your children and you are Father to us all, you’ve drawn us together into this community, this family.

We thank you for granting us the gift of elders and deacons and Father we ask that they would serve well, that the elders would lead on your behalf and that the deacons would serve on your behalf. And we pray that you would grant us more elders and more deacons. You promise that if we ask according to your will you will listen and you will provide. We know it is your will for a church to be led by elders and served by deacons, so we ask that you would raise up members of this church who would be called, and qualified, and willing to serve as elders. We pray that you would raise up members of this church who would be called, and qualified, and willing to serve as deacons. We see this as a great need in this church and so we pray that you would grant what we ask. We pray that you would burden individuals to serve and we pray that you would grant wisdom to the members so we can identify those people and simply acknowledge your calling on their life.

We thank you that you are not Father only to the people in this congregation but to Christians throughout the world, throughout the country, throughout the city. We think today of our brothers and sisters at [nearby local church] on the east side of Toronto. Please bless them as they meet to worship you today. Please bless [pastor] as he pastors that church. He has served there faithfully for many years and we ask that you would grant him many more. We pray that you would help the people of that church to serve as a faithful and committed part of your family right here in this city.

And Father as we turn to the Word, to hear it read and preached, we ask that you would help us listen attentively and apply diligently. We pray that we would listen as children who so badly need the wisdom of their Father, as children who are committed to imitating their Father, and as children who long to please their Father. I pray that you would speak and we would listen—that you, who are perfect and unchanging, would do a great work within us who are imperfect and in desperate need of change. Please let us leave here today as children who have heard from their Father, who have grown in love and trust for their Father, and who are eager to be like their Father.

We pray all this in the name of our precious Savior, our elder brother, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Last week I spent an unexpectedly long time in small-town Alaska—in a town that revolves around commercial fishing. If you’ve seen shows like Deadliest Catch, you’ve seen Amaknak Island which forms part of the sprawling Aleutian chain. You’ve seen the town of Unalaska and its harbor, Dutch Harbor. You’ve seen the fleet that heads into the dangerous Bering Sea to fish for crab. You’ve seen the outsized characters who captain these boats and who man them.

We had the interesting experience of spending a couple of afternoons on one of these boats to see how crab is hauled up from the depths (and, later, how it is cleaned, cut, cooked, and devoured). The owners of the boat, a delightful Christian couple, were eager to show us their trade and to answer all of our questions. On Sunday we worshipped with their church as part of our Worship Round the World project. On Monday morning we prepared to head home. And then everything started to get strange.

As morning broke we saw that a deep, low fog had settled in and we learned that every flight to the mainland had been canceled. No ferries run this time of year and there is no other way off the island except to fly, so we would need to wait it out. The fog remained on Tuesday and flights were canceled again. On Wednesday a volcano that had erupted in Russia blew volcanic ash east over the Aleutians and flights were grounded for that reason. On Thursday a volcano in western Alaska erupted and spewed ash west over the Aleutians, once again grounding flights. How the same wind can blow ash both east and west I’ll never know! On Friday the bad weather returned, until finally Saturday was clear enough that planes could once again come and go.

The entire time we were in Unalaska we were the glad recipients of the very highest of Christian hospitality. We were well cared for and never lacked for anything. We had access to a beautiful house with stunning views out over Captain’s Bay. When the weather cooperated we drove around the island, enjoying and admiring its stark beauty. Yet even while we were content enough, we did spend a good bit of time praying that the weather would clear, that the volcanos would stop, and that we would be able to return to our own place and our own people. This was to be the final journey of many this year and we were all ready to be home.

In that nautical environment, I found myself thinking about an old illustration related to prayer in general and to Hebrews 4:16 in particular: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” A theologian pondered how we can draw near to the throne of grace and what role prayer plays in this. He thought of a boat that was attached to the shore with a long rope. Once that boat was far out into the sea, the crew began to pull on the line. As the distance closed between land and boat, the sailors might have been tempted to think that they were drawing the land toward themselves. But, of course, the land did not move one inch. Rather, it was the boat that moved as it was steadily pulled toward the land.

