PrayerPoints: Praying God's Promises at Your Point of Need

INTRODUCTION

PrayerPoints: Praying God’s Promises at Your Point of Need

W

ELCOME TO

PrayerPoints! This book is designed to help with any specific need you may have, no matter what season of life you’re in. Each entry provides Bible verses, a promise from God, and a prayer to help you along. As you pray, you can claim the promise for whatever concern you may have in the moment. PrayerPoints features nearly 250 entries and addresses more than 170 topics, so most any need or problem you wish to address will have at least one entry. Entries are listed alphabetically, and multiple entries for the same topic are differentiated by the subheading. Additionally, a Guide to Prayer Topics is located in the back; it can help you find specific entries related to emotional, physical, relational, and spiritual needs. A Scripture index directly follows and allows you to quickly find a Bible verse for the problem you’re facing.

Each entry in this book is an invitation into a private encounter with God. After all, prayer is, quite simply, a conversation with God. Yet too often we make the conversation one sided, using the time to talk at God rather than listen to him. This book encourages you to give God time to speak to you—to listen for his voice. How so? Located at various points within each prayer is a special mark that looks like this: separator . It indicates a pause and provides you with a chance to add what is personal to you and specific to the need you have. It’s also a moment for you to stop and listen for God speaking to you. When you do, something special happens.

There are many different ways that we may address God when we pray. Some of these prayers address him as Lord, others as Jesus, others as Father, and some simply as God. God is revealed to us as three distinct persons—the Trinity of Father, Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit. The Bible gives examples of addressing God using all these terms, as well as others, but it is clear we are always praying to the one sovereign God. In your prayers, feel free to either use the words provided or to address God however you feel most comfortable.

As you pray these prayers, note that within each entry, the Bible promise is highlighted in bold. Within the written prayer, the part that echoes the Bible promise is likewise presented in bold. Each entry is short and can be read in a matter of a few minutes. But it also gives you the opportunity to enjoy time spent sitting in God’s presence and listening for his voice.

We hope that this book becomes a handy go-to prayer guide in your daily life. Start to experience God in a whole new way as he speaks into your every need.

Ken Petersen,

GENERAL EDITOR

ABANDONMENT • EMBRACING THE PRESENCE OF GOD

At a time when you’re feeling rejected, know that God is present. Quiet your heart. Enter into his presence right now . . .

GOD’S PROMISE

PSALM 142:4-6 • I look for someone to come and help me, but no one gives me a passing thought! No one will help me; no one cares a bit what happens to me. Then I pray to you, O L

ORD

. I say, You are my place of refuge. You are all I really want in life. Hear my cry, for I am very low.

PSALM 27:10 • Even if my father and mother abandon me, the L

ORD

will hold me close.

ROMANS 8:38-39, ESV • I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

PRAY GOD’S PROMISE

Lord Jesus, in these moments I feel a sense of worthlessness. I pretty much feel abandoned right now. It makes me angry toward the person who has left me, but most of all it just deeply hurts inside.  separator I hear your words that even if my mother and father abandon me, you will hold me close. Jesus, I believe you love me, but I need to feel your presence in a special way. So I come to you and ask that you will be with me right now.  separator I claim your promise that nothing can separate me from the love of God in you, Christ Jesus. I embrace your promise, just as you embrace me.

Let yourself, in silence, experience his arms around you. Let Jesus whisper to you in these moments.

ABUSE • GOD RESCUES THOSE IN NEED

Come to God with your hurt and heartbreak. Listen for his counsel . . .

GOD’S PROMISE

ZEPHANIAH 1:9, ESV • That day I will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold, and those who fill their master’s house with violence and fraud.

2 THESSALONIANS 3:6, NKJV • We command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.

2 PETER 2:9, ESV • The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment.

PRAY GOD’S PROMISE

Lord God, I have been suffering physical harm at the hands of someone I have loved. My heart is broken and my bruised body aches. I have no energy to confront this situation, Lord. I cannot bear it anymore.  separator I pray for your healing hand and soothing presence in the midst of this suffering.  separator Help me to remember this promise that you know full well how to rescue me from this trial and that your justice will prevail in the life of my perpetrator. Grant me hope and patience, Lord, as I await your deliverance.

The Bible authorizes those who have been hurt by someone’s disorderly, abusive behavior to withdraw from that person. God allows you to find protection. Listen to him speak to you about what you need to do.

ABUSE • GOD’S SAFE HOUSE FOR YOU

In this difficult time of feeling neglected and abused, come to God for strength. Listen to his words . . .

GOD’S PROMISE

JOEL 3:16-17, MSG • G

OD

roars from Zion, shouts from Jerusalem. Earth and sky quake in terror. But G

OD

is a safe hiding place, a granite safe house for the children of Israel. Then you’ll know for sure that I’m your G

OD

. . .

PROVERBS 30:5 • Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to all who come to him for protection.

JOHN 14:26-27, MSG • The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.

