Developing Your Prayer Life

Developing Your

Prayer Life They all joined together constantly in prayer‌ Acts 1:14

Prayer Life What is prayer?

• Spending time with God - seeking His face by getting to know Him and His ways • Communicating with God - communicating by both speaking and listening to Him • Communing with God - having intimate fellowship and building a relationship with Him

Why should we pray?

• The Lord has told us to pray - prayer is an act of obedience • To praise God • To seek to know Him • To worship Him • To give thanks to Him • To confess sin and repent of sin • To petition God for something • To intercede on another’s behalf • To make supplication or to plead with God - most commonly a cry for God’s mercy • To wait on the Lord

What should prayer accomplish?

• God is glorified • God’s kingdom is built up • God’s power is released • Satan is bound • We get to know God and His ways • We grow in oneness with Him • We are transformed into His likeness as we seek Him • We gain deeper understanding of His will for our lives

Praying Together Again I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father In heaven. For where two or three come together In my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:19-20 Jesus tells us that there is great power in our prayers when we pray together with other believers. From the very beginning of the early church, we see the believers “all joined together constantly in prayer” (Acts 1:14). Throughout the book of Acts we read vivid stories of how these prayers impacted the ministry of the disciples, leading to “many wonders and miraculous signs” and to “adding to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2: 42-47). What would happen in our church, our community, if the people of Taylors FBC joined together constantly in prayer?

How can you become more involved in “corporate prayer?”

Below are some options to consider in order to begin praying regularly with others in our church body:

\1. First, use the beginning of this guide to develop your personal prayer life - ask God to “teach you to pray” 2. Sign up to be part of our God’s 3000 Prayer Ministry which was created to join together 3000 people in prayer to seek the face of God for our church, community, and world (contact Kaitlyn Ross at kaitlynr@taylorsfbc.org to receive our weekly God’s 3000 e-mail and other information).

3. Sign up to pray in our Intercessory Prayer Room on a regular basis. Our Intercessors regularly pray over specific needs in our church and community (contact David Nelson at dnsn67@charter.net).

4. Find a prayer partner to meet with regularly to pray for one another and for our church, community, and world.

5. Form a prayer group (possibly from your Life Group) to meet together for prayer on a regular basis. Consider using the DVD study When God’s People Pray by Jim Cymbala to help your prayer group “catch a vision” for corporate prayer.

Resources for Further Study • Pick up a copy of the book, How to Develop a Powerful Prayer Life by Gregory

They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:42

Why are my prayers not answered at times?

• Realize that God is God and we are not - there are just some things we cannot understand.

Isaiah 55: 8-9 tells us that “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways…”

• Consider when praying for other people that their wills and decisions will factor in. Where the will of man and the sovereignty of God meet, we may never know or understand. The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. Deuteronomy 29:29 • Consider whether or not you have disobedience, unconfessed sin, or an unforgiving spirit that can hinder your prayers (Mark 11:25, Psalm 66:18).

• Check to be sure you are praying in accord with God’s Word - He reveals both Himself and His will to us in His Word, and we cannot separate prayer from the Word. To pray effectively for His kingdom purposes, we must incorporate the Word of God in our prayers, listening carefully for His voice.

How can I learn to hear God speak?

• God says in John 10:27 that His sheep hear His voice. This means He speaks to us, most often, through His Word. Sometimes it will be very plain – the Word of God will seem to jump off the page at you.

• It may take several days or even weeks for the Lord to sink a truth into your spirit. Keep searching His Word for confirmation. The Word of God is always in agreement with itself.

Hearing from the Lord is not about a quick emotional high that leaves as quickly as it came. If you are not sure you are hearing correctly, ask the Lord to continue to reveal to you what is His desire. Be willing to wait.

• He may speak to you through other people, articles, sermons, messages, etc.; but always check these things with His Word to see if what they say is in line with the Scriptures.

This is what we are told the Bereans did in Acts 17:11…they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

• Listen as you read God’s Word. Jesus said in Luke 8:18, …consider carefully how you listen…

• Develop an attitude of hearing. Psalm 50:7 says, Hear, O my people, and I will speak…

Be an active listener. Position yourself to hear.

In 1 Samuel 3, God called his name, but he was not ready to hear. He did not recognize the Lord’s voice and kept running to Eli until finally Eli instructed him to be still and tell the Lord that he was listening. It was only then that the Lord spoke His message to Samuel.

