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Prayer

 

Prayer is simply communication with God. Prayer, this continual conversation with God, our loving heavenly Father, is of such vital importance that it needs to become and continue to be a way of life.

 

Proverbs 15:8:  
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight. 

Proverbs 15:29:  
The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous. 

God is waiting to hear from us. He is listening. It is not bothersome to our heavenly Father when we pray, talk, or even whine to Him. It delights Him to hear from His children. The great object of prayer is not necessarily any particular blessing or specific request but the Father Himself. The real satisfaction to prayer is in the fellowship with the Father and in the enjoyment of his abundant blessings.  

Prayer is a way of life that involves practicing the presence of God, realizing that He is always there. Talking things over with God, having a continual conversation with God, should be a big part of how we live each day. God is with you no matter where you are and what you are doing. 

Psalm 139:7-10: (NIV)

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 
If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,  
even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 

Unfortunately, many have been taught that prayer is memorizing and then reciting certain words or phrases over and over. Jesus instructed his disciples to not use “vain repetitions” by saying the same prayers over and over. Prayer is not a religious ritual. 

Matthew 6:5-9:  
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 
Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. 
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 

Then Jesus gives them a great example of how to pray. He doesn’t tell then to just say his words over and over again. Prayer is not to show off all the concepts and theological viewpoints that you have learned either. It is not designed to impress someone or for you to think that you are impressing God with your vast knowledge.  

There are five different aspects of prayer listed in two verses. All of them blend together, and each is essential for an effectual prayer life.  

I Timothy 2:1:  
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men. 

Philippians 4:6 and 7:  
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

The different aspects of prayer are:

1. personal devotion – proseuchē: prayer offered to God, having regard to the power of Him Who is invoked and giving prominence to personal devotion. 

2. expression of personal need [supplication] – deēsis: a petition for a special object, having regard to our necessity rather than God’s sufficiency to supply it: giving prominence to personal need. The root of this word is “to lack or need, to fall short of.” 

3. specific requests –  aitēma: a specific petition for a particular thing. Root: “ask” as in demand in the sense of asking with boldness and authority. The thing requested is claimed as a right. 

4. intercessions – enteuxis: confiding access to God, giving prominence to child-like confidence in prayer. Root: to go to meet a person, especially for the purpose of conversation. 

5. thanksgiving – eucharistia: simply an expression of gratitude, a giving of thanks. 

Both verses list prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving. Philippians 4:6 adds request, while I Timothy 2:1 supplies intercessions to the mutual list. 

We are exhorted to not be “anxious” merimnao, to take no unnecessary thought regarding anything. Much truer than the worldly philosophy of “Don’t worry. Be happy!” Mustering up a false optimism that pretends all is well does not overcome anxiety. Prayer to God does. When we refuse to be anxious but instead take all to God in prayer; the benefit is great. Although, life will never be perfect, we can cast our cares upon Him. 

That’s a command. Do not be mentally distracted by anything! But instead, take everything to God in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving; let your requests be made known unto God. God has put boundaries on our thinking. If we want to walk in fellowship with Him, we have to be in control of our mind enough so that we don’t permit it to become mentally distracted or anxious. We are not supposed to allow our minds to be distracted from the truth of God’s Word by anything. Don’t let your mind be distracted, instead pray! That may take some growth. 

Other translations of Philippians 4:5-7:

Working Translation: Let your gentle forbearance be known to all people.  The Lord is near.

Do not be anxious [distracted] about anything, but in everything, by prayer and prayer request with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God,

and the peace of God, which is more excellent than every way of thinking, will protect your hearts and your thinking in Christ Jesus. 

Weymouth: Do not be over-anxious about anything, but by prayer and earnest pleading, together with thanksgiving, let your requests be unreservedly made known in the presence of God. And then the peace of God, which transcends all our powers of thought, will be a garrison to guard your hearts and minds in union with Christ Jesus. 

The Amplified Bible: Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything by prayer and petition [definite requests] with thanksgiving continue to make your wants known to God. And God’s peace…which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 

Phillips: Don’t worry over anything whatever, whenever you pray tell God every detail of your needs in thankful prayer, and the peace of God, which surpasses human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus. 

I Peter 5:7:  
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 

Care is merimna. Cast your anxiety, your distractions, your discomfits, your unnecessary mental bondage on Him. He takes them and allows you to have peace instead.  

