https://www.christianity.com/bible/commentary.php?com=mhc&b=23&c=62

God’s professing people must be a praying people. He is not displeased with us for being earnest, as men commonly are; he bids us to cry after him, and give him no rest, Luke 11:5,6. It is a sign that God is coming to a people in mercy, when he pours out a spirit of prayer upon them. See how uncertain our creature-comforts are. See also God’s mercy in giving plenty, and peace to enjoy it. Let us delight in attending the courts of the Lord, that we may enjoy the consolations of his Spirit.

He Encourages Constant Communication With Him

http://www.spurgeongems.org/sermon/chs2189.pdf

What a blessed thing to be so familiar with God that you have His ear for your friends and neighbors! Plead with Him for the erring, the unbelieving, the profane. Never hold your peace towards God, for in this case speech is more than golden. By prayer you unlock the treasuries of heaven—keep the golden key in constant motion. Never cease to pray, since intercession is benediction. If the world be asleep, if the church be asleep, hold not your peace by night, and should the church become active and the world be a little awakened, redouble your prayer till the world is won. You spokesmen for God, and spokesmen to God, never hold your peace day or night.

Take no rest from prayer. Be always praying. If not always in the act of prayer, be always in the spirit of prayer. “Pray without ceasing.” Not only reason, but wrestle with God in prayer. Sometimes pray without words, and sometimes with them. Pray alone, and often pray with brethren. There is special prevalence in the prayer of two or three. “If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.”

Never rest from prayer because you are weary of it. Whenever prayer becomes distasteful, it should be a loud call to pray all the more. No man has such need to pray as the man who does not care to pray. When you can pray, and long to pray, why then you will pray, but when you cannot pray, and do not wish to pray, why then you must pray, or evil will come of it. He is on the brink of ruin who forgets the mercy seat. When the heart is apathetic towards prayer, the whole man is sickening for a grievous disease. How can we be weary of prayer? It is essential to life. When a man grows weary of breathing, surely he is near to dying, when a man grows weary of praying, surely we ought to pray anxiously for him, for he is in an evil case. Never rest from prayer because you have prayed enough. When has a man prayed enough? The greatest pleaders with God in prayer are the hungriest after more of it. The more a man gets from God, the more he desires from God. Those who have but little, ask but little, but to him that has shall be given, and he shall have abundance. Does anyone say, “I have long been prayerful and watchful, and I shall now take things more easily”?

He Initiates the Relationship

https://www.preaching.com/sermons/prayer-starts-with-god-isaiah-6524-1-john-512-15-romans-826-30/

And who starts the face-to-face conversation? The Lord! John makes that clear in John 4:19, “We love Him because He first loved us.” He is the prime mover in salvation, the gift of faith, and the initiation of prayer. In prayer, He makes known to us what is His will so that we can ask for what He longs to give. He calls us into His presence because He has the answer to our needs and questions. “If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”

Our assurance that He hears us is that He is the one who asked for the conversation. He would not call us to prayer and then refuse to listen or be inattentive to our prayer. That’s the confidence, boldness, we have: prayer is our response to His call. In the time of face-to-face communion He makes clear what it is that we are to ask for in the needs He has come to us to help us solve.

So when we do ask, it is with the confidence that we are asking for what He is prepared to release for us. “And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” We know before we ask, because the content of our asking has been guided by Him.

He Wants Us To Pray For What He Desires

https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/The_Priority_of_Prayer_FullArticle

Jesus teaches this very clearly in the Gospels. He tells us to pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10 KJV), and He bids us to “ask the Lord of the harvest … to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matt. 9:38).1 By this He means for us to understand and take seriously the fact that our prayer is a major factor in advancing God’s kingdom in this world. Jesus elsewhere encourages prayer in the strongest terms imaginable by saying, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7). “Have faith in God … whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:22, 24). “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Matt. 21:22). The clear implication of these and similar passages is that God commands us to pray and promises to answer in power when we do so.

