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Lord, Teach Us to Pray
1st Corinthians 11:11 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
In Paul's letter to the Corinthian congregation, he tells the brethren to follow him as he followed Christ. We too are to follow the example of Jesus, seeking to imitate Him in our daily walk, just as He walked.
1st John 2:6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
Christ set a pattern for us to follow and one of the ways we are to imitate Him, is to be a person of prayer as He was a person of prayer.
Jesus became aware of His need to be about His Father's business at an early age. We read the account in Luke, that when Joseph and Mary went to Jerusalem to keep the Passover, they also took Jesus who was twelve years old. When they had finished observing the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, they left to return to Nazareth, but one day into their journey, they realized that their young son was missing from their company of family and friends. When they went back to Jerusalem, they found Him in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking questions, having theological discussions. His parents had been looking for Him anxiously for three days, and when they saw Him there with the teachers, Mary said to Him: "why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing." (Luke 2:28)
He then told her: "How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" (Luke 2:29)
Even at a young age, Jesus knew that God had commissioned Him to accomplish certain tasks on earth and that He had a unique relationship with the Father.
After that, they all returned to Nazareth. Verse 50 says that Mary and Joseph did not understand the statement that He spoke to them (verse 51). Jesus returned with them and was obedient to them, and He continued to grow in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man (verse 52).
Jesus Desire to do His Father's Will
Jesus told the disciples years after this incident, to pray, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10)
Luke 22:42 records Jesus' words when praying in the garden before facing death on the cross: "Nevertheless not my will but thine, be done."
In John 5:30 Jesus said, "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
From an early age, Jesus had set His mind that His life would be to do the Father's will, and that meant to be about His Father's plan of calling and teaching men and women, placing them into His Ekklesia and training them to qualify to rule as kings and priests in the Kingdom that was to come. (John 17:24)
1st Peter 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
The plan by which Elohim would save sinful man was prepared before the world began. And it was a joint venture; they had been a cooperative team from eternity and they continued to work as a team even after Jesus had given up His Godhood for a time, to fulfill His mission on earth. (John 1:1)
To be about His Father's business, beginning as a child and then throughout His life, Jesus would have had to have been in constant communication with His Father, seeking revelation of His will, to find out His instructions, to ask for the wisdom to know what was required of Him, and to receive the strength from His Father to carry out His will.
Jesus Served as a Powerful Example of being a Man of Prayer
Later, as Jesus began His ministry at thirty years of age, He went to John to be baptized by him and as He was being baptized, the Bible says that as He was praying, that the heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him. It is difficult to imagine what that must have looked like, but Scripture says this is what happened and must have been an amazing thing for John to have witnessed.
Luke 3:21 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, 22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. 23 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age....
All during His life, and until the very end of His life here on earth, Jesus was a man of prayer. He began His ministry praying and He ended it praying, as He died on the cross.
Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
During His life while living as a man here on earth, His habit was to rise early in the morning to pray; sometimes He withdrew to the wilderness to pray, and sometimes, He went up into a mountain apart to pray.
Mark 1:35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
Luke 5:15 But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities. 16 And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
Matthew 14:22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. 23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, He was there alone.
He prayed during the day over meals in public (Matthew 15:36), and He prayed before the people at the grave site of His friend, Lazarus who had died.
(John 11:41-42).
The Disciples Want Jesus to Teach Them How to Pray
One day, when the disciples noticed the Lord's habit of praying, of how Jesus would depart to be alone sometimes to pray; one of them came to Him and asked Him: "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." (Which indicates that John, the Baptist was also a man of prayer.)
Luke 1:11 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."
If we are to live as Jesus lived, and to have the mind which is also in Christ, we, too, should pray to our Heavenly Father as His Son did, and to to imitate Him in regard to being persons of prayer.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
When Jesus came into Jerusalem for the last time a few days before the Passover, He entered the temple and saw how they that were buying and selling in the temple and unfairly exchanging the monies of the travelers who came to keep the Passover. He became angry and drove them out. And this is what He said to them:
Mark 11:17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves
With this statement, He was quoting Isaiah 56:7, where it also tells us that God's house would be called a "house of prayer".
Isaiah 56:7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.
Many Scriptures teach that the called out ones make up the House of God and that we are God's Spiritual Temple.