Prayer is much more than a daily ritual to be performed. It should be a passion in our lives. No matter what negative circumstances might arise, be confident that God will take care of you. If you want a successful life, dwell in fellowship with God every day of your life by prayer.  

Daniel prayed three times a day. He got the information he needed to run the kingdom from God.

His continual conversation with God and subsequent success got his coworkers jealous so they conceived a plan they thought would get rid of him. Typical office politics! They got him thrown into a den of lions, which usually works. However, God delivered him. Daniel 6:1-28.  

There is power in prayer. Let’s consider David and God’s relationship. In Psalm 18 the word “my” is used many times indicating how personal the Lord was to David. David had absolute confidence in God’s ability and willingness to protect and deliver him. He didn’t look to himself for strength but to the Lord when his life was in danger. God heard his prayers and sprung into action. God was angry because one of His people was being persecuted.  

Psalm 18:1-13: (NIV)  
I love you, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 
I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. 
The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. 
The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. 
In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. 
The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. 
Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. 
He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. 
He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. 
He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky. 
Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. 
The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. 

When one of God’s people cried out to Him, He moved heaven and earth to answer his prayer. We pray because our own strength is not sufficient. When we call upon God, He goes to work for us. Prayer begins with delighting in God, seeking Him. We need to develop our intimate fellowship with our heavenly Father. 

Too many today regard prayer as a dull but necessary duty they must perform rather than a marvelous and exciting opportunity to bring into fruition the tremendous power of God. Prayer is a lifestyle, a continual looking to God to enjoy the sweetness of His fellowship and having confident expectation that your requests will be granted.  

God’s basis for answering prayer is not man’s goodness but His goodness. God does not require sinless perfection in our lives, but He does expect meekness and humility. Prayer should be much more than a daily ritual to be performed; we should become passionate about it. 

The Lord Jesus Christ was not exempt from praying. He chose to pray; to get alone; to get quiet. He went to pray where he would not be interrupted. He even prayed all night.  

Luke 6:12 and 13:  
And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. 
And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles. 

Jesus Christ organized His life in such a way that he had time for prayer. If anyone would have been exempt from prayer you would have thought it would have been him. 

Matthew 14:23:  
And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. 

Mark 1:35:  
And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. 

Mark 6:45 and 46:  
And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people. 
And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. 

He got up early. He went by himself into the mountains. He frequented the Garden of Gethsemane. He had to decide by his free will to take time out from his rather hectic schedule in order to pray, to get alone with his heavenly Father. How do you know what the Father’s will is for your life if you don’t spend time with Him discussing it?  

Romans 15:30-32:  
Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;  
That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints; 
That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed. 

Paul asked the saints in Rome to strive together in prayer with him; to exert the utmost effort in prayer for all to go well in his undertakings and for the future benefit of hosting a joyful Paul which will then help to refresh him.  

This does not portray a mind picture of 15 seconds of application and then going to do something else of “more importance.” Prayer is not a haphazard thing.  

Colossians 4:12: 
Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. 

An important part of the work of the ministry is prayer. Epaphras was always laboring fervently on their behalf in prayers so that they could stand mature and completely convinced in order to do all the will of God. Without a mature prayer life you are missing a great deal in your ability to help.  

Colossians 4:2-4:  
Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; 
Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: 
That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. 

“Continue” is to endure or to persevere. We watch with thanksgiving, but don’t get negative. Watch continually, striving, laboring, persevering with thanksgiving, not by being negative. Prayer is one of the great means of being able to continually help others. We are not always together but we can strive together with each other by prayer. 

Colossians 4:2-4: (WT)

Pray for the ministry to move. If you want to speak God’s Word to someone, a new person who will become a leader, pray about it. If you have an opportunity to teach God’s Word, you don’t teach it with just your intellectual preparation, you pray, you ask God for guidance. Prayer is needed for things of God all over the world, all the believers, all the teachings, the economy, our country… 

If there is a situation going on in a particular area of the world, like an earthquake, a hurricane, an illness, Afghanistan, Iraq, where we know that something needs particular concerted effort, we can focus in on that in prayer. We will never run out of things that need praying for. 

Ephesians 6:18:  
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. 

