Is prayer merely something we do before meals, in emergencies, or when other people are watching? In this episode of the Cold-Case Christianity Podcast, J. Warner Wallace investigates the biblical evidence for prayer—from Israel’s worship and lament, to Daniel’s daily discipline, to Jesus’s powerful teaching in Matthew 6. Here is the audio podcast (the Cold-Case Christianity Weekly Podcast is located on iTunes or our RSS Feed):
For more information about the reliability of the New Testament gospels and the case for Christianity, please read Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels. This book teaches readers ten principles of cold-case investigations and applies these strategies to investigate the claims of the gospel authors. The book is accompanied by an eight-session Cold-Case Christianity DVD Set (and Participant’s Guide) to help individuals or small groups examine the evidence and make the case.
Edward Merritt Walsh
October 14, 2026 at 11:23 am
1(a). Your title piqued my interest since I am concerned that so many churchgoers, unthinkingly follow their leaders into praying “the Lord’s Prayer” which, in truth, is in John 17 only, not in other gospels. The response and teaching of Jesus to His apostles has been called “the Model Prayer” by several theologians. 1(b) A quick skimming over the text published to my e-mail box indicated a departure from OT characters’ prayers yet I live not in OT or Gospels’ history but in the post passion period. So, the changes effected by Jesus caused departure from historic souls, but not from me in this post-passion period. 1(c) Since you are willing to recognize changes to prayer life of humans living in different administrations and generations of this world, why would you not deal with a nearer example of prayer, say that of St. Paul concerned for the welfare of his churches and for the welfare of church members. But also overjoyed by the corrections brought about in the lives of ALL those who surrendered to Jesus (unavailable to pre-passion persons) their perseverance effected by the presence the Holy Spirit in every one of his converts. Looking back may be helpful but so is the forward look from the Apostle to the Gentiles.