Round the Sphere Again: Thinking about Prayer

A Cure
for a common prayer malady.

So, how are we to cure The Affliction of a Failure of Concentration [in prayer], if indeed we are afflicted in this way? Not principally by displaying our knowledge to God, but by heart-felt desire, which is one of the fruits of the Spirit.

Paul Helm at Helm’s Deep.

An Explanation
While it’s true that we don’t need to inform God when we pray, 

there’s a value in explaining our petitions to God, not because he doesn’t already know what we need better than we do, and not because we can cajole God through our powers of persuasion, but because it’s a way of thinking aloud and thinking through, not merely what we want, but why we want it, or whether we should.

Steve Hays at Triablogue

A List
Here’s an essay on public prayer that reviews several different public prayer traditions. Especially useful is the list of all the prayers found in scripture (Steve Hays at Triablogue again).

A Catechism for Girls and Boys

Part III: Questions about Salvation

90. Q. What did God the Father undertake in the covenant of grace?
        A. By His goodness and mercy, God the Father elected, and determined to justify, adopt and sanctify those for whom Christ should die.

(Click through to read scriptural proof.)

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Sunday's Hymn: Down at the Cross

Down at the cross where my Savior died,
Down where for cleansing from sin I cried,
There to my heart was the blood applied;
Glory to His name!

Refrain

Glory to His name, glory to His name:
There to my heart was the blood applied;
Glory to His name!

I am so wondrously saved from sin,
Jesus so sweetly abides within;
There at the cross where He took me in;
Glory to His name!

Oh, precious fountain that saves from sin,
I am so glad I have entered in;
There Jesus saves me and keeps me clean;
Glory to His name!

Come to this fountain so rich and sweet,
Cast thy poor soul at the Savior’s feet;
Plunge in today, and be made complete;
Glory to His name!

—Eli­sha A. Hoff­man

Joy Tuggy (88 years old) on the piano

Bart Millard

Other hymns, worship songs, sermons etc. posted today:

• When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder at Conjubilant With Song
• Come, Holy Spirit, Come at Field Stone Cottage
• Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners at Rosemary at Home
• Doxology at Gospel Grace
• He Knows at The Happy Wonderer
• Lord’s Day 34 at Tried With Fire 
• Lord’s Day 34, 2012 at The Thirsty Theologian
• Faith Alone - August 19, 2012 at The Upward Call
• Your Weekly Dose of Spurgeon at Pyromaniacs: Physicians of No Value
• Praying the Psalms: Psalm 103 at Daily On My Way to Heaven

Have you posted a hymn (or sermon, sermon notes, prayer, etc.) today and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by contacting me using the contact form linked above, and I’ll add your post to the list.