And just like that, we are to attach our desires to God’s throne with prayer. We and our desires are the boat and prayer is the rope. And as we pull on the rope, which is to say, as we pray, we do not expect to move the throne toward ourselves. Rather, we expect that we will be drawn closer to the throne. We will not compel God to become more like us—our desires will not overwhelm God’s and our will will not supersede his. Rather, as we draw near, we will become more like him—our desires will become submitted to his and our will will yield to his. We will find ourselves in harmony with God and delight ourselves in his answer to our prayer, no matter what it is.

As we draw closer to God through prayer, as we come into closer conformity to God through earnest prayer, we will find ourselves satisfied with plenty or want, joy or sorrow, peace or turmoil. We will desire for ourselves what God desires for us. We will be at harmony with his will, at harmony with his purposes, and at harmony with his providence. We will have drawn near to his throne—we will have drawn near to him—and we will be content.

There are few things more sobering than praying for someone who is dying, and few things more humbling than praying with someone whose time on earth is drawing to a close. In his book Facing the Last Enemy, Guy Prentiss Waters offers wise counsel to those who have the responsibility and even the privilege of this task. Here is his simple guidance on praying for those who are dying.

First, we should pray that the person would have a sure and settled faith in Jesus Christ. About a month before he died, an ailing John Calvin told fellow ministers who were visiting him that “my faults have always displeased me and the root of the fear of the Lord has always been in my heart.” Calvin was well acquainted with his sins. For that reason, he took refuge in the Lord, trusting and fearing Him from the heart. We should pray that our dying friend or loved one would, by God’s grace, make the same kind of confession.

Second, we should pray that the person would submit himself to the will of God. If it is evident in God’s providence that his time on this earth is limited, then the best thing to do is to bow before God. We should also pray for ourselves that we would submit to this hard providence. We may pray this prayer for the dying person and for ourselves in confidence that God is working only for His glory and the good of His people in this world (Rom. 8:28). We trust God even when we do not fully understand what He is doing in our lives.

Third, we should pray that our dying loved one would have comfort of body and soul. We do not want him to linger in physical pain. It is not necessarily wrong to pray that the Lord would take a dying believer home to Him soon. We also do not want the person to experience distress of soul. We should pray that he would experience the “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” and “guards” “hearts” and “minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7).

Finally, we should pray that God would provide for the family and friends whom the dying person will leave behind. Pray that He would fulfill His promise to watch over the widow and the orphan (Deut. 10:18; Ps. 68:5). Pray that He would spiritually provide for the survivors as they grieve their loss, that their grief may be in the hope of the gospel.

The sermon fizzles instead of sizzles. The text seems to become opaque rather than clear. The illustrations fall flat while the application somehow fails to strike the heart, the mind, or the hands. The pastor seems distracted and discouraged while the congregation seems uninterested and unmoved.

I expect we have all sat through a few sermons that, if not quite as bad as all that, were still strangely weak. I am certain we have all experienced sermons that seemed feeble and powerless, that ostensibly wielded the Word of God but did so with about as much strength as a plastic sword. I am sure we have all endured some sermons that struck us with all the power of a gentle gust of wind.

And when the sermon falls flat, I suppose we all tend to place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the preacher. Maybe he lacks skill or education or maybe he failed to give his sermon adequate time or preparation. Maybe he failed to pray earnestly in his study or failed to structure his week properly. If he’s the one who preached feebly, the fault must be his, right?

But who’s to say that, in the mind of God, the power of the preaching is entirely in the hands of the preacher? Who’s to say that the pastor’s task is to prepare the sermon while the congregation’s task is merely to prepare their own hearts to hear it? What if preaching is powerless not because of the pastor’s lack of preparation but because of the church’s lack of prayer? What if poor preaching is not the consequence of any failure on the pastor’s part but on the congregation’s?

Certainly every preacher should spend a good bit of his preparation time on his knees. Anyone who has preached will attest that God responds to those prayers in which we confess our sin, profess that we are overwhelmed before the text, and plead for divine clarity and ability. None of us is adequate for the task of preaching the Word. None of us, whether through clever words or rare skill or sheer determination, can generate the unction and anointing of the Spirit that we long to experience in the pulpit. None of us can force the Spirit to so “possess” and overtake us that he divinely empowers our words as we preach. That can only be called down, pleaded down, prayed down.

