Prayer
Objective:
The disciple has a basic understanding of the importance of prayer, knows the fundamentals of prayer, and is beginning to pray on his own.
Biblical Basis for this Objective:
Christianity is a relationship with God through the auspices of the risen, glorified Savior. It’s not really a “religion,” though some choose to define it as such; it’s not merely a code of ethics, though that is involved; it’s not a certain collection of behaviors, though as a result of our relationship with God, certain behaviors will come to the fore. At its very foundation it’s a two-way, vital, dynamic friendship between the Creator and His creature.
We all know that, if you want to carry on a relationship with someone, it is necessary to communicate with that person. No communication – no relationship. It’s that simple. Since we desire to carry on a relationship with God, we must talk to Him. We call this “prayer.”
What do the following verses say about prayer:
Matt. 5:44 Matt. 26:41 Luke 18:1 Matt. 6:5-9
Mark 11:22-25 Luke 21:36 Matt. 7: 7,8 Mark 13:33
John 14: 13,14 Matt. 9:38 Luke 6:28 John 15: 7,16
Applicable Definition:
· “Prayer is simply talking to God.” Bill Bright
· “Prayer is to verbalize our total dependence on God concerning all our efforts.” Dick Eastman
· “Prayer is weakness plugged into strength. Prayer is saying, ‘I can’t, but You can,’ and plugging into God’s ‘I will.’”
Since this study is about prayer, let’s answer some questions about our prayer life and see where we are at concerning prayer:
· What has been your background as far as prayer goes? Do you do much of it?
· Have you ever seen God answer a prayer you prayed? How about a prayer someone else prayed?
· Do you think God really does hear and answer our prayers?
· What sort of things do you pray about? Just the big things, or do you pray about anything that comes to your mind?
· Why do you think Christians pray? Why do you think God wants us to pray?
· Have you ever prayed out loud with a group of people? Were you nervous?
Facts the New Christian Should Know About Prayer
1. Prayer is simply talking with God.
Though God is far more than a mere person. He is more like a person than anything else our minds can conceive of. For this reason, He asks us to converse with Him just as we would with another person.
Since the essence of the Christian life is maintaining a vital relationship with God, and since communication between two people is the only way to build a relationship, you’ve got to talk together in order to have that relationship.
· Genesis 18: 22-33 (example: Abraham)
· Isaiah 1:18
· Psalm 139: 23,24 (example David)
· Matthew 6: 9-13 (example Jesus)
· Matthew 11: 25,26 (example Jesus)
2. You can pray about anything you want to, any time, any place.
Many people think God doesn’t want to be bothered with “insignificant” matters. They think He’s too busy with such big, important pursuits as stopping wars, ending droughts and trying to tell presidents and kings how to run their countries. Nothing could be further from the truth. Proverbs 15:8 says that the “prayer of the upright is His delight.” That means that He loves to hear from us, no matter what it is we’ve got on our minds. God is everywhere-present and all powerful, so He doesn’t have to stop what He’s doing to listen to us. We can enter His throne room anytime we want to, for any reason at all, and He’ll always welcome us with open arms.
· We can go to God concerning (anything), look at the following passages and answer what is being ask for:
I Chronicles 4:10 Matt. 6:11 Mark 11:22,23
Ps. 143:8 Prov. 3:5,6 James 1:5
· We can go to God (anytime), look at the following passages and answer what the time/situation was:
Exodus 15:11,2 2 Samuel 12:15 I Kings 18:36
Ps. 88:1 Acts 16:25 Ps. 51:3,4
· We can go to God (anywhere), look at the following passages and answer where this was:
1 Samuel 1:9,10 Matt. 18: 19,20 Mark 1:35
Matt. 6:6 Matt. 14:23
3. God does hear our prayers.
Prayer is not merely some psychological exercise or discipline. It’s not like a form of meditation where we engage in it strictly for our own benefit and edification. It’s a genuine conversation. You speak, and God listens. He’ll speak back to you through His Word (the Bible), or through circumstances, or even through direct impressions to your spirit.
Ps. 10:17 Ps. 40:1 I Peter 3:12
Ps. 34: 15,17 Ps. 65:21 John 5: 14,15
4. God answers our prayers one of three ways; yes, no, or wait.
Just asking God for something in prayer doesn’t guarantee that we will receive it. God is all wise. He knows us inside and out. He knows that some requests we make will be good for us, so to those requests He answers yes. Some requests would be bad for us – to those He answers no. Some requests would be good for us in the future, but not right now. That’s when He says, “Wait.” Our attitude should be one of quiet acceptance.
