Man of Prayer

Thanks for joining us for another daily encouragement from the Our Daily Bread devotional. Today's reading titled, Man of Prayer, was written by Cindy Hess Casper. My family remembers my grandpa dear King as a man of strong faith and prayer, but it wasn't always so. My aunt recalls the first time her father announced to the family, we're going to start giving thanks to God before we eat. His first prayer was far from eloquent, but grandpa continued the practice of prayer for the next 50 years, praying often throughout each day. When he died, my husband gave my grandmother a praying hands plant, saying grandpa was a man of prayer.

His decision to follow God and talk to him each day changed him into a faithful servant of Christ. The Bible has a lot to say about prayer. In Matthew 6 verses 9 through 13, Jesus gave a pattern for prayer to his followers, teaching them to approach God with sincere praise for who he is. As we bring our requests to God, we trust him to provide Our Daily Bread. As we confess our sins, we ask him for forgiveness and for help to avoid temptation. But we aren't limited to praying the Lord's Prayer. Ephesians 6 18 tells us God wants us to pray all kinds of prayers on all occasions. Praying is vital for our spiritual growth, and it gives us the opportunity to be in continual conversation with him every day. As we approach God with humble hearts that yearn to talk with him, may he help us know and love him better.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Matthew chapter 6 verses 9 through 13. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for the blessing of prayer and how you use it to teach us and to draw us closer to you. Thank you for your loving acceptance whenever we call on you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.