1st Peter 2:4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, 5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 3:6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
1st Corinthians 3:9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
1st Timothy 3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
1st Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
And if we are God's spiritual house, how much more that His people, too, would be called a spiritual "house of prayer". John tells us in Revelation 8:3, that an angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer and much incense was given to him so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand."
This verse indicates that the prayers of the saints (who are spiritually the house of God) go up before God and are on the golden altar which is before His throne.
Why Does Jesus Want us to Pray?
It is true that God wants to save us from the penalty of death through repentance and applying the sacrifice of Jesus death to our sins so that we are delivered from eternal death, but is that all? Is there more?
Colossians 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
God has not called us just to be saved from our sins! If that were the case, He could command us be baptized after repentance and then allow us to go to sleep until the resurrection and be spared all the hardship and enduring in this present evil world.
God, the Father calls us to become partners with Him in doing a Work and God's Work is perfecting holiness in our lives and in our very being. He is calling out certain ones at this time to repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Spirit and then to go on to perfection so that they can be His First fruits. He leaves us here on earth and we are to live out the remainder of our lives, with the challenge of overcoming and growing, with a certain goal in mind.
John 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
And He tells us in 1st Peter that we must become holy as He is holy.
1st Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Our Father and His Son are holy; therefore if we are to be in their spiritual image, we too must be holy. And one of the ways we attain holiness is through prayer! Calling on the Father is what prayer is all about and how we seek to be holy.
1st Peter 1:17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
God's disciples are commanded to preach the Gospel and to teach, as part of His work, (Matthew 28:19-20) but in John 6, Jesus tells us that our first work is to believe in Him.
John 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
To believe on Him is to believe His whole word and to internalize it into our minds and then apply it in every aspect of our lives; and if He tells us to become holy as He is holy, that should be our goal in life. That is our work and is to become our top priority (hungering and thirsting for it) from the time we repent, until the end of our lives, if we are to become like the Father and His Son.
"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:" (Romans 3:10) and that from our earliest moments, we are tuned into Satan's broadcast. "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:" (Ephesians 2:2) Our hearts quickly learn how to be "deceitful and desperately wicked." (Jeremiah 17:9)
Carnal humans are programmed to be the opposite of holy, especially in these modern end time days, when the most unholy of things are presented as normal and acceptable.
Part of the sorrowing over our sins and over our sinful nature is to realize how unholy we are and then to begin the work of seeking out how we can become holy.
Just being born, and then from living in this present evil world, we take on Satan's nature from being in fellowship with him in various ways. We have been living in communication with him and with those who are under his influence, and we do not even realize that we are fellowshipping with him until God reveals it to us.
Satan implants that nature in us from a young age, and that is why we need to repent and become converted; it is God's purpose that we shatter the influence that the devil has had on us, and to allow Him to transform our minds from all of Satan's carnal attributes gained from that influence and to become holy as God is holy.
In Hebrews 12:14, Paul writes, "Follow [pursue] peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:"
We are to pursue peace and holiness. We are to pursue peace because we have not been residing in a peaceful world; there is no peace in this world and it is because this communication is being transmitted to humans from Satan and because we have been tuned in to his broadcast and living under his influence all of our lives. The people of the world are reflecting his nature, his pride and his spirit of competition; and the earth is filled with violence, strife, and competition because of it. So there is no real peace anywhere in this world.
We have to seek peace and pursue after it, and we have to pursue after holiness; for "without which no man shall see the Lord:" (Hebrews 12:14). This is a dire warning for us who have been called to live as true Christians. The work of God is to produce holiness in His children, and without that holiness, "no man will see the Lord". The result of pursuing holiness will be to have peace in our lives; as they go hand in hand.
Proverbs 13:20 He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
We become like our friends, family members, and brethren when we are around them; it is just a natural consequence. If we want to become wise, then we must seek out wise men to walk with, spend time with; and who is more wise than God to walk with and to spend time with? Likewise, if we want to become holy there is no one more holy than God to fellowship with and let Him rub His holiness off onto us.
Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
This speaks of a Biblical principle that teaches that we tend to be shaped by those we associate with and hang out with just as this Proverb tells us. We sharpen each other for good or for bad. In 1st Corinthians Paul also talks about this natural law.