Look at the following passages and determine how did God answer:
Psalm 32:5 I Sam. 1:11,19,20 Luke 17:11-14
2 Sam. 12:15-18 Matt. 26: 37-42 2 Cor. 12:7-10
Gen. 15:2-5 Gen. 50: 24,25
5. There are four types of prayer: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication (A.C.T.S.).
Prayer does not consist entirely of asking God for things we want. Imagine having a relationship with someone in which all the other person ever did was ask you for things! This condition does not exist in real life (except between college students and their parents). So it should not exist in our relationship with God, either. The following are some verses that either talk about or give examples of each of the four types of prayer:
· Adoration:
·
I Timothy 1:17 Luke 1: 46-55 I Peter 1: 3-5
· Confession:
Mark 11:25 Luke 15: 17-21 I John 1:8-10
· Thanksgiving:
Daniel 6:10 Col. 2:7 Eph. 1: 15,16
· Supplication:
John 16:24 Phil. 4:6,7 James 4: 2,3
6. Faith is vital in prayer.
Let’s say I asked you to do me a favor. Then, at the end of my request I said, “But I don’t know why in the world I’m talking to you about this, anyway. I know I can’t trust you any farther than I can throw you. Never mind, I’ll take care of it myself.” Do you think you’d eagerly and graciously set out to fulfill my request? Not likely.
Many Christians come to God with the same attitude. Is it any wonder God remains unmoved by their requests, and they give up on prayer after a while? Throughout the Bible God says, “If you want Me to work in and through you, you’ve got to have faith that I can and will do it.” Faith is one of the primary character qualities God wants to develop in you, and He’ll do everything He can to help you grow in trusting in Him.
Ps. 37:5 Mark 11:24 Heb. 11:6
Prov. 3:5,6 Romans 4:20,21 James 1:6,7
Matt. 17:19-21
7. We can’t expect God to grant our requests if we are unwilling to grant His (importance of obedience).
How can we expect God to look favorably upon our requests when He is saying to us through the Bible and His Holy Spirit, “My child, here is what I want you to do,” and we respond with, “No, Now, here’s what I want You to do”? So one thing to keep in mind: Our willingness to obey God will greatly influence the effectiveness of our prayer life.
Ps. 37:4 Prov. 28:9 I John 3:22
Prov. 15:8 Matt. 6:14,15
8. We must deal with any known sin in our lives before we can expect God to hear and act upon our prayers.
It’s foolish to believe that you and I will never disobey God. We’re human; therefore, we will blow it from time to time. Our goal is that, as we grow more mature in the Lord, we’ll blow it less and less. In the meantime, when we become conscious of disobeying God, we need to get things right with Him as soon as possible. If we don’t, our prayer life will be hindered.
Ps. 32: 3-5 Ps. 139: 23,24 Isa. 59:2
Ps. 66:18 Prov. 28:13 I John 1:9
9. Prayer is hard work, and, as in all work, a very important factor is patient perseverance.
What you and I are doing when we are involved in prayer will have eternal consequences. In order to become good at prayer, you must understand that it is not only an activity that looks fun – carefree and easy – but that it is also a discipline that requires perseverance and patience to master. Yet if we keep in mind that this activity will reap eternal, positive results, our motivation should be even stronger. At times you will be exhilarated and joyful, but you must anticipate a person’s natural inclination to grow weary, and meet it with the same sort of stick-to-it-iveness that a champion athlete must have. The Bible says that this attitude will not go unrewarded.
Ps. 40:1 Luke 18:1-8 Luke 11:5-9 I Cor. 15:58
10. We must approach God in humility, remembering who we are talking to.
Have you heard people refer to God as the “man upstairs,” or the “big guy,” or the “boss”? This could indicate that the speaker does not have a genuine relationship with the Lord. Though the Lord deeply loves us, and desires an intimate relationship with us, He’s not our “good buddy.” It’s very important that we remember He is the all-powerful, sovereign, ruler of the universe, and He is eminently worthy of our utmost respect and reverence. As you read the Bible, you’ll find that it greatly pleases God when we come to Him in humility, and it has the opposite effect when we exhibit pride.
2 Kings 22:19 Ps. 10:17 James 4:10 2 Chron. 7:14
Ps. 51: 16,17 I Peter 5:5,6 2 Chron. 34:27 Luke 18: 9-14
11. Yet we can feel bold and confident about approaching Him in prayer, because He fully accepts us as His children.
We approach God in prayer with a humble heart, because of His position as our Creator, Savior, King of kings and Lord of the universe, but we also approach Him with boldness and confidence because He loved us enough to die for us, to adopt us, to exalt us. And besides – He said we could!
Eph. 3:12 Hebrews 4:15,16 Hebrews 10: 19-22
Now would be a good time to talk about having a daily quiet time. During this time you will read the Word to hear from God and pray to talk with God.
Evaluation
1. Why do you pray?
2. Why do you think God invented prayer?
3. Do you think you pray differently when in a group than you do when you’re alone with God? (If so. . .) Why do you think that is?
4. Have you been having personal times of prayer lately?
5. What are some of the things you’re praying about?
6. What are some things I can pray for, for you?
7. When God doesn’t answer one of your prayers, what do you think happened?
8. What role do you believe faith may play in prayer? Obedience, Confession?