That being the case, why wouldn’t the congregation make it their responsibility to pray for the sermon—to pray for it to be accurate, to be effective, to be powerful? Why wouldn’t the church make it their task to plead with God to bless the preacher in his study, in his writing, in his preparation, and in his delivery? Why wouldn’t the church make it their duty to pray not only that their ears would hear, their minds understand, and their hearts receive, but that the preacher would be empowered by the Spirit in such a way that the listeners can’t help but hear, can’t help but understand, and can’t help but receive?

And so, on behalf of all the pastors who long to serve their church Sunday by Sunday, I call on all of us to plead with God for power in the pulpit. I call on all of us to make it our responsibility to pray for the preacher and the preaching. I call on all of us to consider that weak and powerless preaching may have as much to do—or even more to do—with the congregation’s lack of prayer than the pastor’s lack of preparation. I call on all of us to get involved in the preaching of the Word through our earnest prayers to God.

What a joy and what a blessing it is to pray for our spiritual leaders—to ask God to bless them, to sanctify them, and to equip them for the ministry he calls them to. This prayer by John Flavel (as found in Tim Chester’s Into His Presence) offers words we can pray on their behalf.

Lord, cleanse our churches, and repair their walls, so they may become gardens of delight for Christ to walk in and take pleasure in. May her ministers be faithful and wise: faithful so they do not deceive others; wise so they do not deceive themselves. May their wisdom prevent deceivers imposing on them, and their faithfulness prevent them imposing on others. May their wisdom enable them to discern wholesome food for the flock and their faithfulness oblige them to distribute it.

May our leaders be pure with spiritual aims and intentions; serving not their own honour and interest, but yours.

May our leaders show sincerity, not appearing outwardly spiritual while being inwardly carnal.

May our leaders be diligent, like men in harvest, like women in labour, like soldiers in battle, watching while others sleep.

May our leaders lack favouritism, as those who will appear before an impartial God. May they take the same care, manifest the same love, show the same diligence to the poorest and weakest souls in their care as they do the rich, the great and the honourable. For all souls are rated the same in your book of life, and our Redeemer paid as much for one as the other.

May their faithfulness fix their eyes on the right end, and may their wisdom direct them to the best means of attaining it. May they lay a good foundation of knowledge in our souls, choosing subjects that will meet our needs, shaping the language in which they address us, using their own affections to move us, being careful of their behaviour. Send them often to their knees to seek your blessing upon their labours, knowing that all their success entirely depends upon you.

Amen.

Every Christian parent prays that God would extend his saving grace from one generation to the next (and, of course, to the ones after that). Every Christian prays, then, that they would see the Lord save their precious children. This was on George Swinnock’s mind when he prayed this lovely prayer many centuries ago. May it give you words to pray to the Lord as you consider God’s mercy toward the children the Lord has given you.

Father of spirits, I pray for my children.

Manifest your grace and goodness and wash them in the fountain opened for sin.

As they bear the image of the first Adam, cause them to bear the image of the second Adam.

Let your grace be their beauty and the eternal weight of glory their portion.

Cause them to hear your voice and live.

Dear Redeemer, you said, “Let the little children come to me.” I bring them now to you; do not reject them. I present them to you in the trembling arms of my weak faith. Oh, lay your hands on them and bless them.

Blessed Jesus, you know the pollution of their natures, the difficulty of their conversions, and the boundless wrath to which they are liable.

Let your compassion yearn towards them, and your Spirit so accompany their instruction that in them you may see the suffering of your soul and be satisfied.

And I pray that I may walk in the path of your precepts for the sake of those that follow me.

May I be so pious in my words and works, so gracious in all my dealings and duties, that religion may be written fair through my conduct, and my children may with comfort follow my example.

Lord, while others turn off the highway of holiness, let me, like the pillar of fire, go before my family to the land of promise, and shine as a true light to direct them in the way to everlasting life.

I pray that as a parent of my children I may conduct myself as a child of my God.

Lord, my sons are your sons and my daughters are your daughters.

Let your power prosper my labors while they are young, so that they may be prepared for that noble work which you plan for them in the other world.

