Praying

 

PRAYING MADE EASY

Once we are born again into the Kingdom of God, prayer should be a natural and continual thing.  As someone has said, it is a lot like breathing, and it truly is.  It was the writer on prayer, E. M. Bounds, who also said, “When faith ceases to pray it ceases to live.”  No doubt it is for this reason that the Bible exhorts us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17).

Since prayer is our lifeline to God we Christians need to learn as much about it as we can.  We not only need to learn about it but we need to practice it.  Let us consider some additional things about prayer. 

PRAYER IS CONVERSATION

Prayer is simply talking with God.  We can talk to God much as we would talk to another person.  It doesn’t matter how long or short our prayers are, but what matters is our sincerity.  It doesn’t matter where we pray, whether in the church, in the woods, or washing dishes in the kitchen.

Yet we know from everyday life that conversation is a rather intense matter. We cannot carry on a serious conversation with anyone without keeping our mind upon it.  We realize from this that sometimes our conversation with God suffers as our minds wander away.

Would we dare address a governor with the inattention that we sometimes address the Almighty God?  If we addressed any dignitary in such a way, we would be quickly ushered out of his presence. 

CHRIST’S TEACHING ON PRAYER

Since prayer is so critically important for us Christians, the Lord took great pains to teach his disciples to pray.  His greatest teaching on prayer was no doubt his giving the model prayer to the disciples (Matt. 6:9-13).  This little prayer, which can be uttered in a mere thirty seconds, seems to cover all the bases.  It first magnifies God, then it pleads for the Kingdom of God to come and God’s will to be done on earth.  Then it touches on our urgent human needs of physical sustenance, forgiveness, daily leadership and deliverance from evil.  It ends as it began, with praise to God.  It is a beautiful pattern for prayer.

The Lord gave many more teachings on prayer.  He taught us the great importance of believing when we pray.  In Mark 11:24 Jesus says: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  The Master also tells us that if our faith is as small as a tiny grain of mustard seed, we can move a mountain with our prayer, even with such a small amount of faith (Matt. 17:20).

There are some other items that need to be included in our prayers. We should be careful to forgive others as we pray.  Jesus says: “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mk. 11:25).  For sure, we cannot be forgiven if we are unwilling to forgive.

We must also remember to pray in Jesus’ name.  In John 14:13-14, Jesus says: “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

Along with Jesus’ instructions on how to pray he also gave some instructions on how not to pray.  We should not pray like the heathen with vain repetitions.  Jesus says: “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matt. 6:7-8).

In addition to this, we should not pray like the Pharisees prayed.  The Pharisees liked to pray standing on the street corners so all could see them and take note of their righteousness.  In Matthew 6:6, Jesus gives us some advice on this: “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Jesus didn’t just teach on prayer, but he prayed.  He prayed a lot. We see on several instances that Jesus arose in the early morning and prayed.  In Mark 1:35 we read: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” At least on one occasion Jesus prayed the whole night (Lk. 6:12).  Jesus prayed for other people and for his disciples.  In the end he prayed for God’s will to be done through him even if it cost his life. 

OTHER BIBLE TEACHING ON PRAYER

We see in the Bible that prayer may take many forms and include many elements.  Of course, we mentioned most of these elements in the Lord’s model prayer.  Prayer should contain praise, worship and adoration of God.  In Ephesians 1:3, Paul begins his prayer saying: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”  Along with our praise there should be thanksgiving.  In Colossians 1:3 Paul says: “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.”

Then, there may be requests to God for the things we need in our daily lives.  Jesus taught us to pray for our daily provisions.  There are many other things we need and we should ask for them.  However, we should remember to keep the idea of thanksgiving in mind as we ask.  In Philippians 4:6 we read: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” When we ask for things, we must remember the words of the Master in Luke 18:1-8. He instructs us to pray and not give up on our requests.

In addition to our requests for bread and other provisions it is sometimes necessary that we ask for physical healing.  If we do not get results on our personal prayers, it might be necessary that we involve others.  In James 5:14-15 we read: “Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.”

As we saw also in the model prayer there is the element of confession of our sins. We read in 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  God is a holy and sinless God and we cannot really approach him without confessing that we are not holy and without asking for his forgiveness.

There is another element of prayer that we should discuss and that is the matter of intercession for others.  In Exodus 32:12, the great leader Moses interceded for Israel after they had made the golden calf.  Moses said: “…Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people.”  God listened and Israel was spared.  The apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 2:1-2 also says: “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”       

Finally, there one last matter of intercession that we are prone to forget as we pray to God.  The Lord has commanded us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psa. 122:6).  This city is at the heart of the divine program for the earth and it is in dire need of our prayers.  In fact, in Isaiah 62:7 we are challenged to “…give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.” 

GOD HAS GIVEN US HELP IN OUR PRAYERS

God has given us a couple of excellent prayer helps.  He has put his Holy Spirit within the believer’s life and the Spirit helps us to pray.  In Romans 8:26-27 we read: “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” Since we have the Spirit of God within us we should be careful to pray as Ephesians 6:18 commands: “…pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests…”

We have one last and wonderful help in our prayers.  In Romans 8:34 we see that the Lord in heaven is praying for us: “…Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”  How blessed we are!  Let us remember to pray always and not give up.

– Jim Gerrish

Publication date, 2004.