A life of prayer
17pray without ceasing, 18in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thes 5:17-18
What is prayer? Why do we pray?
Genuine prayer is honest like any other communication ought to be, prayer starts with what you are in your heart! Its an Invitation to Every Believer for communion with God and is His will for us. We come close to God & get revelation of Who He is through prayer. It is a dialogue with God that come out of our spiritual intimacy with Christ where we can present our concerns & requests, thanksgiving supplications, problems, disappointments..
What Prayer is NOT: True prayer is not
- magic: it is worshipful reliance on God.
- approaching a vending-machine/ 'genie in a bottle'
- a (new) product to be marketed.
- a management technique.
- for gossiping!
- to show-off our superiority over others
- something to be prideful about!
- a monologue but a dialogue with God
How do we pray?
Mt 6:5-13 5"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6"But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7"And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8"Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
9"In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 11Give us this day our daily bread. 12And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
1. Special place for Prayer (v6)
Jesus is our teacher in the school of prayer. The first thing the Lord teaches His disciples is that they must have a secret place for prayer. The act of doing something physical right before we pray has strong psychological implications. It can serve as a "trigger" to get us in the mindset that our prayer is a deliberate, intimate act of worship and should not be taken lightly. e.g. Moses was asked to remove his sandals when approaching burning-bush! Inner-room: no barrier between us and God.
Jesus taught us at Samaria that worship is no longer confined to times and places, but that true spiritual worship is something of the spirit and of life. But He still sees it as important that each one choose a location where he can daily meet with Him. That inner room, that solitary place, is Jesus’ schoolroom. That spot could be anywhere. It may even change from day to day if we have to move for the sake of family or schedules, but there must be a secret place and a quiet time in which the student places himself in the Master’s presence to be prepared by Him to worship the Father. We may be able to pray while we do dishes, fold laundry and do other household chores. We can also pray and praise as we ride to work or take a walk/ jogging.
2. No vain repetitions (v7)
Php 4:6-7 6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Lk 11:9-10 9"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10"For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
3. Pray in Jesus' Name
And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (Col 3:17) 13"And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14"If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. (Jn 14:13-14) When we ask in Jesus Name, we're praying in unison with Him, as He is also our mediator! (1 Tim 2:5)
4. Listening / waiting to hear from God
NUM 7:89 Now when Moses went into the tabernacle of meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice of One speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim; thus He spoke to him.
Some say: “When I pray, I speak to God; when I read the Bible, God speaks to me.” But, when Moses prayed for himself or his people and waited for instructions, he found God waiting for him. Answer for Prayer can be: Yes, No & wait!
Wait for the still small voice! Sometimes it might question us!!
1 Kin 19:11-13 11Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. 13So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
Why aren’t we waiting for a revelation of His plan, espl. before we go into battle?
Hindrances/ what holds us back from prayer?
1. Un-forgivensss towards others / God!
2. Sin: We're hiding from God (Gen 3:8– A&E hid)
3. Dis-unity among brethren
4. Lack of time / motivation
5. Laziness (Pro )
6. lack of knowledge of what prayer is
- we pray in church
- our pastor pray for us (who'll pray for him?!)
- individuals caught in sin.
- families breaking up all around us
- prisoners who need to be freed from their bondage
- nations and peoples still without Christ
- sick who need to be healed. (Healing Based On Repentance and Confession)
- hungry who need to be fed
- homeless that needs a shelter
7. Sense of self-sufficiency: We don’t pray because in our hearts we don’t think we really need God. true prayer can only originate from a life emptied of self-sufficiency. We are constantly being brainwashed that God is depending on our efforts. We can’t wait for God, so we do things our way and lack of prayer highlights our self-sufficiency.
Nothing reveals the bankruptcy of modern Christianity more clearly and quickly than the current crisis in prayer.
we have lost touch with the eternal Living God, instead, we’ve been transferring our faith from God to the methods of modern business, management, marketing and science. we are serving the machines, programs and systems that we have established – and they become our idols! - prayer plays no part in most of their planning.
If our own careers, churches, families and ministries are not built on prayer and waiting on the Lord, like Abraham we are in danger of fathering an Ishmael. It is a solution with all the problems of our flesh and often they create more problems than the one we intended them to cure. “Without Me you can do nothing!” (Jn 15:5) We need to wait on the Lord after our supplication!
Php 3:3 that we are the true circumcision because we have no confidence in the flesh.
Biblical examples of people of prayer!
Moses: it took 40 years of waiting on God to bring him to the place where he would acknowledge there was nothing in him and his Egyptian education.
Hannah: Nothing prevented her from having the communion with God even though the priest misunderstood her! (1 Sam 1:8-18)
Elijah: no home, no buildings, no publicity, no congregation, no food, no friends. So he had to depend completely and totally on God.
Nehemiah: wept and prayed for months before the Living God - God answered those prayers with a vision for a major public works project.
Jesus: began His ministry with 40 days of fasting and prayer. not only made prayer a priority, but He modelled a life of constant prayer. We should learn to live prayerfully as He did while on earth.
Need for prayer – why do we need to pray if God already knows beforehand?
Prayer is not for God's benefit but for ours but its not about us rather than Who God is!
No man is greater than his prayer life- Prayer is the powerhouse of faith - the ultimate act of spiritual intimacy with God!
God cannot be fooled by our emergency-mode prayer – He might very well ask: “How come you never talk to me unless you're in some sort of trouble?!”
Real prayer is spiritual warfare - requires us to wrestle with the world, the flesh and the devil—overcoming in the power of His Spirit rather than in our own flesh and mind.
What to pray for?
Mt 6:9-13 +
Jas 5:13-18 13Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.... 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
1. Salvation and Forgiveness
2. The Holy Spirit and associated Gifts (Lk 11:13, 1 Cor 12:30)
3. Provision of Daily Needs (Pro 30:8-9)
4. Wisdom (Eph 1:17-21)
- for the ability to cope with today (Mt 6:34)
- deliverance from temptation (Mt 5:13)
- deal with the difficult people in our life (Mt 5:44)
- for good things that we're seeking God for
- for boldly proclaiming the Gospel (Act 4:24-31)
5. Governments, Kings & leaders (1 Tim 2:1-2)
- for peace & justice for a quite life!
- to grant freedom for the proclamation of the Gospel
6. For the Body of Christ
- for Unity
- fellowships that need a touch from God
- to get back to God's plan!
7. Spiritual warfare: Eph 6:18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints;
Rom 15:30-32 30Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me, 31that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you.
Benefits of prayer:
We've a void / longing for companionship that we're trying to fill and God can fill it abundantly!
We're doing the will of God for our life and hence pleasing for Him
God Delights in the Prayers of His People (2 Chro 16:9)
Brings us close to God! (Jas 4:8)
Success in spiritual warfare (Eph 6:12)
Makes us aware of our dependence in God!
How can we have a meaningful prayer life?
Being honest about our prayer-life
prayer must become priority one in our life.
We must invest time in prayer.
Keep a journal for prayer-requests and answers!
Meditation:
- What changes are needed in my attitude towards prayer?
- Do I've an adequate prayer-life? How can I improve the quality of my prayer-life?
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