And when you send your servants to fetch them home, may they be conveyed by holy angels to your side, where I and the children whom you have given me shall love, and live, and rejoice with you for ever.

We have been blessed with a number of books that adapt and share the prayers of the Puritans. The Valley of Vision is the most famous of these of course, and Piercing Heaven is another. I was glad to see that we will be spoiled yet again, this time with Tim Chester’s Into His Presence which will be released shortly. Here’s a lovely sample prayer from it, drawn from Thomas Lyle.

Lord God, you and you alone should be the sole object of our trust.

May there be but one string to the bow of our faith: that is you, our Lord.

May we not rest in any thing other than you.

Forgive us when we trust in our heads, for our own understanding is an unsafe place to lean.

Forgive us when we trust in our hearts, for they are so deceitful and wicked.

Forgive us when we trust in our vigour, for our hands will soon hang down and faint.

Forgive us when we trust in any excellences, for the best of us in our best state is altogether vanity.

Forgive us when we trust in riches, for riches are fair-faced nothings, taking flight like birds.

Forgive us when we trust in human allies, for they prove not to be staffs but broken reeds.

But on this the arm of trust may safely lean: your almighty arm and power; and your infinite goodness, mercy, and bounty.

Those who preach or lead during corporate worship services will probably be familiar with the strange phenomenon of having multiple “tracks” playing in your mind at once. Even as you preach the sermon or lead the songs, your mind may be flitting about from the distraction of a crying baby to the fear that you will flub your lines to the idolatrous hope that your listeners will be wowed by your skill. It’s for this reason that it is wise to pray while you preach and to pray while you lead. In his book On Worship H.B. Charles Jr. writes, “You ask, ‘Can you preach and pray at the same time?’ My answer, ‘You better!’”

In fact, Charles goes farther and offers a few things to pray as you preach or as you lead (which, for those who are not preaching or leading, you may consider praying on behalf of those who are!).

God, guide my thoughts. “As you commune with God in private devotion, your mind can be flooded with distractions. If this can happen in what A. Louis Patterson called ‘the private chambers of your own praying ground,’ imagine how easily it can happen as you lead worship.” There are many distractions that can grab the eye and capture the mind, so it is wise to pray that God would guide your thoughts to what matters far more. And if the distractions are too great to ignore, Charles says “In those moments, I have responded by praying aloud, ‘Lord, please hold my mind.’” “I am a witness,” he says, “that God will answer this prayer. God can help you stay focused. God can bring to your memory what you need to remember. God can enable you to disregard vain thoughts.”

God, guard my heart. “Leading worship requires physical preparation and mental concentration. Moreover, it demands spiritual devotion. It does not matter if your head is in the game, if your heart is not. You should come to the task of leading worship with a prepared assignment, a rested body, and a consecrated heart.” Like David, you should pray “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!” You should examine your heart for unconfessed sin and even continue that examination as you lead the service. You should ask God to guard you against fear, worry, or discouragement when it seems like your leadership is not effective and you should ask God to guard your heart against all pride, folly, and carnality when it seems like it is.

God, guide my words. Charles is in favor of pastors generally preparing a full sermon manuscript, even if they do not end up taking it into the pulpit with them, largely because “the work of thinking through what you want to say in advance helps keep the preacher from filibustering in the pulpit.” Like many other preachers, he does not rigidly rely on that manuscript or read from it word-for-word. Yet knowing that words are powerful and that every word matters, he wants to ensure his words are not untrue, unwise, or unhelpful. Hence, in a desire to make sure every one counts, he encourages leaders to pray “God, guide my words” or, in the words of Psalm 19, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

So, is it possible to pray even as you preach, as you lead, or as you sing? The more you’ve served in these public roles, the more you’ve undoubtedly come to agree with Charles: “You better!”

There are times when it seems like God does not hear us. There are times when it seems like God has become deaf to our prayers and unresponsive to our cries. There are times when we seek but do not find, knock but do not find the door opened. Why is it that God sometimes does not answer our prayers?

