- When Faced with Important Decisions. Before selecting the twelve apostles, the Lord prayed all night (Luke 6:12-16).
- Before Great Events. Pentecost grew out of a season of prayer (Acts 1:14; Acts 2:1-47).
- When Suffering Physical Afflictions. James 5:13 encourages, “Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray.” Did Paul pray concerning his thorn in the flesh? (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). Upon being “sick unto death,” Hezekiah “prayed unto the Lord” (2 Kings 20:1-11).
- When Anxious or Distressed. David said, “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of his temple and my cry came before him, even unto his ears” (Psalm 18:6; cf. Psalm 118:5; 120:1). We are to cast our care upon the Lord confidently knowing he cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). Instead of being anxious, we are to take everything to God in prayer with such resulting in the peace of God coming as a garrison to guard our hearts against the intrusion of all future anxious alarms and fears (Philippians 4:6-7).
- When Problems Arise. When the problem arose in the early church concerning the neglect of Grecian widows, the matter was immediately taken to God in prayer (Acts 6:1-5).
- Before Entering Trials. Oh! The strengthening hours Jesus spent in Gethsemane in prayer just before the ordeals of His trials and crucifixion (Matthew 26:35-46).
- When Suffering Persecution. Upon being lacerated with the whip and being cast into prison, “at midnight Paul and Silas prayed” (Acts 16:23-25).
- Before Separations. Upon leaving the Ephesian elders, to see their faces no more, Paul “kneeled down and prayed with them all” (Acts 20:36-38).
- After Great Events in Our Lives. Immediately upon having fed the five thousand Jesus went up into a mountain apart to pray” (Matthew 14:21-23).
- In the Midst of the Busy Activities of Life. As Jesus’ fame was spread abroad and: great multitudes were coming to hear Him and to be healed by Him, “he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed” (Luke 5:15-16).
- When We Sin. Psalm 51 is David’s penitential prayer after sinning with Bathsheba.
- When Dying. Did not Stephen thus pray (Acts 7:59-60)? Yes, and our Lord prayed when He was dying (Luke 23:34). —Wendell Winkler, deceased