Jesus demonstrated this in His own life and ministry. We are all familiar with how Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, preached the gospel, fed the hungry, comforted the brokenhearted, healed the sick, cast out demons, gave sight to the blind, and raised the dead. But we sometimes overlook that these powerful deeds were the overflow of a life of prayer, lived in daily communion with God. The Gospels tell us that early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus would rise and spend time alone with God in prayer (Mark 1:35). And often, even in busy periods of ministry, He would withdraw to solitary places and pray (Luke 5:16). At times He even spent whole nights in prayer (Luke 6:12). By making prayer such a high priority, Jesus was able to maintain constant communion with His Father and draw upon God’s wisdom, guidance, and power to fulfill His mission (John 5:19–20).

https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-6-priority-prayer-1-timothy-21-8

As Paul begins to tell Timothy how to conduct oneself in the local church (3:15), he puts prayer as the first priority (1 Tim 2:1, “First of all”). But Paul is not just talking about the need for prayer in general. He is talking about the need for prayer as it relates to the salvation of the lost. He repeats some words and ideas in 1 Tim 2:1-8 that show what he is driving at: “all men” (1 Tim 2:1); “all” (1 Tim 2:2); “God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved” (1 Tim 2:3, 4); “mediator … between God and men” (1 Tim 2:5); “a ransom for all, the testimony” (1 Tim 2:6); “preacher and … teacher of the Gentiles” (1 Tim 2:7). Paul is talking about men—people—and not just about a certain few, but about all men. And he is talking about the Savior. His concern is that all would be saved. What he is telling us is that,

Prayer that all people may be reached with the gospel should pervade the life of the church.

We should have such a burden for those who are perishing without Christ that we’re driven to entreat God, who is the Savior, that all people might be reached with the good news that there is a Mediator who gave Himself as the ransom for their sins.

God’s Plan Involves All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People

In verse 1 Paul uses four different words for prayer. The words are not altogether distinct in meaning, but there are nuances of difference that reveal different needs that require prayer:

“Entreaties” = prayer stemming from a sense of need. Sensing our lack and God’s sufficiency, our impotence and God’s omnipotence, should move us to pray.

“Prayers” = a general term for prayer to God. One commentator suggests that the word here refers to requests for needs that are always present, in contrast to specific and special needs (William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary [Baker], p. 92). This would include prayer for more wisdom, godliness, repentance, revival, etc.

“Petitions” = means to converse freely; it pictures someone who can go into the presence of the king and talk freely with him on your behalf. It is used of the intercessory work of the Holy Spirit and of Christ on our behalf (Rom. 8:27, 34; Heb. 7:25). It points to the fact that we can go freely before God at any time or in any place to talk with Him on behalf of others.

“Thanksgivings” = this points to the fact that we must express not only our petitions, but our gratitude to God for His gracious answers.

The point of all these words is that we have different needs at different times. But at all times we need God and, therefore, we need to pray.

https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-1-help-wanted-matthew-935-38

1. H. Spurgeon said that Matt. 9:38 weighed on his heart more than any other text in the Bible! He said that it haunted him perpetually (Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit[Pilgrim Publications], 19:466). So I pray that this simple message will haunt us:

We need to see as Jesus saw and feel as Jesus felt so that we will do as Jesus did.

Jesus saw lost people as distressed. The word means “troubled” or “vexed.” It points to the load of problems that people apart from Christ bear. Do you ever look carefully into people’s faces when you’re in public? If you do, you’ll see a lot of distressed, troubled people.

Jesus saw lost people as dispirited. The word means, “downcast” or “thrown down.” It points to the utterly helpless and forsaken condition of people who are lost in sin without the Savior. Philip Keller, in A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 [Zondervan], describes how sheep can get turned over on their backs and not be able to get up by themselves again. Such sheep are called “cast” or “cast down” sheep (p. 60). These sheep flail at the air with their legs, but they can’t get back on their feet without the aid of the shepherd. Left in this condition, helpless and vulnerable to their enemies, they will die after a few hours or days.

What a picture of sinners apart from the Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ! Outwardly, they may look calm and comfortable. They may be successful in worldly terms. But Jesus sees their hearts before God. They’re “legs up,” unable to extricate themselves from their sin. They are downcast or dispirited. They may look normal outwardly, but inwardly they are, as Paul describes them (Eph. 2:12), without “hope and without God in the world.”

