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What is
Prayer?
Question: Popularly
understood, prayer is an attempt, even by
non-Christians, to talk to God. The Bible has
many references describing prayer. What is
prayer according to Genesis 4:26;
Psalms
62:8, 107:6, 142:1-2; and
I Chronicles
16:11?
Answer: In its simplest
form, prayer is "calling upon the name of the
Lord" Prayer is also placing trust in God;
pouring our hearts out to Him, knowing that He
is able "to deliver us" in times of distress and
trouble. Prayer is to seek "the Lord and His
strength"
Question: According to Psalm
32:5 and
Psalm 102:1-2, with what attitude
and desire should we call upon God through
prayer?
Answer: When we call upon
God in prayer, we are to confess who we are:
sinners who are undeserving of His mercy. Yet,
knowing His great love for us, we ask that He
listen and
"answer (us)
speedily."
Question: Why should we pray?
See
Psalm 50:1;
Matthew 7:7-8; Isaiah
65:24.
Answer: God has commanded us
to pray. Thus, we pray in response to God's
loving invitation, "Call upon me," "Ask and it
shall be given you." According to Isaiah, we
pray because God has promised to hear
us.
Why
Pray?
Question: Whose prayers are
heard? See Proverbs 15:29. Next, examine 2
Corinthians 5:21 and Philippians 3:9 to
understand the foundation of
righteousness.
Answer: God hears the
prayers of the righteous. But, because of our
sinful human nature, we are powerless to make
ourselves righteous and acceptable to come
before God in prayer. The good news is that God,
because of Jesus' sinless life, death, and
resurrection, declares us righteous. Jesus
Christ became sin for us; His righteousness is
ours by faith. Thus, we are confident that God
hears and answers our prayers because of Christ,
"our righteousness."
To Whom Should We
Pray?
Question: Can the Virgin
Mary, or departed saints or loved ones act as an
intercessor between God and us? Carefully read
what John 14:6, 1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 7:25 and
9:24 teach us about who alone intercedes for us
at God's throne of
grace.
Answer: Neither departed
saints nor the Virgin can approach God's throne
for us. There is only one mediator (intercessor)
between God and man: Jesus. Christ alone died on
the cross for our sins and rose from the dead to
defeat death and the devil. Now this same Jesus
appears "in the presence of God for us" (Hebrews
9:24).
Question: According to
Hebrews 2:17-18 and 4:14-16, what does it mean
that Jesus is our High Priest, and what
assurance does that knowledge give us in
prayer?
Answer:As our High Priest,
Jesus intimately knows our suffering,
weaknesses, and temptations. When you and I come
to God in prayer through Jesus' intercessory
name, we have assurance that, in confidence, "we
may obtain mercy and find grace to help in (our)
time of
need."
Question: Jesus explained
THE KEY to God-pleasing prayer in John 15:7.
What does it mean to "abide" in
Christ?
Answer: The promise Christ
gives in John 15:7 is built upon His previous
analogy of the vine and the branch (John
15:1-6). By itself, a branch has no power to
abide or remain in the vine. Nor can it join
itself to the vine-stock. Like the vine, Jesus'
living Word both commands and enables us to live
attached to Him. When we meditate daily on His
Word, we are "abiding" or "continuing" in
Christ.
Question: If Christ's words "abide" in
us, what effect will His words have on the
prayers we speak to God? What will we ask of God
if Jesus controls our mind and
life?
Answer: When Christ's living
words (John 6:6) "abide" in us, they take
control of our thinking. Christ's Word changes
our values and re-establishes our priorities.
Therefore, Jesus' promise to do whatever we wish
or ask in prayer (John 15) is true because he
who "abides" in Christ through His Word will not
ask for anything that is not in accord with the
will of
Christ.
Learn From the Savior to
Pray
Question: On the basis of Mark 1:35,
Luke 5:16, and Luke 6:12 what is one example of
when, where, and how should we
pray?
Answer: Jesus set aside
quiet times and sought places of solitude to
converse, sometimes all night, with His Father.
God desires that we, too, continually set aside
a quiet time and private place to talk with our
Father in prayer.
Question: What do 1 Chronicles 16:11,
Ephesians 6:18, and 1 Thessalonians 5:17 urge us
to do in prayer and why? What further reason
does Jesus give in Luke 18:1 and Matthew 26:41?
Answer: Prayer is
continuously looking to God and relying on His
strength. Scripture teaches that prayer is not
an option or an occasional event. We are to
"pray always" so that, with God's help, we are
enabled to "watch and pray" so we do "not lose
heart," or "enter into
temptation."
Question: In the parable
of the Pharisee and the Publican, recorded in
Luke 18:9-14, Jesus taught an important truth
about God-pleasing prayer. What is this truth?
See Romans 8:30-32 to understand what it really
means to be "justified" and "glorified" in God's
sight.
Answer: Our confidence in
prayer should never be based on who we think we
are or what we think we have achieved. We
confidently call upon God through prayer by
first knowing and confessing that we are
unworthy to be heard by Him. With a humble
heart, we cling to God's mercy, which "exalts,"
or lifts, our hearts as we call upon Him.
Scripture teaches that "God is the One who
justifies." God glorifies the humble. Through
this same Jesus who justified us by His death
and resurrection, we are assured that God will
hear us and will "freely give us all
things"
Question: What does James
4:3 teach us about the consequences of a wrong
motive in prayer? How does Jesus clarify that
text for us in Luke 12:22-31?
