You know why we ought to pray when we find out God's purposes in His Word?

Not because God needs our prayers to do it, but because we need to line up with God's causes.

We line our hearts up with His causes.

We see our sinfulness.

We see the need of His grace and power.

And we submit ourselves to his plane.

Welcome to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur.

I'm your host, Phil Johnson.

Imagine being able to put on your resume that you were personally trained by Warren Buffett, or being a basketball player who could say Michael Jordan taught you everything

you know. It makes sense that the more time you spend with experts in your field, the more success

you'll have. The same is true with prayer. The more you learn from those who pray biblically, the more success you'll have. The same is true with prayer. The more you learn from those who

pray biblically, the more God honoring your prayers will be. One great example to follow is Daniel,

an Old Testament saint who definitely knew how to pray. We'll look at his prayer life in John

MacArthur's study here on Grace to You, titled Elements of True Prayer.

But before we begin today's lesson, John MacArthur had a great perspective a while back on

why the topic of prayer is such a vital one for believers. Let's hear his thoughts now. They're

still helpful to consider today. Well, you know, when it comes to being a pastor,

you go back to the sixth chapter of Acts, and you hear the instruction there from the apostles

who say, we must give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word, Acts 6,4,

continually to the ministry of the Word. Acts 6-4. Continually to the ministry of prayer and the Word. That's what we do.

We proclaim the Word of God systematically, faithfully, consistently throughout the range of ministry in the church, and then we pray. And we pray that the Word of God may have free course. We

pray that the Word of God may bear fruit. We pray that the Word of God will not be hindered but go

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