Personal Prayer Lord, teach us to pray… Luke 11:1b

Establish a habit of regular prayer every day - you may begin with 5 or 10 minutes a day and increase your time as you begin to experience God’s presence. A.C.T.S is an acronym that points us to the Lord’s Prayer and other basic elements of prayer throughout scripture. You may find this method helpful as you grow in your understanding of how to pray, but remember no formula can completely capture the heart of effective prayer - the key is the heart condition of the one praying.

ADORATION Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess his name. Hebrews 13:15 Begin your prayer time by praising God for who He is. Call to mind specific characteristics – He is slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness, He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Praise and worship HIM. This is a time for telling God what He means to you and how much you love Him. Read the Psalms for great examples of adoration: O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Psalm 8:1

CONFESSION If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 Unconfessed sin creates a barrier between you and God and can hinder your prayers. Pray Psalm 139:23: Search me oh God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Wait and listen to see if God brings specific sin to mind, and then confess that sin to Him with a repentant heart (to repent is to stop and turn 180 degrees). Often the feeling of a weight lifting will follow this step.

THANKSGIVING Be joyful always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Thank God for His all-consuming love for you, for the glory of His handiwork, for His promises to you (if you don’t know them, start looking them up). When life is especially hard and you aren’t feeling thankful, thank Him for simple things such as family, friends, food, shelter, safety, jobs, health – counting your blessings, thanking and praising God for all He has given you and done in your life, can turn a negative spirit into a positive one.

SUPPLICATION Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6 Supplication , also known as intercession or petition, is where we come to the Father asking God to supply needs for ourselves and others. Be specific in your prayers. For example, instead of asking for God to bless your family, ask Him to draw your child’s heart to him, to give him or her a hunger and thirst for God. If you feel led to pray for a certain person but don’t know exactly what that person needs, ask God to lead you in prayer. He will.

Remember, the condition of your heart as you seek God is far more important than special words or a method of prayer!

Guidelines for Prayer • Devote yourself to prayer

Devote yourselves to prayer… Colossians 4:2 To “devote” yourself means to “commit to wholly or chiefly – to set yourself apart for a special purpose”

• Ask

You do not have because you do not ask God… James 4:2 We often deny ourselves things that God wishes us to have because we fail to ask Him for them.

• Approach God in reverent submission

During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Hebrews 5:7 The Scripture tells us that Jesus’ attitude of reverent submission to His Father is why He was heard. - we should come to God the same way.

• Pray in the name of Jesus

...I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name… John 16:23 Apart from Jesus and the cross we have no basis on which to approach God at all.

We come because of who He is, not who we are. To pray in His name includes being mindful of His character and what He Himself would pray.

• Check your motives

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:2

Even a good prayer asked with the wrong motive behind it is not acceptable to God we are to serve the Lord’s purpose in prayer, not our own.

• Identify and remove hindrances to prayer in your life (sin)

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him... Mark 11:25 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened… Psalm 66:18

• Pray continually

…pray continually… 1 Thessalonians. 5:17

• Always pray - don’t give up!

…always pray and don’t give up Luke 18:1

• Pray in the Spirit

Pray in the Spirit… Ephesians 6:18, Jude 20

• Pray on all occasions

Pray…on all occasions… Ephesians 6:18

• Pray using many kinds of prayers and requests

Pray…with all kinds of prayers and requests… Ephesians 6:18

• Pray for God’s people

…always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18

• Be clear minded and self-controlled

The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 1 Peter 4:7

• Love other believers deeply

Above all, love each other deeply… 1 Peter 4:8

Peter follows his words about prayer in 1 Peter 4:7 with this passage, implying that our love for one another affects our prayers also.

• Live a righteous life - stay in right standing with God

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective James 5:16

• Pray in faith - believe God is who He says and will do what He has promised If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. Matthew 21:22

• Pray according to God’s will.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of Him. 1 John 5:14-15

• Pray according to God’s Word

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. John 15:7 Stay in right standing with God through a life of obedience and learn to pray His word back to Him.

• Seek God with All of Your Heart

Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you — you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 19:12-13

Resources for Further Study • Pick up a copy of the book, How to Develop a Powerful Prayer Life by Gregory Frizzell from our church Media Center for only $3.

• Begin using a prayer journal to write your prayers to God and/or to celebrate answered prayers. Journals are available in the Media Center for $6.

• Read the book, With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray • Read the book, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala • Use the DVD study, When God’s People Pray, to grow in your understanding of the power of corporate prayer

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

Thank you to Dee Hopkins for her contributions to this guide.

Taylors First Baptist Church 200 West Main Street . Taylors, SC 29687 864-244-3535 . www.taylorsfbc.org 12.2013