Watching, perseverance, having surveillance. If you are watching somebody, you have them under surveillance. Watching isn’t glancing in that direction every now and then. It is perseverance. It is to stay at it. To stick to it until the situation is resolved. That is a little bit different flavor than “God thank you for Bob, thank you for Timothy, for Dave.” Okay, I’m done! 

For many people prayer is a last result. It is used only in an emergency. For us it has to be a way of life. These words constitute a way of life: continue, persevere, watch, labor, strive. If Jesus Christ, Peter, Timothy, Paul, Epaphras, are not exempt from praying, then why should we think that we have risen to a level that would exempt us? 

I Thessalonians 5:17:

Pray without ceasing.   

Prayer is a habit, a way of life. Too many people sit and worry. They use their minds to be negative. Why can’t we be positive, use our mind to strive, to continue, to bless, to believe, to lift in prayer, to watch. That uses no more work time than being negative. In fact you may find that you are actually more productive.  

Matthew 21:22:

And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.   

God’s Word governs our prayer life and our believing. His Word tells us what is available to believe for and thus receive. 

Mark 11:24:

Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.   

There are times when we can pray and expect things to come to pass together. When we pray together in fellowship meetings, or with our families, or when two or three believers get together to cast needs upon God, we don’t pray to show off. We pray for unified believing. We pray for mutual edification so that each of us can be blessed. We pray to see results come to pass.   

Matthew 18:19 and 20: 
Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. 

If two can agree on something, according to His will, God will answer it. So find a prayer partner. Become clear and concerned about something. Give it to God. Do what He says and expect it to get answered. It might not be the answer you want but it will be the right one. Conversation with God should become a standard way to conduct one’s life. It certainly will enrich your day!  

I Corinthians 14:14 and 15:  
For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. 
What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. 

There are 2 types of prayer today. Prayer with the spirit did not negate prayer with the understanding. There are benefits unique to both types of praying. Both bring blessings that God has made available. We need to learn how to operate both effectively.  

Prayer with understanding profits your mind. If something is going wrong around you, or if you are aware of a precarious situation, does that affect your mind? Yes. Prayer with the understanding allows our mind to cast things knowingly upon God.  

Prayer with the understanding ought to be how we pray to start with so that we can stay positive and blessed and moving with the things of God. We can remind ourselves of God’s ability and love in praying with our understanding.  

We also have the additional ability to speak in tongues, to pray for those things in a situation about which we may have little or no understanding of.  

Romans 8:26 and 27: (WT)

Likewise, the spirit also jointly helps us with our weakness. Moreover, we do not know what we should pray for as necessary, but the spirit itself makes intercession with inexpressible groanings.

He Who searches the hearts knows what the thinking of the spirit is, because it makes intercession for the holy ones in accordance with God. 

You may get a phone call asking you to pray for a need, but they don’t know all of the details. They just know there is a need. Even though you have very little understanding of the specific need, with speaking in tongues, prayer with the spirit, you can apply yourself to that unknown situation by speaking in tongues for it. Maybe all the prayer with the understanding that you could do is “Father I thank you for the people in that situation and for working it out however you possible can in the name of Jesus Christ.” But by speaking in tongues the spirit can make intercession for what is needed in order to fix the situation.   

Luke 18:1-8: (NIV)  
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 
He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 
And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 
“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, 
yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’ ” 
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 
And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 
I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” 

The purpose of this parable was that men ought always to pray and not to give up praying until there is an answer. Prayer is not just a casual, haphazard, once a week, 5 minutes, 2 seconds for each item on a list. It is pray without ceasing, watch in prayer, watch with thanksgiving, persevere, labor, strive, continue. God’s Word has that sort of exhortation in it about prayer. 

James 5:16b:

…the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.   

James 5:16b (NIV)  
…the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. 

This is a quote from George Mueller, a man who trusted God explicitly: 

I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk, when I lie down, and when I rise. And the answers are always coming. Tens of thousands of times have my prayers been answered. When once I am persuaded that a thing is right, I go on praying for it. The great point is never to give up till the answer comes. The great fault of the children of God is, they do not continue in prayer, they do not preserve. If they desire anything for God’s glory, they should pray until they get it. 

Find what is in alignment and harmony with God’s will and keep praying until you get it. Be specific, God is listening! Do your part for the Body of Christ.