08/12/2026
Read today's devotion, Acceptable Prayer, from "More Precious than Gold," a devotion book that encourages you to turn to God to find peace through examining the promises of God, the power of prayer, and victory in Christ to show how priceless the Word truly is.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
Prayer is practiced all around the world by people of every class and nation. But to have value and meaning, it must be acceptable to God. It must come from the right source and have the right direction and goal.
The source of acceptable prayer must always be the heart of the petitioner. The mouth and the lips often participate in prayer but are not essential to it. Silent prayers are no less effective and acceptable than spoken prayers. But prayers that are only spoken with the mouth, often from habit, without coming from the heart, are not acceptable, no matter how beautiful they may sound. The Scripture says: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing.”
It is equally important for acceptable prayer that it have the right direction and destination. “May . . . [they] be pleasing in your sight, O Lord.” Only the Lord, the one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is able to hear prayers and respond to them. It is utterly futile to pray to idols, whether they be the work of men’s hands, or even the work of God’s creation, such as sun, moon, and stars, which some people blindly worship. No matter how sincere the idol worshiper may be in his invocations, their idols cannot respond. And it is just as futile to address prayers to saints by whatever name they may be called. They are not even aware of the prayers addressed to them. “But you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us or Israel acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name” (Isaiah 63:16).
Acceptable prayer will never make demands of God or prescribe to him how and when and where he must answer, but it conforms to “his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2). It follows the pattern of the Lord Jesus in the third petition of his masterpiece of prayer, The Lord’s Prayer: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
The spirit of prayer is moved to action by various circumstances. At times it is gratitude for favors granted that evokes fervent prayers of thanksgiving. Perhaps an exuberant feeling of joy seeks expression in praise for the Lord of the universe. More often it is prompted by personal needs, such as the need for strength and redemption as expressed by the psalmist. Any or all of these can underlie acceptable prayer.
As long as we feel strong and self-sufficient, we can easily forget that our strength comes from the Lord and that we are dependent on him. As long as pride gives us the feeling that we deserve recognition for our noble intentions and good works, we will feel no need for a Redeemer, and our prayers will lack the essential quality that makes them acceptable to the Lord.
We do have personal needs and problems, and it is certainly acceptable to bring them before the throne of God in prayer. Indeed, “What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.” But we should not become so absorbed in our personal concerns that we forget to include others. Paul writes: “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior” (1 Timothy 2:1-3). Jesus also taught us to pray with and for others in the OUR FATHER.
Prayer is adaptable to time and situation. The mother in the kitchen, the father driving to work, or the child in the classroom, all can make their requests known to God by silent, heartfelt thoughts without interrupting what they are doing. At other times they may pause from their activity and offer a more formal prayer. They may accustom themselves to regular times for prayer as on rising in the morning or at bedtime. Before and after meals are excellent times to join with the family in prayer and thanksgiving. As members of the larger family of God, the Christian church, they will also feel the urge to say with David: “Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together” (Psalm 34:3).
Whether public or private, spoken or silent, acceptable prayer that comes from the heart and reaches out to our Father in heaven is a source of unlimited power and strength. It provides the assurance and comfort of divine help from a wise and loving Father to suit our best interests.
From More Precious than Gold, by William A Lauterbach © 2018 Northwestern Publishing House. All rights reserved.