1st Corinthians 15:33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
Fellowshipping with those who do evil and are breaking God's law, will most likely corrupt or subvert good manners, morals and character. We tend to take on the moral character of the group of people with whom we associate, and they will pull us down to their corrupt level. We are to avoid such influence and choose out godly friendships; those who will influence us for the better, and what better companion could we have than God!
If we are spending time with God in prayer, being in fellowship with Him will shape us, influence us. As we communicate with Him, we not only talk to Him in prayer, we also listen to what He has to say to us from His word. Have you ever been praying, and then a Scripture or a Bible precept comes to mind? It could be that God is bringing something to remembrance that could be a response to what you are praying about; it may be that God is speaking to us and showing us from His Word the solution to a problem, or giving us help in making a decision that we have been seeking direction for.
As we spend time with Him, we will automatically pick up His character traits and His holiness will become ingrained within our lives as we think about the things that He thinks about, we will apply those things and we will start behaving as He behaves, and we will speak of the things that He speaks of.
When we are constantly around a companion, we tend to pick up his habits, mannerisms, way of thinking and acting. It's said that married people who have been married a long time, start to act the same, they have similar speech habits and similar mannerisms. But one of the most prominent feature, is that they come to think alike and can even finish each others sentences, showing that their minds have become one, and they instinctively know what the other is thinking. Our minds, too, become one with God's mind, as we pray and stay in constant communication with Him, just like Jesus did when He was living on this earth.
God says in Isaiah 55:8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways..." but in Philippians 2:5 Paul tells us: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus".
As we get to know God more and more by spending time with Him, letting Him rub off on us, we can eventually come to the place that we do start to have His thoughts; and His ways do become our ways. Our prayer life takes us on a journey of becoming holy as we walk with Him and share all our hopes, dreams, problems, questions, petitions, giving of thanks and praises in our daily communication with Him, letting Him implant His divine nature in us, in lieu of letting Satan corrupt us with his evil communication and influence.
And to think that this all became possible, when on Passover day, the moment Christ died, the veil of the temple was ripped in two, symbolic of the fact that those who would be called to become His children, could now have access to the Father.
In Hebrews 4, it says that when we pray to the Father, we are in the very presence of God and we are invited to boldly come to the throne of grace, that we may find mercy, grace and strength and everything that we need to live as He would have us live. As we come into His presence and as we are seeking out His fellowship, we choose to develop a relationship with Him, and we will be in the process of becoming perfect [complete] as He is perfect [complete].
Hebrews 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
When we pray, we come into in His presence and He has the opportunity to influence us, sharpen us as iron sharpens iron. We take on more of His Spirit and we grow in the fruit of His Spirit and being with God affects us for our good. Prayer is instrumental in this development. It plays a major part in our taking on the mind of God and in becoming holy as He is holy.
"And if you call on the Father...." Calling on the Father is about talking to Him. It is important to have communication with our Father and it should be set as a high priority in our life in order to becoming transformed from the glory of man to the glory of God. Prayer is the tool that helps us to achieve this. God's purpose of developing us into His image requires a great deal of time spent talking and fellowshipping with Him.
Why Pray if God already knows what we need and He knows the end from the beginning and already has things planned out?
Matthew 6:8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Isaiah 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
When my children were young, I use to make homemade bread for our family every week. One day I had making bread on my to-do list and I had determined to set a part of that day to make our bread for the week. In my mind it was going to happen and I had a couple of hours to get it done. My daughter was about four or five at the time, and she asked me if she could "help" me make the bread.
I thought, you know, it would be so much easier if I just went ahead and did it myself, maybe let her watch; but I decided, no, she wanted to help me and it was an opportunity to teach her how to make bread and what it was like to work at making something to contribute to the family; also it would instill in her a sense of teamwork, of having a part in making the bread we would be eating at mealtime.
Yes, it got messy letting her help; I let her mix the flour, water and the yeast and and then gave her some dough to knead into her own loaf; she had a lot of fun making bread with her mama. We also shared some good quality time as we were working together. I even took a picture of her with her apron and with flour all over her hair and face (and the kitchen). I could have denied her the chance to help that day, and just hurried to get it done without all the mess and extra work on my part, but allowing her be part of the bread making process provided a valuable object lesson for her that she would remember the rest of her life.
It is similar with God; He already knows what is going to happen, and what we need before we ask, so why does He need us to tell Him anything or to try to "help" things to get accomplished? It's because He is building/growing a family and He wants our enthusiastic, zealous participation and He wants us to have the opportunity to learn valuable things while living and working for Him, praying and reflecting on what He is doing, and what He is about to do, and how we can have a part in what He is doing.