There may be any number of reasons, but before we consider a few of them, we need to acknowledge that often God actually does answer our prayers, though either in a way we cannot yet see or in a way we do not accept. He sometimes answers invisibly or imperceptibly and he sometimes answers in a way we simply fail to see or, worse, fail to acknowledge. Then there are times when God gives us not exactly what we had pleaded for but what he, in his wisdom, has determined we need. Either way, we should always take great care before we conclude “God has not answered my prayer.”

Yet there actually are times when he does not answer. This should not surprise us if we have an appropriate assessment of our own finitude, our own selfishness, our own sinfulness, our own simplicity. We know that God has power that is vast, holiness that is perfect, wisdom that is complete, and plans and purposes that encompass all of time and space. Our lives and the world around would be in woeful condition if God was beholden to each and every one of our petitions.

Our confidence, then, is not in God answering every one of our prayers just as we have prayed them, but in God hearing those prayers and determining if, when, and how to best respond. If God is truly who he says he is, if he is truly our good Father and we the children he loves, we can be certain that if he does not answer, it is only because this is better for us. He is not cruel, nor arbitrary, nor apathetic. Hence his inaction must be for our good, not for our harm.

So what are some of the ways God expresses his love and his goodness through unanswered prayer?

God may not answer our prayers when to answer them would be to rob us of a blessing. This is especially true when we pray to be relieved of suffering or delivered from a burden. The Bible and our own experience makes it clear that God often works mightily through hardships, not apart from them. This being the case, to deliver us too quickly would actually be to rob us of a blessing. It would be to take away the very circumstance through which God is conforming us to his image. There are some flowers that can be plucked only in the depths of valleys and only on the peaks of mountains, and there are some blessings that can be gotten only in adversity. God will not rob us of experiencing blessings by lifting us past the means through which they can be ours.

Then, God may not answer our prayers when they are selfish. If we pray in such a way that we account only for ourselves and not for others, God may not grant our request. God’s mind is much greater than our own and his plan much more expansive. He always accounts for all of his children and will hardly do injury to one in order to bless another. Whether our prayers are knowingly selfish or ignorantly selfish, God may not answer them if giving a blessing to us would prove a sorrow to another.

Of course God may not answer our prayers when what they request is sinful or when we ourselves are living in unrepentance. God will not grant prayers that demand what he has forbidden or that reject what delights his heart. He will not grant prayers to those who are living in unrepentant sin and are rejecting the prompting and pleading of his Spirit. God may close his ears to our pleas as a means of fatherly chastisement that is meant to awaken us to our sinfulness, soften our hearts, and steer us back to him.

Then there are times when our prayers are unanswered only because they are delayed. The God who sees the end from the beginning is not refusing to answer, but is simply waiting until the time is right. We may not yet have character that is prepared or circumstances that are appropriate to receive what we have prayed for. Just as a child cannot take advanced mathematics before he has mastered the basics, we may need divine preparation to be able to receive and appreciate some of God’s blessings. Many who plead for success would be ruined if they received it, so God lovingly delays until their hearts and lives have been made ready.

Then, it could also be that the blessings we want have not yet been fully prepared. We may plant an apple tree and immediately pray for it to bear fruit, but it will take many seasons for it to grow and mature and only then will it satisfy our hunger. And this is true of many of the blessings we long for. There may be a long time of preparation in which we need to wait patiently as those blessings are readied by his hand. God’s silence does not flow from apathy or indifference, but love. He is not refusing to grant us the blessing, but simply preparing it, nurturing it from seed to sapling to fruitfulness.

Where we so often go wrong is in failing to believe that God truly means to bless us, failing to believe that his motives are only and always love, failing to wait for his timing to be right and his answer to be perfect. Our task is to trust him—to trust him in what he will give and what he will refuse, in what he will grant in a moment and what he will grant only in time. Our task is to pray and wait, pray and trust, pray and watch for him to do exceedingly and abundantly beyond all we can ask or even imagine.

Inspired by The Hidden Life by J.R. Miller

There is much excitement among pro-lifers in the United States and for very good reason. After all these years and after so much death, it suddenly seems likely that Roe v Wade will be overturned. Of course this will not make abortion illegal in the country, but will simply return the issue to the individual states. Still, it will finally address a great injustice and give hope that the tides may be turning and that abortion may someday be as unthinkable as it ought to be.

