Prayer

“Pray without ceasing” ~ 1 Thess 5:17

Intro:

How blessed are we to have access to talk to the Almighty God Himself, Creator of the universe. Let us not take it for granted or waste it, but rather, take time each day to talk to God through prayer & spend quality alone time with Him.

Deut 4:7 “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the Lord our God whenever we call on Him?”

•We always have access to the Lord in prayer. No matter where we are or what time it is.

Importance of Prayer:

Eph 6:17-18 “& take The Helmet Of Salvation, & the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer & petition pray at all times in the Spirit, & with this in view, be on alert with all perseverance & petition for all the saints”

•Reminder that the battle is spiritual & must be fought in God’s strength, depending on the word & on God through prayer.

How to Pray: Matt 6:6-13

1. Go into your inner room, close the door, & pray to God in secret.

2. Do not use meaningless repetition, less words are better, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

3. Pray in this way:

‘Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. & forgive us our debts, as we also have forgive our debtors. & do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom & the power & the glory forever. Amen.’

Preparation for Prayer:

Is 1:15-16 “So when you spread out your hands in prayer I will hide My eyes from you; yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil”

•‘Wash yourselves’ Ask for forgiveness for all your sins.

•Once all evil & sin is removed from you, you must stop all sinning, & not let any dirt back on you.

•If you slip or fall you must ask for forgiveness instantly so that God can pick you up & dust you off so the dirt won’t stick & build up on you. Then ask for help from God to stand strong so you won’t fall in the same area again.

Parable of Prayer:

Luke 18:1 “Now Jesus was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray & not to lose heart.”

Luke 18:2-8 “In a city there was a judge who didn’t fear God or respect man. There was a widow in that city, & she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’” & the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day & night, & will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son Of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

•If an unworthy judge who feels no constraint of right or wrong is compelled by persistence to deal justly with a helpless individual, how much more will God answer prayer!

•God will not delay His support of the chosen ones when they are right.

•‘Will He find faith?’ Meaning faith that perseveres in prayer & loyalty.

•The ‘Widow’ was helpless & vulnerable, but she never gave up & her own persistence was in her favor.

•He also references the time of His second coming, a period of spiritual decline & persecution is assumed, a time that will require perseverance such as the widow demonstrated.

Jesus Tells Us To Pray:

Matt 5:44 (Jesus spoke) “But I say to you, love your enemies & pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil & the good, & sends rain on the righteous & the unrighteous”

•Prayer is one of the practical ways love expresses itself & we are called to love sinners, love our enemies, love ALL.

•Not hang around, not join in their activities, or put ourselves in any position for them to rub off on us!

•Only to love them. To pray for them.

•SideNote: I also LOVE how He shows ownership over His creations. He says, “He causes His sun to rise”. His sun! Can you imagine the great power & almightiness of creating the entire universe: the solar systems, every single star & planet, the whole earth & all the humans, animals, & wonderful creations inside of it. Being able to claim it & own it. Can you imagine being able to say, “yeah that’s MY sun I make rise each day” “yeah that’s MY moon I make rise each night” Wow!!! This amazes me!! So in awe of our God!

Mark 11:24 (Jesus spoke) “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray & ask, believe that you have received them, & they will be granted to you.”

•All things that are good for you according to God’s Word & His Will.

Luke 19:46 (Jesus spoke) “It is written, ‘& MY HOUSE SHALL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER’, but you have made it a robbers den.”

•Our hearts are the House of God.

•When we accept Jesus into our lives & into our hearts we become His house because He lives in us. Our heart & body is His holy temple.

•We should be full of prayer & purity for we are a holy temple.

Jesus Prays:

Mark 14:32 “ The came to a place named Gethsemane; & He said to His disciples, ‘Sit here until I have prayed.’”

•If the Son Of God, Jesus Christ, the one who died on a cross & rose again to pay the debt of our sins still knows He needs to pray & talk to God what gives us the right to think we don’t have to??? What gives us the right to think we are too good to talk to God??

•Jesus prayed & we need to pray also.

•Jesus was sent not only to die for our sins, but to be a perfect human & to lead us by example by showing us how we all should be living our lives, how we should be seeking God’s help through prayer & trying with all our might to be perfect like Christ.

Matt 14:23 “After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; & when it was evening, He was there alone.”

•Jesus had His time in public helping others, healing them, feeding them, & doing good.

•He also had His time alone in private to talk to God & deal with everything He needed to deal with.

•As christians we need to spend time doing both of these things.

Luke 22:32 (Jesus spoke) “but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; & you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

•To know that Jesus prays specifically for me, undeserving ME! It makes me feel so special, honored, blessed, grateful, appreciative, & just so so so thankful!

•Jesus prays for me, a sinner, just as I should pray for others, even sinners, the lost, & our enemies.

•He wants us to first focus on ourselves, yes you heard me right, God is ok with us being a little selfish at times because He wants us to be strong in our faith so that we can be able to use our strength to help others come to Him.

•Facing the unbelieving & ungodly is a battle. We can not walk into battle if we aren’t prepared & haven’t been trained properly. We need to know God’s Word, have His help, His strength, His guidance, His confidence, & His love.

•Like I said at the beginning, this is a spiritual battle that can only be fought with God’s strength, depending on His word, & with prayer.

Luke 6:12 “It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, & He spent the whole night in prayer to God.”

•Jesus spent the entire night in prayer discussing & getting guidance from God before choosing His 12 disciples.

•That was a very important decision He had to make & He didn’t take it lightly.

•When we have important life decisions to make we need to be alone, in a private, quiet place, on our hands & knees praying to God for guidance for as long as it takes until we get clarity.

Believe in Prayer:

John 15:7 (Jesus spoke) “If you abide in Me, & My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, & it will be done for you.”

•Its impossible to pray correctly without knowing & believing the teachings of Christ.

Matt 21:22 (Jesus spoke) “& all these things you ask in prayer believing, you will receive.”

Phil 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer & supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Pray for Others:

James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, & pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

•Praying for others does help. It might not happen over night, but don’t give up & don’t be discouraged. Continue to pray for others as you would want others praying for you also.

Closing:

I want to finish this post with a verse to encourage us all, so I will leave you with this…

Jude 20 “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.”

Sources: The Bible, New American Standard Bible, By The Lockman Foundation, 1 Thess 5:17, Deut 4:7, Eph 6:17-18, Matt 6:6-13, Is 1:15-16, Matt 5:44, Mark 11:24, Luke 19:46, Mark 14:32, Matt 14:23, Luke 22:32, Luke 6:12, Luke 18:2-8, John 15:7, Matt 21:22, Phil 4:6, James 5:16, Jude 20.