What about prayer?
How often do you think about your prayer life? Have you ever examined your prayer life and wondered if you could be better at communicating with God? Does it sometimes feel like your prayers hit the ceiling and bounce right back down? Have you ever thought about the power that exists in prayer?
Faith Service Worship Vision There may be times when you find it difficult to reconcile God’s truth to your own opinion or worldview, God’s truth is eternal, it does not change, our understanding of the truth does change as we allow God to work in our hearts and minds. These sessions are not about opinion, they are about learning truth, the truth contained in the Bible, together we are going to focus on how we apply God’s truth, black & white in a grey world. To set godly priorities, grow in Christian character and live according to God’s standards so that we are a living witness to others.
The basis of our belief: Session 7
Ashingdon Elim Bible Study 25 May 2010
The Apostle Paul was a man who believed that prayer had power to change the hearts of men. He believed that prayer would strengthen him and give him inspiration when he needed it most and Paul believed that through our prayers we can literally join with preachers and youth ministers and missionaries to make them more successful and more effective in bringing lost souls to Christ. The Apostle Paul believed God answers prayer. Paul told the Christians in Colossi to “pray … that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.” (Colossians 4:3-4) To the Ephesians Paul wrote “Pray… that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.” (Ephesians 6:19) To the church in Thessalonica, he wrote: “…pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you.” (2 Thessalonians 3:1) And he said something even more dramatic to the church in Rome: “I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.” (Romans 15:30) Does God answer prayer today? Do you remember the last time you prayed? Was the prayer answered? How was it answered? Were you happy with the answer? One of the most impressive accounts of prayer in the Bible is recorded in Acts chapters 3 and 4. Peter and John had gone to the Temple to pray and encountered a lame man on the way. In the name of Jesus, they healed the man and a crowd gathered. So they did what any good preacher will do with a crowd… they preached. The Sadducees and Temple guard had them arrested for and thrown in Jail. The next day, they were brought before the Sanhedrin and after some discussion threatened them and warned them that they should never preach about Jesus ever again. So Peter and John return to the church and they held a prayer meeting. “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” (Acts 4:31) God acts in accordance with our prayers. Some times He does it over a long period of time (for reasons only He understands) and sometimes He does it immediately. Do you believe that God hears you when you pray? Do you believe that God responds to your prayers? 1
The power of prayer
The author Lee Strobel wrote, “I treated prayer as if it were a spiritual smorgasbord I took a little of this authors ideas, a bit of advise from that pastors sermon, applied some miscellaneous Bible verses, and mixed it with some counsel of well meaning friends. The result: an imbalanced and half-baked prayer life that left me starving for something more satisfying.”
Sometimes as Christians we pray asking God to do certain things, either in our life or the lives of others, only to be totally surprised when God answers our prayers. A small town had two churches and one distillery. Members of both churches complained that the distillery was giving the community a bad image.
We can examine so many different sources to find a way into an intimate prayer life with God but the best person to describe the real principles of prayer is the master communicator Jesus. Jesus spent more time in successful, active communication with the Father than anyone else. If we will listen to Him, the pathway to powerful prayer will be revealed to us.
The owner of the distillery did not believe in God and was a very outspoken atheist. For years the church people tried to shut down the distillery and finally they decided to hold a joint prayer meeting. They decided that they would ask God to move.
Basic principles
The people of the two churches met on a Saturday night and started praying. While they were praying a huge thunderstorm started raging outside.
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2He said to them, “When you pray, say: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 3Give us each day our daily bread. 4Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one’ “ 1
A bolt of lightening split the sky and hit the brewery. A fire started and the brewery burned to the ground. The next morning the ministers of each of the churches preached sermons on the power of prayer. A few days later his insurance company contacted the owner of the burned down brewery. The insurers said they were not going to pay for the damage because the lightning that caused the fire was an act of God, and acts of God were not covered in the policy.
Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, The distillery owner was furious and he sued the ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6because churches claiming that they had conspired with God a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, to destroy his business. The churches denied that they and I have nothing to set before him.’ 7”Then the had anything to do with the cause of the fire. one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in When the case went to court the judge opened the trial with this statement: “I find one thing in this cause bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the most perplexing – we have a situation here where the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the plaintiff, an atheist is stating his belief in the power of prayer, and the defendants all faithful church members man’s boldness[e] he will get up and give him as much as he needs. are denying the very same power.” 5
”So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be Where do we start if it is our goal to establish a opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he legitimate communication with God? who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door 11 Go into a Christian bookshop and you will see some will be opened. “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone; or if he of the many books that have been written on the asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12Or subject of prayer; books on how to have a stronger if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13If prayer life; books on how prayer can bring us closer to God; books that analyse every word of every prayer you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will in the Bible; books that record prayers of modern Christians; books that argue what is valid and what is your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”(Luke 11:1-13) not about prayer. 9
First things first
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Approach God with humbleness.
Do you have a desire to learn what you think you already know? The disciples had been praying before asking Jesus to teach them the power and serenity of prayer.