If we are developing the mind of God, then we, too, will need to pray for the same things as He wants, we will be praying for His will to be done on earth, we will become more and more invested in the "[God's] Family Business" just as Jesus was as a young boy and as He continued to be throughout His life time here on earth, even unto death on the cross.
We will want to be on God's team by praying for the accomplishment of God's plan to be carried out here on earth, and for the things that need to happen to further the redemption process that is taking place with all mankind, including those who are not being called just yet.
We will develop a heart to feel how He feels, and in essence, will be learning God's compassion and love for others. He wants us to think as He thinks, to love humans as He loves them, (with God's definition of outgoing godly love, desiring the highest good for them ultimately) and we do that by talking to Him everyday about the concerns we have for ourselves, our families, our brethren and for the future redemption of all of mankind.
God is not willing that any should perish, and we too need to have the same mindset as our Father and His Son in that regard; and we become plugged into the Father's and the Son's hopes and dreams for the future family of God; just like a husband and wife that keep in close communication, talking about all of their hopes and goals that they have for their family and for the well being and nurturing of their children, as they are rearing them to become godly adults some day.
If a husband and wife do not communicate, or they have mis-communication, they will drift apart and may end up divorcing. We all know that if we do not talk to our family members on a regular basis, that they eventually drift away, until in some families; aunts, uncles, cousins and even the siblings don't even call each other and may not even know where they live anymore. Communicating with each other has been neglected, the family members are no longer a part of each other's lives, and they all lose track of everything that has been happening in their lives. And it can be the same with friends and brethren.
God tells us to communicate with Him and with each other because He knows how important it is to stay in contact and to help each other with our words of encouragement and admonishment.
Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another [by communicating]:
and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
1st Timothy 6:18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
God desires and yearns for us to talk to Him; there are many places in Scriptures that admonish us to do so.
1st Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; [be not anxious] but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Colossians 4:2 Continue [be steadfast] in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;
Just those verses alone, tell us that we are to pray without ceasing and we are to pray about everything!
Most of the Psalms are prayers that have been recorded for us to help us to know how to pray and what to pray for. David, being a man after God's own heart, was very passionate and expressive in his prayer life, and many of his prayers are written for our example of how to be a man (or woman) of prayer.
As you read through the Bible you will see that all the servants of God made prayer a top priority in their lives, and prayer came naturally to them as God was such a big part of their lives.
To have the privilege to be able to talk to the Ruler and Sustainer of the universe, the stars, galaxies, planets and all of creation, who is sustaining all of these things and yet has the time to listen to our prayers to Him and to hear about our deepest thoughts and yearnings, our needs, our thanksgiving, praises, our hopes and dreams for ourselves, our loved ones, and for the future kingdom of God; is awe inspiring! And He wants to hear us expressing love, concern and consideration toward others by petitioning Him for their urgent needs as well.
He desires to hear from His own dear children that He loves so much; from those for whom He was willing to give His Son up to the death of crucifixion so that they could become His children. We, as human parents, love it when our children call us, wanting to share with us what they are thinking, feeling, doing; wanting our advice and telling us that we are good parents and that they love us. God is our Father in Heaven, and along with His Son, both of them, together, want to hear all about what is in our hearts.
God does have qualifiers in giving us the privilege of prayer and in talking to Him. He says that He will hear our prayers if we are seeking Him and obeying His commandments; and we must be asking Him for things that are in line with His will and His purpose; according to His will in our lives and in the grand scheme of things that are according to His plan for the the future and for the ultimate good of the one we are praying for; or for the situation that we find ourselves in, and for the ultimate good of everyone involved in that situation.
1st John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
1st John 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
How Do We Pray?
We need look no further than to the Bible for instruction in how to pray, and to Jesus, our model; who knew how to pray effectively more than anyone else; also, we can read about the stories of all the great servants of God as recorded in the Bible, and look to their examples of how they prayed, and what they prayed for.
