“I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15).
Over the years, I’ve done a lot of praying. I’ve also done a lot of reading about prayer. Not only do I want my own prayer life to be robust and satisfying, but I want to be able to help others when they come to me with questions.
With this in mind, here’s an insight about prayer that might be just what you need to hear. It comes to us from Andrew Murray: “Prayer is an appeal to the friendship of God.”*
Just think about it. Through Christ and what he has done for us, we have been reconciled to God and adopted into his household. Out of his great love, he has opened to us the divine cupboards. We are heirs and royal children.
And as we learn in John 15:15 (quoted earlier), Jesus calls his disciples “friends.”
So when Murray says that prayer is an appeal to the friendship of God, he is inviting us to apply the idea of friendship to our relationship with God, and more specifically to our prayer life.
Friends want the best for one another.
Friends show up.
Friends are loyal.
Friends go to bat for you.
True friends don’t abandon you just because you had a bad day.
When you pray, remember the immeasurably massive love that God has for you. He loves you so much that he sent his Son to die in your place. Don’t take him for granted and don’t be irreverent. But remember his commitment to you. Remember his grace. Remember that he wants good things for you even more than you want good things for you!
Let’s pray consistently and confidently, and let’s do so with confidence in God’s heart. “Prayer is an appeal to the friendship of God.”
Notes:
-The Up Devotional is published 5 days a week (Monday-Friday) and returns on November 16, 2026.
-Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer (New Kensington: Whitaker House, 1981), 61.
-Bible quotes, ESV.
Leave a Reply