7-day plan: Prayer
Talking with God: what Jesus taught and how those who trusted him prayed
One passage a day, with a question to think it over. Your progress stays on this device, no account needed.
Day 1 · Jesus teaches us to pray
Jesus: pray in secret, without empty words; your Father already knows what you need
“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites, for they are fond of praying standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the main streets, so that they may be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have received in full their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room and, having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you. And when praying, do not babble like the Gentiles, for they think that by their many words they will be heard. So do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Matthew 6:5–8 · Read the whole chapterTo think about
Jesus says not to worry about tomorrow (v. 34). What worry could you hand to the Father today?
Day 2 · Asking with confidence
Ask, seek, knock: whoever asks receives
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
Matthew 7:7–8 · Read the whole chapterTo think about
Jesus speaks of the beam in one's own eye (vv. 3–5). What could you examine in yourself before judging someone else?
Day 3 · Praying in distress
Through his questions David asks God how long, and ends up trusting
For the director. A psalm of David. How long, YHWH? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long will I put counsels in my soul, sorrow in my heart by day? How long will my enemy rise up over me? Look at me, answer me, YHWH my Elohim; give light to my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him”; my adversaries will be jubilant when I am moved. But I in your loyal love have trusted; my heart will be jubilant in your salvation. I will sing to YHWH, for he has dealt well with me.
Psalms 13:1–6 · Read the whole chapterTo think about
What situation in your life does this passage speak to?
Day 4 · Praying for others
Abraham approaches God and pleads for the righteous in Sodom
Abraham came near and said, “Will you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Perhaps there are fifty righteous within the city; will you really sweep away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put to death the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare like the wicked! Far be it from you! Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justice?” YHWH said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
Genesis 18:23–26 · Read the whole chapterTo think about
Whom can you welcome this week to your home or table with Abraham’s generosity?
Day 5 · Praying without ceasing
Evening, morning and noon, the psalmist cries out, and God will hear his voice
I will call to Elohim, and YHWH will save me. Evening and morning and noon I will complain and moan, and he will hear my voice.
Psalms 55:16–17 · Read the whole chapterTo think about
Who could you share this with this week?
Day 6 · Jesus teaches us to pray
The Lord's Prayer, the prayer Jesus gave his disciples
So you pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be sanctified; may your kingdom come; may your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth. Give us today our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors; and do not bring us into temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.’
Matthew 6:9–13 · Read the whole chapterTo think about
Jesus says not to worry about tomorrow (v. 34). What worry could you hand to the Father today?
Day 7 · Asking with confidence
If you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more the Father
And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. And which of you fathers, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he also asks for an egg, will he give him a scorpion? So if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father who is from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke 11:9–13 · Read the whole chapterTo think about
What concrete thing would you like to ask God today, with the trust a child has when speaking to a father?