I know that many Americans—and non-Americans—are praying fervently that the opinion circulated in draft form will represent the final ruling and that all of the conservative Supreme Court Justices will hold fast. I am praying for this myself! But as we pray for America, I want to encourage us to widen our gaze a little bit and pray for the matter of abortion in other countries as well. Because, strange though it may be, the potential overturning of Roe v Wade, which is the law of the land in only one country, is already having ripple effects around the globe.

Canada is notorious for having no abortion law at all. Therefore, abortion is legal at all stages of pregnancy and for any reason. It is an issue that even ostensibly pro-life conservative governments tend not to touch since they know that if it becomes a core issue in a campaign, it is likely to sink their chances of gaining power. Yet with news of the overturn of Roe v Wade, the ruling Liberal Party is sensing political opportunity. Suggesting that access to abortion is now somehow threatened in Canada, they are hinting that they may strengthen abortion laws here. As one commentator says, they “are clearly trying to transpose the American debate onto Canada without acknowledging the very large political and legal differences between the two countries, in an unveiled attempt to draw out pro-life Conservatives and perpetuate the myth that the Tories have a hidden agenda.” The Prime Minister says he is now looking at legislative options to ensure the right to abortion is permanently protected. Thus, strangely, a ruling that may be very good for one country may end up being bad for its neighbor.

Meanwhile, writing from Australia, Murray Campbell says “Of course, decisions made by the US Supreme Court have no legal bearing on Australian law, but the cultural influence of America inevitably washes up on our shores. I look forward to seeing how this development might affect things here in the State of Victoria, where abortion is aggressively defended as an unfettered legal right up to birth. In such an environment, I am thankful for any public and legal decision that weakens the abortion position.” It could be that the demise of Roe v Wade helps the situation in Australia, or it could be that it worsens it. But what’s certain is that it will in some way impact it.

Then from the UK, Stephen Kneale says that there, like in Canada, “it has for quite some time been considered something of a done deal in British politics. No major political party stands on a pro-life platform and almost no MPs identify as pro-life. Those that are also frequently remain very quiet about the fact. It is seen as a policy that may well spell the end of a political career if pushed too hard. At best, it is seen as a dead issue, effectively unrepealable, and therefore not a good use of campaigning time. Politically, the calculation is that it is better to focus energies on what can be changed rather than on what is assumed cannot be.” Yet “the Roe v Wade decision in the states may well put the matter back on the agenda,” which could in the end either help or hinder the pro-life cause in the UK.

Thus what is happening in the United States—a country that has massive power to create and shape culture—is making headlines all across the world and motivating politicians in far-off countries to once again address the issue of abortion. Some may use it to further life and some may use it to further death. Some may use it to limit abortion access in their nations and some may use it to strengthen it. Some will want to follow in the footsteps of the US while some will want to do all that’s within their power to distance themselves from it. And, indeed, that is the most likely outcome for a country like Canada under a government like ours.

None of this is to say that it’s wrong or bad for the US Supreme Court to overturn Roe v Wade. None of this is to say that we shouldn’t pray that this will actually happen and that we shouldn’t celebrate if and when it does. Not at all! The day Roe v Wade is overturned will be a truly beautiful day. But I do hope it serves as a reminder that the decision of a handful of judges in one country will ripple out for good and for ill, perhaps to help the cause of life in some nations but certainly to hinder it in others. And the only one who can sort out a mess like that is the one to whom we pray—the one whose mind is vast and whose hand is strong. So let’s pray together that he would act to protect the lives of the unborn in the United States and far beyond. Let’s pray that he would move powerfully to do far more abundantly than all we can ask, think, or even imagine, not only in America but all across the world.

Father in heaven, I acknowledge that you are the one who bestows good gifts and you are the one who recalls them again. It is by your hand that each of us is brought to life and by your hand that each of us is called into death. You are the one who gives and you are the one who takes away. And so I bless your name.

Father, it has been your will to take away one that I love. And even while I acknowledge that you make no mistakes and you commit no wrongs, still it hurts so much. Still my mind is bewildered, still my heart is broken.

