Text: Psalm 28

Wouldn’t it be great if

• the Christian life was easy and simple?
• bad things only happened to bad people, and good things only to good people?
• when in trouble, we could ask God, and he would sort it out, there and then?

We don’t know what David’s problem was, exactly.  But it was serious and persistent.

Just like some of the problems faced by Christians today:

• Teenager struggling with depression or anxiety
• Student surrounded by those who are indifferent or hostile to Christian faith
• A young Christian with a heart for youth work encounters nothing but setback and disappointment
• Adult who has had to flee their home country because of bitter persecution
• Husband, wife, parent, child, who has been praying long and hard for a close family member
• Middle-aged person with longstanding bad habit or addiction.

[A short talk, delivered at a mid-week prayer meeting.]

Hebrews 6:9-12

In her first Christmas broadcast as Queen in 1952, Her Majesty asked people to pray for her: ‘Pray that God may give me wisdom and strength to carry out the solemn promises I shall be making, and that I may faithfully serve him and you all the days of my life.’

The heartfelt desire of the writer to the Hebrews is that his readers may faithfully serve God and one another all the days of their lives.…

Text: Isaiah 37:9-20

Someone once said: ‘If I wanted to embarrass a fellow-Christian, I would ask them about their prayer life.’

Well, I’m not looking to embarrass my hearers this morning!  (After all, preachers who live in glass houses should not throw stones!)

In any case, there will be some here whose sails are unfurled and are being driven forward by the wind of the Holy Spirit in this matter of prayer.  But there will be others whose prayer life is need of at least a mid-course correction. …