Jesus saw lost people as sheep without a shepherd. The Jewish religious leaders should have been shepherding these people, pointing them to God. But instead they were self-righteous and self-seeking…

So to be like our Savior, we need to see as Jesus saw: the great need of lost people; the great harvest of lost people; and, the great need for more workers in the harvest of lost people.

Chapter 19 Questions

1. Pg 140: “ He even tells them to give Him no rest until He does what He has promised to do “ (see Isaiah 62:7). What in your prayer life have you not given any rest to God until He answers. Share examples.
2. What promises are you praying for today ? Look up these verses and share which one is on your heart.  Or share one of your own
   • Psa 9:10, Psa 32:8, Psa 33:4 , 37:4 , 119:105 , 119:90
   • Gen 28:15
   • Joshua 1:9
   • Prov 3:6,16:
   • 2 Chron 30:9
   • Isa 30:21 , Isa 41:3 , Isa 58 :11, Isa 54:10
   • John 10:3-4
   • Hebrews 10:23
   • 2 Thess 3:3
3. How can we ensure that we make prayer a priority in our lives ?  Discuss
4. Pg 142: ” The usual method of God accomplishing His work is to place a prayer burden on the disciples heart ?  (Thrasher). How can we become more sensitive to the needs of others?
5. Pg 145-146: Have you ever asked the Lord to teach you how to pray ? Share results, process.

http://www.philipkosloski.com/how-to-make-time-for-prayer-in-a-busy-schedule/

…..from Stephen Covey’s book First Things First. He explains how often when we create a daily schedule, we try to add things on to our busy schedule without prioritizing what is most important. Covey writes, “The key, however, is not to prioritize your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” If we sit down to make our daily schedule, write down everything and then try to add prayer, it will never happen. However, if we sit down and schedule prayer first, then we are setting ourselves up for success and we will be able to get a lot more done.

We need to discern what our priorities are in life, schedule those first, and then everything else will fall into place. Too often we make the “sand” or “little rocks” in life more important and that is why we end-up failing when it comes to prayer.

Another essential principal that will help you develop a daily prayer routine is to schedule prayer in the morning and evening. I have learned from personal experience that if I don’t pray first thing in the morning, it never happens. I can never rely on the day being the same, as something always comes up. However, the time in morning and evening are like blank slates that typically stay constant.

The key is to make it a habit. We all have daily habits, such as brushing our teeth. We don’t need to think about habits, they simply “happen.” Habits are so ingrained into our daily schedule that if we disrupt a habit, we feel like something is missing.

The most important part of establishing a schedule of prayer is to be intentional about it. We can’t say to ourselves that we will pray every day and then expect it to happen. We need to be deliberate and make it a priority, putting pen to paper.

https://bacc.cc/5-ways-to-overcome-the-struggle-to-pray/

“….And when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of their afflictions and pains, and spreading out their hands toward this temple— then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive, and deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know the human heart)” 2 Chronicles 6:29-30  (NIV)

When we’re too busy, tired, stressed or unmotivated to pray,  it’s because we’ve become hardened from living in denial of what’s going on inside our hearts and lives. The struggle to pray reflects our resistance to be influenced.  It is through the scriptures and honest conversations with friends that God helps us develop awareness about our  true motives, emotions, thoughts, sins and desires. (Hebrews 4:12-13, Proverbs 20:5)  We can’t be vulnerable with what we are unaware of. Rather than isolate, welcome the daily influence of spiritual relationships and the Bible to develop heart awareness that will make your prayers real rather than religious.

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” Matthew 6:6 (NIV)   

No meaningful conversation (especially prayer) can be had in a place filled with distractions. Find a specific place where your only focus is God, which means closing the door to any distractions, whether from your phone, home, school, workplace, or social media.  God wants to hear from you, not your texts, emails, or the stressors around you. Set out inspiring places and times where he’ll have your undivided attention.

