I borrowed a book from our church library titled “LORD Teach Me to Pray in 28 Days” by Kay Arthur. 
In an effort to get back into regular blog posting, I decided to post what I glean from reading through the book. Like many of Kay’s book, this one is designed for either personal or group study, with daily Scripture reading and exercises.
The book starts out by reminding us of how prayer should be one of the most important activities in the life of a Christian. The author points that out than when the early church encountered a problem, the apostles refused to be sidetracked from their priorities.
In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.1
The solution for the apostles was not to ignore the problem or engage in food distribution themselves but rather to delegate tasks to other men:
Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.2
As we are told elsewhere to be praying continually 3, we can be sure that all followers of Christ are to consider prayer to be of utmost importance. The example from the book of Acts is given as an illustration of that principle, not to suggest that only church leaders should be engage in prayer!
Some key items of which I was reminded as I read the first few chapters and exercises:
- Jesus wants us to learn how to pray4
- If we pray according to His will, then we can be assured of having our requests granted5
- Be persistent! Don’t stop asking!6
I am encouraged and excited about this study. None of these principles are new to me; how wonderful it is to be reminded of these precious commands.
1 Acts 6:1
2 Acts 6:3-4 (bold emphasis added)
3 1 Thessalonians 5:17
4 Matthew 6:9a
5 1 John 5:14-15
6 Luke 11:5-8
All of the above verses can be read on this web page: Verses on Bible Gateway – NIV
You can order the book on from Precepts ministry here: Purchase at Precepts store (Edit: The link should go to the Amazon purchase page. I am no longer earning from clicks and would recommend searching the book out at Christian retailers instead.]