Today I started reading the featured articles in the new issue of Tabletalk magazine. The March issue is on prayer – "Key Questions About Prayer" – and the opening article by editor Burk Parsons is a powerful introduction.
Moreover, it's hard to pray because our focus is too often on praying itself and not on God. We learn about prayer not so that we might know a lot of facts about prayer, but so that we might pray with our focus on God. By His sovereign grace, we know Him, and we know He is there and that He not only hears but listens—that He is not silent but that He always answers our prayers and always acts in accord with His perfect will for our ultimate good and for His glory. When we recognize God's sovereignty in prayer, we are also reminded of His love, grace, holiness, and righteousness, and we are thereby confronted with the harsh reality of our own wretched sin in the light of His glory and grace.
That is good food for our souls as we enter a new work-week. Let's remember to begin each day at our sovereign Father's feet, pleading for His grace and Holy Spirit in our battle under the cross of His Son.
To finish reading Parson's introduction, visit the link above. To read the other brief articles answering various "key questions about prayer," visit the link below.