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” James 5:16 (NIV)

We struggle to pray when we stop believing our prayers really matter. Specific confession of sin is what makes our prayers effective. To confess means to agree with with God about our sin—how he views, thinks, and feels about the impact of our sin on our relationship with him and others. (2 Corinthians 7:10-11) When our primary aim is to deny or minimize our sins (Psalm 66:19-20), prayer becomes a religious practice in ineffectiveness, rather than a refreshing turning point to transformative change.

The struggle to pray is marked with a disinterest in understanding the lives and needs of others. Without understanding we can’t genuinely love others. Inspired prayers are fueled by love. Love invigorates us to overcome the walls we hit. When we expect God to attend to and understand our every need and struggle, but lack this same understanding and concern for others (e.g. husbands for wives), how can we expect God to be moved? Specificity reflects our depth of care and understanding for people. We develop understanding for others through prayer and by spending more effort considering others and less time on self. God reveals to us original thoughts and ways to inspire, involve and influence others through us when we pray about others specifically.

“Always be joyful and never stop praying. Whatever happens, keep thanking God because of Jesus Christ. This is what God wants you to do” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (CEV)

The times when we hit a wall, quit praying specifically, or stop praying altogether, we can be sure it was preceded by a loss of gratitude. Gratitude is what jump-starts our prayer life, renews our faith, and inspires others about what God can do rather than what we cannot. Evaluate your prayer life not by length of time, but how much more gratitude for God and love for others you walk away with. The resilience to overcome our walls is developed in this kind of prayer.

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-heart-of-spiritual-disciplines

Many of us struggle to read our Bibles and pray on a daily basis. Therefore, when we do, we rarely question our motivation. It’s easy to assume that Bible reading and prayer are magic bullets — if we read and pray, we will grow. It’s not that simple. As Charles Spurgeon puts it, “It is not enough to do the correct thing; it must be done in a right spirit, and with a 
pure motive. A good action is not wholly good unless it be done for the glory of God, 
and because of the greatness and goodness of his holy name.”

The state of our heart is of utmost importance as we practice spiritual disciplines. It’s possible to read our Bibles, pray, attend Lord’s Day worship, and even take the Lord’s Supper for all types of carnal reasons. Unless we do it for God’s glory, and our joy in him, it does us no ultimate good.

An inherent danger in spiritual disciplines is a propensity of the human heart to look to self-effort or practices or methodologies for growth. It is important to understand what is going on underneath the disciplines. What is the motivation for the discipline?

So one of the most significant things in spiritual disciplines is understanding the affections of your heart. Is the motive Christ? Is the means Christ?

Take for instance, the proverbial quiet time. If you ask someone anonymously, or maybe on a survey, What do you really think? What do you really think is happening when you have your quiet time or when you don’t have your quiet time? I think most evangelicals actually believe they phase in and out of God’s love based on their performance.

Consequently, the quiet time often becomes simply a means by which they follow the discipline of reading Scripture versus a time where they use the Scripture to adore and worship God in Christ for who he is and for all he has done for them. But what is fascinating is: You can’t tell when you are just looking on the outside.

Chapter 15 Questions

• Pg 114 (top of page) ” but steal their time so they do not have time to have an intimate fellowship with Christ “  How is your time stolen….or how do you thwart Satan when he tries to steal your time !
• Pg 114 “Devote yourself to prayer “. What does this look like ?  How is our devotion different than Daniel’s ?
• Pg 114 – Hudson Taylor  “ As wounds when healed often leave a scar, so the sin of neglected communion may be forgiven and yet the effect remain permanently “. Please discuss this quote.
• Pg 115 ” the problem of maintaining a systematic devotional time was identified as their greatest spiritual struggle. “   Is this true or false for you ?
• “ Cultivating meaningful disciplines in our lives is a struggle, and if a person has never known anything of a struggle there is likely a lack of depth in the persons development “. Please discuss these statements  .
• Pg 116-117   Recap the the words of Pastor J. Sidlow Baxter in these pages and discuss what he was saying  . What can his words teach us ?
• Were there any new insights/thoughts in the book or in the notes that you would like to share ?