PRAYER
What Is Prayer?
Prayer is our communication with God.
Philippians 4:4-7 – “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The
Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your
minds in Christ Jesus.”
-We are called to go to God the Father and cast our every need before Him. What an amazing truth that our needs and
requests can be made known to the God of the universe! And not only are our prayers made known to God, but they lead to
the unfathomable peace of God flooding into our hearts and minds as we learn to call out in faith to Him.
How Does Prayer Work?
Prayer is made possible through the person of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 4:14-16 – “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let
us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who
in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace,
that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
-As mentioned in the previous section we are called to go before the Father with our every need. The question becomes
how we as broken mankind can with confidence come before God the Father with our needs? The answer to that question is
found right here in Hebrews. We are able to come before God the Father through Jesus Christ. The verse above gives to
us a truly amazing truth in that Jesus is able to sympathize with our every weakness and need. Jesus was tempted in
every way that we are, yet never sinned. Jesus overcame what we could not, and took the penalty that we deserve in order
that we might have the opportunity to have a personal relationship with God. So, for those of us that have surrendered our
lives to Christ we have the wonderful privilege to go with confidence before the throne of God to find grace and help in our
times of need!
When Do I Pray?
In all circumstances.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus for you.”
-Many times people can read the verse above and become very intimidated by the saying “pray without ceasing.” This
intimidation comes as people may feel as if this means we have to verbally talk to God every moment of every single day.
Though this certainly would not be a bad thing, this is not what is sought to be communicated here. The point in praying
without ceasing is to always be in a spirit of prayer. This meaning as we go through our days we must seek to have our
hearts and minds set upon the Lord. This further means that no matter what the circumstances we are facing, and no
matter what our feelings are communicating to us we are to continually come before the Lord in faithful dependence upon
him. Prayer is not on an “optional” or “only as needed” basis, but rather we must see it as NECESSARY!
How Do I Pray?
Authentically.
Matthew 6:9-13 – “Pray then like this: “Our Father 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, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”’
-Knowing how to pray can certainly sometimes be very intimidating and difficult. Even the most mature of Christians will
express the difficulties in prayer that can be experienced. So do not feel hopeless if prayer is a struggle for you currently!
When it comes to prayer the biggest key is to not view it as a chore or a production, but rather a joy and a dependency.
Prayer becomes a joyful part of our days when we begin to see the beauty and privilege that we have in talking to God.
Prayer stops being seen as a production when we realize that Christ has already produced for us. When you talk to God lay
yourself before Him and be REAL! All of as we look to learn something like to have a model to go by, and when it comes to
prayer Jesus left us the perfect model of prayer in Matthew 6:5-13 which we will break down below:
Prayer Should Be Authentic: Within Matthew 6:5-9a Jesus makes clear that prayer is not meant for show. He mentioned
the hypocrites who liked to stand in the streets and pray that others may see them. Prayer is never about US, but it is to
always be about HIM. Prayer is not about being able to say big words. Prayer is not about impressing God. God is not
looking for impressive people, He is looking for the people that realize their need! Matthew 6:8 says, “…for your Father
knows what you need before you ask him.” We approach Him knowing that he absolutely knows our every need. We
approach God authentically when we see Him as the all-encompassing and all-powerful God that He truly is.
So, Pray Like This:
Matthew 6:9 – “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” – EXALT GOD
Matthew 6:10 – “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” – SEEK GOD’S WILL
Matthew 6:11 – “Give us this day our daily bread” – SEE GOD AS PROVIDER
Matthew 6:12 – “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” – SEEK FORGIVENESS
Matthew 6:13 – “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” – SEEK DELIVERANCE FROM EVIL
When it gets down to it prayer must be seen as significant within our lives. We simply are not going to take part in
something that our hearts and minds do not find significance in. To begin to see prayer as a significant part of our lives we
must begin to grasp the significance of the Savior that makes it possible. We must dig deeper into the Word of God and
make it our pursuit to follow Jesus in every capacity of life and as we begin to do that we will see our desire to talk to God
begin to grow!
"If you want that splendid power in prayer, you must remain in loving, living, lasting, conscious, practical, abiding
union with the Lord Jesus Christ."
– C.H. Spurgeon