PRAY GOD’S PROMISE

Lord Jesus, I pray to you right now for comfort and provision. I have been left in a difficult place, hurt by someone close. I have physical needs, healing needs, heart needs. Touch me, Lord Jesus.  separator I trust you to be my hiding place, a safe house for my body and my life. I look to you in these next days for those gifts.  separator And I claim your promise that the Holy Spirit, my best Friend, will provide for my healing, safety, and provision. Thank you, Jesus.

In these next moments, list the primary needs you have right now. Share them with God and listen for his counsel about finding provision for each one.

ABUSE • STRENGTH IN OVERCOMING UNTHINKABLE HURT

You’re feeling the pain of many deep, difficult emotions right now. Come to God with all of them. Receive his comfort. Listen for his counsel . . .

GOD’S PROMISE

PSALM 9:9, MSG • G

OD

’s a safe-house for the battered, a sanctuary during bad times.

PSALM 62:5-8, ESV • For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.

PHILIPPIANS 4:19, MSG • You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need.

PRAY GOD’S PROMISE

Lord God, it’s hard to believe I’m in a situation in which someone with whom I share a close relationship is actually abusing me. I am helpless in this, and I cannot protect myself. I feel betrayed, fearful, and heartbroken. I’m desperate for your help.  separator You are my rock, my fortress, and my salvation, Lord. I pray for something in this situation to change soon, but if it doesn’t, then show me what to do, Lord.  separator I embrace this promise that you will indeed take care of the painful difficulties I’m experiencing in this situation. I look to you for the resources I need. Help me find protection, Lord.

God can rescue you out of this situation. Pray to him for his words of counsel. What is he whispering to you? Who is he telling you to go to for help in dealing with this abuse?

ADDICTION • OVERCOMING A LIFE OF DECEPTION

You already know that a life of addiction is a life of lies. As you come to God right now, drop the pose. Be honest with him. After all, he already knows the truth about your situation. Be real with him about the struggles you face . . .

GOD’S PROMISE

EPHESIANS 4:25 • Stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.

ROMANS 7:15, MSG • What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise.

ISAIAH 41:10 • Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

PRAY GOD’S PROMISE

Oh Father God, I come to you experiencing a great struggle. I’ve tried over and over to stop. But I can’t. I always go back to it. As a result I’m living a lie in front of others—acquaintances, my friends, even my family.  separator I want to end this behavior, yet I still find myself repeating it—even though it’s something I absolutely despise. I know I cannot overcome this through my own power.  separator So right now I claim your promise, God, to strengthen me and help me. Come to my rescue, Father. I need you, only you, to deliver me from this.

In these moments, take this God time a step further. Tell him, literally, the things you have done. Confess them to him, one by one. Let the urges, the compulsions, the addiction be brought into the light of God your Father.

ADVERSITY • DEFEATING DAY-TO-DAY OBSTACLES

You’re going through a lot right now, and it’s leaving you feeling tired and bone-weary. In these quiet moments, rest in God. Let go of your frustrations while God speaks into your life . . .

GOD’S PROMISE

JOB 7:3-4 • I, too, have been assigned months of futility, long and weary nights of misery. Lying in bed, I think, ‘When will it be morning?’ But the night drags on, and I toss till dawn.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:43 • Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.

1 PETER 5:10, ESV • After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

PRAY GOD’S PROMISE

Dear God, oh my. I’m so frustrated by all the obstacles that have popped up in the road I’m on. And I’m tired—truly exhausted from having to deal with one thing after another. I identify with Job’s expressions of futility and sleeplessness.  separator I believe this journey is what you want for me—but God, why does it have to be so hard and tiring? I need your restoring touch.  separator In all of this, I thank you for these words of Scripture. I like the sound of suffered a little while, for I hope and pray it will not be much longer for me. But even if it does last a while more, I embrace this promise: that you, the God of all grace, will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish me. Thank you, God, for encouraging me today.

Ask God what he wants you to do. It isn’t wrong to ask him for a break, for some downtime. Pay attention to his voice guiding you forward.

ADVERSITY • TURNING DARKNESS INTO LIGHT

Sometimes adversity serves to make us more aware of what others are going through. Sometimes our need gives us an understanding of someone else’s need. In this time of difficulty, quiet your heart, come to God, and listen to him speak to you . . .

GOD’S PROMISE

2 CORINTHIANS 1:4 • He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

ISAIAH 58:11, ESV • And the L

ORD

will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

ISAIAH 58:10, ESV • If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.

PRAY GOD’S PROMISE

Oh God, I come to you right now with so many burdens. I have so much to do, and many things keep getting in my way. I find myself discouraged—sometimes too discouraged to go on.  separator But these words help me see something I haven’t seen before—that my own difficulties serve to refine and equip me for doing your work in the world. Help me to accept whatever this might mean in this season of my life.  separator And God, I thank you for the encouragement in these verses. I embrace your promise that as I reach out to help others, my light will rise in the darkness. Help me recognize opportunities to do just that—to help others and be less focused on myself.