Answer: Prayers often go
unanswered because people pray "with wrong
motives," only desiring to satisfy their
pleasure-seeking appetites. Most people seek and
pray for the things of this world-food, clothing
and shelter, even though God "already knows we
need them." The abundant life God wants us to
have is much more than material goods. Like a
loving parent, God our heavenly Father knows our
needs and what is best for us. We should seek
and request from our Father spiritual
fulfillment.
God's Prayer Promises for
You
Question: According
to Matthew 21:22, what does Jesus promise to
give all believers through prayer? What act of
God's love assures us of His promises in Romans
8:31-32?
Answer: God promises to
give us all things. Because He gave His only
Son's life for us, we are assured that God will
keep His promise to give us all
things.
Question: What gifts does
the apostle Paul describe for us in Romans
8:26-28 and Philippians
4:19?
Answer: Our heavenly Father
understands that we are often too weak to pray
and do not know how to pray "as we ought." In
love, God gives us His Holy Spirit to help us in
prayer. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us, but
always "according to the will of God." Knowing
that the Spirit Himself helps us to pray, we
have the assurance that "all things will work
together for good to those who love God, to
those who are called according to His purpose."
God promises to "supply all [our]
need."
Question: In John
14:12-14, what did Jesus teach us to expect from
God through His gift of prayer?
Answer: Nothing will be
denied us in prayer if our desire is to do the
will of our heavenly
Father.
Question: What grand
promise is connected to prayer in Jesus' name as
revealed in John 16:24? According to John
14:25-27, through whom and how is that promise
fulfilled?
Answer: When we pray in
Jesus' name, we can be confident that God will
give us all things so that our joy "may be full"
This promise is fulfilled by the Holy Spirit who
"brings to remembrance all things that I (Jesus)
said to you" The peace that God provides is "not
as the world gives." For that reason, our hearts
need never "be troubled, neither let [them] be
afraid."
Question: When life's
trials and temptations weigh us down, what does
Jesus promise us in prayer, according to Matthew
11:28? What special help is promised to us in I
Corinthians
10:13?
Answer: Jesus invites us
to come to Him through prayer and promises that
He will give us "rest." God will not allow us to
be tempted beyond our endurance because He
promises to provide His heavenly help through
hard times of
temptation.
Question: Jesus prayed
over food, even publicly (see Mark 8:7 and
Matthew 14:19). According to 1 Timothy 4:4-5,
what promise is attached to food blessed by
prayer? Note in verse 4 the reason for prayer
over food; and, in verse 5, note what
accomplishes that blessing. Read also
Deuteronomy 8:10, John 6:11,
23.
Answer: Jesus lovingly
gave us the example of always blessing our food
with prayer, even in public, because food
received with thanksgiving expressed by the Word
of God in prayer sanctifies (makes holy and
acceptable) our meals. Not to pray over our food
is to rob ourselves of that special blessing God
promises.
Live a Life of
Prayer!
Question: The early church
fervently believed the promises that Christ
taught about prayer. What do Acts 1:14,
2:42 12:1-5 and 21:5 teach you about the
prayer life of the early
church?
Answer: With one heart,
mind, and purpose, the early church continually
prayed, making their petitions known to God. The
church's prayer life was always inseparably
connected with the Word, as "they continued
steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine," in the
"fellowship" of faith, and in God's means of
grace in the "breaking of bread," the Lord's
Supper.
Question: Following the
prayer life example of the early church, for
what, whom, and how should we pray both in
public worship and in private prayer? Read
Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:6; 1 Thessalonians
5:17-18; 1 Timothy 2:1-2, 8; and James 5:13.
Also, read in Luke 6:28 what Jesus teaches about
praying, even for those who mistreat us.
Answer: With great joy,
thanksgiving, and expectation, the early church
offered up prayers to God, especially for fellow
believers, "the saints." According to "the will
of God in Christ" the early church "made known
their requests to God," "pray[ed] without
ceasing" and "in everything [gave] thanks."
Prayers were "made for all men," especially for
those in authority. In times of personal
suffering, church members were also urged to
pray.
Question: What wonderful
image is given us in Psalm 141:2 and Revelation
8:3 about how the prayers of the church, both
collectively and individually, are received at
God's throne of grace?
Answer:Under the Old
Testament covenant, incense from burnt offerings
rose to the heavens. The prayers now made by the
church, both collectively and individually,
under the New Testament covenant in Christ, are
offered up "as incense" to the very throne of
God's grace, "the golden altar," in
heaven.
Summary
God's promise-filled Word teaches us to
confidently come to our heavenly Father in
prayer-at all times and under all circumstances!
Through His Son Jesus Christ, our Intercessor,
High Priest, and Friend, God promises to hear
us, answer us, and help us. Even when we are
weak and lacking the right words, God the Holy
Spirit helps us to pray. Each day, read the Holy
Scriptures in prayer. God promises to supply us
with His heaven-sent gifts so that "our joy
might be made full."
Prayer
Heavenly Father; through
the blood of Your crucified Son, we have been
washed and reconciled to You. You have given us
Your Word as a lamp unto our feet and a light
for our path. By Your Holy Spirit, fill our
hearts with Your Word so that we may ask for all
things according to Your will.
In the
name of Jesus,
Amen
Audio
Bible
http://www.audiobible.com/bible/bible.html
1 Thessalonians 5:17
pray without ceasing,
God wants you to
come to Him through prayer. He not only invites
you to do so, but also promises to hear; bless,
and answer you as you respond to His invitation.
In Jesus Christ,
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