“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” The will of God happens if we like it or not. Not all believers are happy to carry out the will of God, we cannot see His will done without letting Him rule in our day-to-day lives. He must be Lord and King. The concept can be one that is quite foreign to us. It is an appeal for us to voluntarily give up our wills here on earth so that His heavenly will might be accomplished. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).
What was the main difference about the way Jesus prayed? The disciples realised that there was something very different about the way Jesus prayed. Jesus did not give them a prayer to use in meaningless repetition, like some form of mantra or chant. He gave them the basic for a meaningful, consistent pattern for prayer. (Though there is nothing wrong with using the Lord’s prayer as a prayer – as long as you are praying, not just repeating words that have no real meaning in your heart).
The first five points deal with the ATTITUDE of prayer. The next five deal with the RELATION of prayer.
How did you learn to pray? Many Christians learn to pray by following the example of someone else or by our own definition.
Approach God with thankfulness. “Give us today our daily bread” If we are in the right attitude for prayer then we are also aligned in relation toward God’s gifts. Our God is not a God that wants His followers to be in want – again it is important to see that our needs are addressed after we give our will over to God.
Power prayer principles Approach God with tenderness. “Our Father” it is interesting that Jesus teaches us this phrase, Jesus Himself never uses that form. He is heard referring to God as, “The Father”, “My Father”, or “Your Father” because He is the true Son of God but we are to refer to Him at least as “Father” and at best as “Our Father” We are adopted into the royal family! It is a term likened to daddy or poppa.
If God said to you that you could ask Him for anything at all, what would your request be? God appeared to Solomon in 2 Chronicles 1:7 and told him he could ask for anything he wanted. Most of us in that position, would probably ask for things that would be beneficial to us. Because Solomon was in the will of God, he asked for something that would help others. He asked for wisdom to lead God’s people into His will.
Approach God with reverence. “In heaven” We are not approaching an earthly father, limited in capabilities or presence. We are approaching the very Father of all creation. He is our heavenly Father and because of that we are created in His image (Genesis 1:26).
We should find that our selfish desires dwindle as we allow the Fathers will to take control. We can be certain that God will provide for our needs (not our wants!).
Approach God with respect.
After the wisdom of God was given to Solomon, the blessings of God followed.
“Hallowed be Your name” Not many could claim this title although it is given to us the task of being set apart (sanctification) for service to the glory of God. Jesus reminds us that our Father is free from all impurities. He is totally separated from all evil.
Approach God with forgiveness. “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors” This principle carries some baggage. Sin is a debt that causes a heavy burden. If sin is not dealt with, it can totally weigh a person down. If we allow sin to wear us down we become ineffective Christians. We are also encouraged to pray for those that have sinned against us: “pray for those who spitefully use you” (Luke 6:28).
Approach God with devotion. “Your kingdom come” It is difficult to go to God in prayer knowing that you are at odds with the ministry of the kingdom. We are guilty of hypocrisy if every day of our lives we hinder and thwart the advance of His kingdom.
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Application
Approach God with awareness. “Lead us not into temptation”
What do you seek God to do in your prayer?
Would God actually lead us into temptation? To understand this you need to understand that the word carries a dual meaning. Trials can test our faithfulness.
So many times we are guilty of saying, “God supply my needs”, “God supply my wants”, “God make things turn out the way I want them to”. Do we realise that the God of heaven and earth has needs also?
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. (James 1:13).
He needs to know that you love Him. He not only wants you to tell Him this, He wants you to prove it by serving Him faithfully. He needs to know that you desire to fellowship with Him. This involves spending time with God. It’s more than just a passing commitment. Sometimes it means spending time in prayer talking to Him and sometimes it means shutting up and listening to what He has to say.
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Approach God with helplessness.
He needs to know that you are devoted to Him. That means choosing Him when you have a choice. It’s amazing to think that God wants to answer your prayers but He desires for you and me to be in the proper attitude for prayer.
“Deliver us from the evil one” The real evil is sin. The evil one loves to push us towards sin. There is a story about a church that believed in sinless perfection once you trusted Jesus Christ into your life and were baptised. A visitor to that church heard this teaching and asked to be baptized. He was tired of dealing with his habitual sin without any success. Unfortunately, it was in the middle of winter and the river was near frozen. The man with much persistence got the Elders to baptise him in the river. After the man and two Elders came out of the freezing cold water, the man was so excited, he said, “I feel so good, I’m not even cold.” One Elder turned to the other and said, “He’s lying, we have to do it again.”
In the months ahead as you pray for specific things do it with the right attitude do it with all expectancy and God will answer it! Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:13-16 13
Until we recognise that God is our Father and we are His children we will never understand just how evil sin is. Without a proper prayer relationship with our Father we are doomed to fall prey to the evil one.
Approach God with genuineness. “Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever”
For personal reflection
Isn’t it appropriate that we give God the credit He deserves? It is all about God, the creator of the universe. It is His power that brings all good things to fruition in our lives. It is God and God alone that deserves the glory.
When you pray, remember: 1. The love of God that wants the best for us.
Aside from God, who else could bring us through prayer to a place of eternal peace and security?
2. The wisdom of God that knows what is best for us. 3. The power of God that can accomplish it. 4