Spend some more time with God, and think about the needs others around you have. Consider a way in which you can help one of them. Listen for God’s direction, and see how your own troubles start to melt away as you reach out to someone else.

AGING • THE PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE

Growing older often leads us to worry about the future and life after death. The good news is that through Christ we have clarity and assurance about the life to come. Spend some time listening to God about what he has in store for you . . .

GOD’S PROMISE

1 CORINTHIANS 13:12, NIV • Now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

HEBREWS 13:14, ESV • Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.

REVELATION 21:1, 3-4 • I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. . . . I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever."

PRAY GOD’S PROMISE

Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name. You know I have prayed this many times before, and yet now I am thinking more and more about heaven and the afterlife I am heading into. It’s not so much that I fear it, but I have some doubts about what is going to happen.  separator I pray to you, Father, and ask you to reassure me. Please give me clarity about your plans for me. Help me to have confidence about what is to come. I do seek the city that is to come, the Kingdom of Heaven that is your promise.  separator And so I cherish and embrace the promise that you will live with us, that you will be with us. You will be with me. That’s all I really need to know.

In this time of quiet, talk with God about what it means to you that he will wipe every tear from our eyes. What difficult situations will your tears represent? Imagine God tenderly wiping them away.

ALCOHOLISM • GRABBING HOLD OF GOD

What you’re struggling with is something you can overcome only with God’s help. Coming to him in prayer is a powerful first step. Enter into his presence. Share with him the truth of your life. Let him speak to your soul . . .

GOD’S PROMISE

PROVERBS 23:29-33, ESV • Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine. Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things.

ROMANS 7:15-20, ESV • I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. . . . For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

PSALM 103:2-4, ESV • Bless the L

ORD

, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit.

PRAY GOD’S PROMISE

God, you know who I am and what I struggle with. And you know how difficult that struggle has been for me. I have tried to stay sober but have repeatedly failed. I understand too well the meaning of the verses that speak of alcohol biting like a serpent. I know this is the enemy’s way of taking over my life.  separator God, I want to be done with this. Yet though I say I want this to be over, I know a part of me still wants it. Just as your Word says, I don’t do the thing I want but wind up doing the thing I hate. God, help me.  separator I ask for your deliverance. I need your power to overcome this. I claim your blessing right now that you can forgive my sin and heal me and redeem my life from the pit. That’s the only way I can conquer this, God.

Establish with God an agreement that every day you will spend time pouring out your heart to him, just like this.

ALIENATION FROM FAMILY • FINDING THE HEART OF RECONCILIATION

When a family member becomes distant from you, you suffer a unique emotional pain. Bring your ache to God in these next moments as you talk with him . . .

GOD’S PROMISE

JOB 19:13, NIV • He has alienated my family from me; my acquaintances are completely estranged from me. My relatives have gone away; my closest friends have forgotten me.

MATTHEW 18:21-22, NIV • Peter came to Jesus and asked, Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times? Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:18-19 • God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.

PRAY GOD’S PROMISE

Father God, I am feeling hurt by someone in my family. I feel shut out and left in the dust. It seems as if this person is upset with me, and I wonder if it might have something to do with a recent conversation we had, but I don’t know for sure.  separator I understand these words about forgiving many times more than I think I need to. I don’t know whether I am to forgive or to ask forgiveness. So, Father, I ask you to show me what to do.  separator I see your example of reconciliation, of no longer counting people’s sins against them. I pray for your help in making peace with my family member.

What do you hear God whispering to you right now? Is it possible your family member, who has been so distant, might be feeling alienated by you? Or perhaps there’s no clear reason behind this painful situation. Whatever the case, know that God is for you. Claim his peace . . . trust his guidance.

ANGER • OVERCOMING PERSONAL ANIMOSITY

Take a deep breath. Feel yourself calming down. Anger in itself is not wrong, but left unchecked, it can lead to wrong actions. So unburden yourself in these moments of prayer as you bring your frustrations to God . . .

GOD’S PROMISE

PROVERBS 14:29 • People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness.

EPHESIANS 4:26-27 • Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

ROMANS 12:19, 21 • Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. . . . Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

PRAY GOD’S PROMISE

God, I come to you today because I am filled with anger toward someone. I know this is not good for either one of us, and it might lead to behavior you don’t want from me. I pray for your help in dealing with this problem.  separator I receive your wisdom that this anger I feel could give a foothold to the enemy. I ask you to settle me and reassure me.  separator Lord God, this is difficult, but I will claim your promise that it’s possible to conquer evil with acts of goodness. I pray right now that you will help me turn this around by finding better ways of dealing with this bad situation.

Tell God about the nature of your anger and the specific situation it comes out of. Listen for his response to you.

ANGUISH • CONFESSING A SIN THAT GRIEVES GOD

Come close to God, and confess to him your sin. The passages below address the ache and anguish regretful sinners feel. But there is a promise here as well. So, enter into the presence of God . . .

GOD’S PROMISE

JAMES 4:8 • Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.

JAMES 4:9 • Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy.

JAMES 4:10 • Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

PRAY GOD’S