Found another prayer verse to use when you desire someone to be following God.

Genesis 7:1      May You find ______ “who does what is right” just as you found Noah to be righteous in his generation.

The Lord said to Noah, “Go into the boat with your whole family; I have found that you are the only one in all the world who does what is right. – Genesis 7:1 GNT

Ezra was another person who set himself with an exemplary life for he determined in his heart to know, study and teach God’s word. As I do the same, I pray that I may be used by God to turn the hearts of some to Jesus.

Ezra had devoted his life to studying the Law of the Lord, to practicing it, and to teaching all its laws and regulations to the people of Israel. – Ezra 7:10 GNT

What does that look like – this kind of determination, especially when it comes to prayer?

Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks will receive, and anyone who seeks will find, and the door will be opened to those who knock.  Would any of you who are fathers give your son a stone when he asks for bread?  Or would you give him a snake when he asks for a fish?  As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!  “Do for others what you want them to do for you: this is the meaning of the Law of Moses and of the teachings of the prophets. – Mathew 7:7-12 GNT

Jesus is inviting me to pray – in fact, I believe I count three times where I am not only invited but it comes across as almost a command. One thing is noted for sure, the repetition is meant to say – “I mean this.”

There are promises to me when I pray. I believe I count seven promises.

[1] it will be given to you; seek, and [2] you will find; knock, and [3] it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks [4] receives, and the one who seeks [5] finds, and to the one who knocks [6] it will be opened.” Then at the end of verse 11b (7): “How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

I like the variety of ways I can reach out to God in prayer. If I am in His presence, I can ask. If I need to find Him, I can. If He is somewhere doing something that requires me to get His attention before I interrupt, I can knock.

Is it not true that for everyone who asks, they receive. What an encouragement to me to put aside my timidity, even my hesitancy. It puts away my self doubt that such blessings are for others and not for me.

Why am I so excited about all of this? I am coming before my Father in all of these situations. When I come to my Father through Jesus, He will never give me anything that is bad for me. He is better than my earthly father. So I can trust His goodness because I am His child.

“For what would he not now give to sons when they ask, when he has already granted this very thing, namely, that they might be sons?” – Augustine

The cross is the foundation of prayer. How is it that one who is a sinner is called a child of an all holy God? How can I presume to be a child, let alone ask and expect to receive, seek and expect to find, and knock and expect to have the door opened?

The death of Jesus is the foundation for all the promises of God and all the answers to prayer that we ever get. This is why we say “in Jesus’s name” at the end of our prayers. Everything depends on him.

The scriptural reason for prayer is based on biblical precedents for praying – especially when I look at Jesus. I think of how similar the prayer of Stephen was to the prayer Jesus gave at the cross.

They kept on stoning Stephen as he called out to the Lord, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” ⁶⁰ He knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord! Do not remember this sin against them!” He said this and died. – Acts 7:59-60 GNT

This is the journey of prayer – “Finding our way through duty to delight” – J.I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom