Prayer brings hope. The Almighty is capable of intervening and making the miraculous happen. We know that He balances the cares, the concerns, the hopes and dreams of all our tomorrows in His hand, and we know that He longs to bring joy to His people. This realization brings comfort and leads us into a deeper and more confident dependence upon Him. It brings us to our knees in humble and reverrent petition. Prayer, the supreme act of faith and dependence upon Him, brings hope.

 
Did you know that God prays for you? Jesus, who is God in the flesh, prays some of the most intense prayers in all of the Bible. It is true that prayer is the supreme act of dependence and reliance upon God, and yet God, Himself, prays. His praying is an act of devotion, dependence, and reliance upon Himself to accomplish His purposes. God is exalting His own glory and strength when He engages in prayer on behalf of His people. Not only does He pray for you, but He moves others to pray for you as He instructs the Apostles in what to pray and how to pray. The Almighty, who can make the miraculous happen, is concerned that many are praying and watching for Him to perform the miraculous in your life.

Did you know this? It is a fascinating thought!

The question then becomes what kinds of prayers does He pray? How do these prayers move Him? How should they move us, fill us with joy, and bring us lasting confident hope? In a brief and temporary departure from Matthew, we're going to spend the next three months looking at the Prayers of God for His people. I think you will be surprised and blessed by some of the prayers that God prays for you. Here are some of God's prayers that we will look at over the next twelve weeks:

1. The Preamble to Christ's Prayer: Finding the Words of Life - John 6:66-69.
2. God prays that we would be One with the Word of Life - John 17:6-19.
3. God prays for your Faith and Restoration - 2 Corinthians 13:5-10
4. God prays that you would Know His Power - Ephesians 1:15-23
5. God prays that you would be Strengthened by His Power - Ephesians 3:14-21
6. God prays that you would Love Abundantly - Philippians 1:8-11
7. God prays that you would Endure Endlessly - Colossians 1:9-14
8. God prays that you would Delight in Each Other Exceedingly - 1 Thessalonians 3:6-13
9. God prays that you would Work Believingly - 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
10. God prays that you would Share Life Sacrificially - Philemon 6
11. God prays you would Do His Will - Hebrews 13:20-21
12. God prays, May it go Well with Your Soul - 3 John 2

God speaks His Words and reveals to us His thoughts in the Scripture, and as we consider the ways that Christ is moved to intercede for us or the way that the Apostles are moved to intercede for us through the prompting of the Holy Spirit, we begin to see just how fervent God is to work in our lives to to accomplish the miraculous, creating a people of hope who can bring hope to a dying world. These are the prayers that should be prayed in our personal devotional time, our small group Bible studies, and in our corporate worship on Sunday.

My prayer for you is that your prayer life would be enriched and transformed over the next three months as we study the Prayers of God. Join us this week as we listen to God praying for us.