The Gospel Makes Prayer Possible, Acceptable & Desirable

Paramount Church is utterly committed to the priority of prayer, which is the chief means of gratitude. A prayerless church is a powerless church. God has ordained prayer as the means to accomplish His will. Prayer is necessary because God will give His grace and Holy Spirit only to those who earnestly and without ceasing, ask Him for these gifts and thank Him for them (Q&A 116, Heidelberg Catechism). Walter Marshall writes…

“Prayer is such an important responsibility that if it is done, everything else will be done well. In fact, nothing can be done without prayer.” (The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification, p. 209)

When we look in Scripture, we find that God requires His people to be devoted to prayer, to remain alert and to pray frequently (Matt. 26:41; Rom. 12:12; Eph. 6:18; 1 Thess. 5:17).

However, no believer or church will be motivated to a life of prayer out of guilt, constant exhortations, manipulation, selfish appeals (e.g., sow your seed of faith), or disturbing events (e.g., bad turbulence on an airplane). Testimonies concerning answered prayer are certainly desired and edifying but even they are not sufficient to create and sustain a life of committed prayer.

The gospel makes prayer possible, acceptable and desirable. It proclaims to the guilty sinner, “Access granted” (Rom. 5:2; Eph. 3:12; Heb. 4:16). Without the gospel, true prayer is impossible. Our prayers are heard by and acceptable to God only because they are mediated through Christ (1 Peter 2:5). Apart from Christ our prayers are not even heard (Ps. 66:18; Jn. 9:31) and are no different from the hypocrite and pagan (Matt. 6:5-8). Thus, the Psalmist confesses…

“But certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor His lovingkindness from me.” (Psalm 66:19-20)

God’s loving-kindness given to us in the gospel makes true prayer desirable. God does not turn away our prayers because He does not turn away His lovingkindness from us. Therefore, our hearts are drawn to our Heavenly Father.

Additional Information

Join us Sunday mornings at 10:00 a.m. before the service for prayer.

If you have a prayer request please send an e-mail to prayer@paramountchurch.com.