After teaching the disciples about the beatitudes in Matthew 5, Jesus went on to teach them about how to pray in the next chapter:
Matthew 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
In other places in the Bible, we are taught how to pray by various writers:
Pray without ceasing (1st Thessalonians 5:17)
To be continuous in prayer. (Acts 2:42, 1 Timothy 5:5, Colossians 4:12)
Pray according to God's will. (1st John 5:14)
Paul wrote to Timothy: That men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath of doubting. (1st Timothy 2:8)
We are to pray effectually and with fervency as Elijah did. (James 5:16-17)
Daniel prayed three times a day (Daniel 6:10-11); and David wrote that he praised God morning, noon and evening; in another verse he said that he praised Him seven times a day. (Psalm 55:17, Psalm 119:164)
The disciples prayed together on occasion. (Acts 4:23-31)
There is no correct or certain posture for prayer. In the Bible people prayed on their knees (1st Kings 8:54), bowing (Exodus 4:31), on their faces before God (2 Chronicles 20:18; Matthew 26:39), and standing(1 Kings 8:22). You may pray with your eyes opened or closed, quietly or out loud-however you are most comfortable and least distracted.
Some people like to set up a special place in their home (a room, a desk, a chair, or even a place to kneel) to pray during their devotional time where they can have peace and quiet, and that has a place for Bibles, concordance, writing materials, etc. Our children will take notice and see how we make special time for prayer and make it a daily habit.
I have found that writing out morning prayers each day in a journal helps me immensely, as it keeps my mind from drifting all over the place; it helps me to keep focused on what I am praying about and helps to keep my thoughts flowing in an organized fashion. This also helps to build faith as well; for when I read what I have written days, months or years later, I can see that God did answer the prayers, petitions, and questions that I prayed about written in the journals. Certain situations that were such a hard trial a while back, over time, are no longer even a part of my life, or have become resolved. I realize that those prayers were answered and can give God thanks, knowing that He did hear my prayers for those particular situations.
What Do We Pray For?
Again, we have plenty of instruction and examples from Scripture. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He told them to pray after this manner:
Matthew 6:9 .... Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
He gave this prayer as an outline for us to use in praying for certain things and we can fill these subject lines in with many fine details as we are thinking of the things that pertain to these topics.
Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
We are to pray for wisdom, strength, protection, deliverance from our enemies, healing and we are to pray interceding prayer for others and their afflictions; in short we are to pray about and for everything.
There are so many things that we are to pray for. For starters, we can read what David prayed for in the Psalms, what Daniel prayed for in Daniel 9:3-19, Jacob in Genesis 32:24-29, Paul prayed for his congregations in Ephesians 1:16-23, and in Colossians 1:9-14.
The subject of prayer makes for a wonderful Bible study and there are many, many Scriptures, verses, examples in the lives of the servants of God in the Bible that we can look up and read about.
When Jesus was with His disciples on that last Passover evening, He told them that they were His friends if they would do whatsoever He commanded them to do, and to keep His commandments (John 15:10-15) and that He would no longer call them servants, but would call them His friends, and said that He had made known to them all the things that He had received from his Father. Then in verse 16, He says: "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it you."
What a tremendous gift it is to be given this calling by the Father and to have the incredible opportunity to come to know His Son, Jesus, and that His Son would call us His friends. We come to know Him and to know His will by studying His Word and by praying to the Father.
After Jesus talked to the disciples about the important things that He wanted to impart that last night with them, He went on to pray for them and for all those who would come after them; those who would become His disciples in the future. Of all things that Jesus could have prayed for that night, this is what He prayed for His friends, including you and I.
John 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. 24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. 26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
These words were what Jesus prayed for His friends, what He was thinking of that night, and His passionate prayer was recorded for all those who would come after, those who would become His disciples after that night.
We, too, are His friends, if we do whatsoever He commands us. Friends love each other and friends talk to each other to get to know one another even more. He set the example for us in so many ways, and one of them was in how to pray, what to pray for, and exemplified for us on how to be men and women of prayer.
If you are one of God's called out ones, a person who has answered His call to believe in Him, to accept His Word and apply it to your life, to look to the Messiah for forgiveness of all your past sin, calling you to come out of this world and to sin no more; then our Father is calling you to spend precious time with Him in prayer on a daily basis!
We are granted the gift of having this access to our Heavenly Father, to be able to share in communication with the Great Almighty God, for the rest of our lives, right up unto death, just as Jesus did; and then after we are resurrected, we can communicate with Him throughout all eternity as His children. What an marvelous privilege we have. Prayer is a most precious gift!
Constance
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