But even as I weep, I pray that I would not grieve as one who has no hope, as one who has no faith, as one who has no confidence in you.

I pray that in my sorrow I will be quiet of spirit so that I can listen attentively to hear each of your precious words of consolation.

I pray that in my sorrow I will be reverent and honor you for doing no more than what is your sovereign prerogative, your divine right.

I pray that in my sorrow I will be confident, assured that there is as much of your love in the taking away of this blessing as there was in the giving of it.

I pray that in my sorrow I will be meek, continually bowing the knee to you in humble submission.

I pray that in my sorrow I will be grateful so that even as I lament the blessing that has been taken, I will be thankful for the countless blessings that have been given and that remain.

I pray that in my sorrow I will be holy and never fail to plead that, by your grace, you will sanctify this grief to me and use it to make me more like Christ.

I pray that in my sorrow I will be composed so I am ready to do whatever you call me to do and to bear whatever you call me to bear. Whatever mission is wrapped up in this bereavement, I pray that I would accept it and do it in your name and for your glory.

I pray that in my sorrow I will be trustful so I can look to the future with a sure and steady confidence, looking forward to the day when you dry each of these tears.

Father, I have received so many of your blessings with smiles of gratitude, and I release this one now with tears of sorrow. Let me offer just one prayer more: That in my sorrow I will be patient so I can bear with this grief for as long as you call me to and remain faithful to the very end—to the end when I will hear those wonderful words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

It’s in the name of Jesus Christ, my living, reigning, sympathizing friend that I pray. Amen.

I composed this prayer some time ago when reflecting on some of my losses. It is inspired by “Sorrow for the Death of Friends” by John Angell James

Somewhere out there in the great, wide world, someone is praying for you. He probably doesn’t know you and you probably don’t know him. You may not meet one another for many more years. But he’s praying for you nonetheless and has been for a very long time.

He is the father of a daughter. He is the proud father of a daughter who is very precious to him—more precious than anything he owns, more precious than anything he has ever done, ever made, ever accomplished, more precious than his very life. She is so precious that if he gained all the riches of this world but lost her heart along the way, he’d consider himself an abject failure.

This father knows that a time is coming when a young man will approach him and ask for permission to marry his daughter. He knows that a time is coming when a young man will insist that it is in his daughter’s best interests if she leaves her father and mother—leaves behind the ones who brought her into this world and who gave her such privileges and who raised her so well—and is joined to him instead (for such is the endearing conceit of young men). And, though it may be hard for this father to admit, he knows that this young man may just be right—that his daughter’s best life will be outside of his care and in another man’s, outside of his home and in one this new couple will build together.

From the day he welcomed his precious little daughter into the world, he knew that he would at some point entrust her to another man. And so he began to pray. From the day he laid eyes on his beautiful little girl, he knew he would some day lead her down a church aisle to place her hand in another man’s. And so he began to pray for him. From the day his heart became so deeply bound to hers, he knew hers would someday become bound to someone else’s. And so he began to pray all the more earnestly.

He prayed that this young man would come to saving faith—that he would repent of his sin and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He prayed that this young man would grow in holiness—that he would conscientiously put sin to death and come alive to righteousness. He prayed that this young man would become a capable provider—that he would study hard and work diligently and make good on all the privileges afforded to him. He prayed that this young man would grow in godly character—becoming loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. Ultimately he prayed that this young man would prove worthy of his daughter—that he would know her to be as precious as she actually is and that he would treat her with all the love and dignity she deserves.

This is an interesting thought, isn’t it? It is an interesting thought, and an encouraging one, that since you were tiny, this man has been praying for you. He has been praying for you without knowing who you are, praying for you without knowing when you would meet, praying for you with longing that in the day that you emerged from the great crowd of humanity, he would see that God had heard his prayers and answered them.

This is an encouraging thought but also a challenging one, for it now falls to you, young man, to be worthy—as worthy as any man can be—to receive from his hand what he counts more precious than jewels, more valuable than his own heart, of greater worth than his own name and even his own life. It falls to you, young man, to honor his diligence in so faithfully interceding for his daughter. It falls to you, young man, to be God’s answer to a father’s prayers.