The Practice of Prayer
1 Timothy 2
1. I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers,
intercessions, [and] giving of thanks, be made for all men;
I. Kinds of prayer
Did you know there are various kinds of prayer?
A. Petition (ask) . This is the most popular and most used
type of prayer. We make requests of God. And it is certainly fitting,
for God God has instructed us to ask of Him.
"...let your requests be made known unto God..."
Several things we need to remember about this type of prayer:
1. Ask in faith. Believe God will answer.
2. Abide in Him. Prayer rests on the condition of our
relationship to God.
3. Ask for the right reasons. Make sure you're not
just asking selfishly.
4. Ask according to God's will. He will not grant
requests that are contrary to His will.
B. Communion, Adoration, or Worship (seek). This is just being
in the Lord's presence, meditating on Him, listening to Him. It is the
highest form of prayer, because it seeks to receive nothing, but only
ot give. In this form of prayer, no promises are claimed, no lists are
presented, no conditions are sought - it is just a soul aspiring to
know God. It is a spiritual experience in which the temporal realities
of life fade, and competing thoughts are pushed aside in the presence
of the Almigthy God. This is what we were created for.
C. Intercession (knock). Intercession is spiritual warfare.
You put yourself on the front line of the battle and lay your life
down for others in prayer. It is intense work. youy agonize over needs
and concerns.
D. Thanksgiving. This rounds out the process of prayer. You
thank God for His blessings and answers and praise Him for His
greatness. You give Him credit for all He has done.
II. Corporate Prayer
A. Prayer partners. Where 2 or more are gathered in His name
two things are promised:
1. He will be there
2. He will answer their request.
It is good to have a prayer partner to encourage and
keep you praying.
B. Mas prayer. There is power in corporate prayer. A mass of
people praying together seems to boost our faith level and
encourage us to believe God.
It's not that God is impressed with numbers, or that the more
people you can get to petition God the more apt He will be to answer.
It's just that it helps us to maintain the level of faith needed to
receive. Faith is contagious.
III. Hindrances to prayer.
What are some of the things that will block up your answers to
prayer?
1. Wrong relationships
1 Peter 3
7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with [them] according to knowledge,
giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as
being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not
hindered.
8. Finally, [be ye] all of one mind, having compassion one of another,
love as brethren, [be] pitiful, [be] courteous:
9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but
contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that
ye should inherit a blessing.
12 For the eyes of the Lord [are] over the righteous, and his ears
[are open] unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord [is] against
them that do evil.
Your horizontal relationships affect you vertical reslationship.
2. Unforgiveness
Mark 11
25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any:
that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your
trespasses.
3. Disobedience
Deuteronomy 1
45 And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not
hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you.
4. Unconfessed sin
Psalms 66
18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear [me]:
5. Indifference
Proverbs 1
28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall
seek me early, but they shall not find me:
6. Neglect of mercy
Proverbs 21
13. Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall
cry himself, but shall not be heard.
7. Despising the law of God
Proverbs 28
9. He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer
[shall be] abomination.
8. Blood-guiltiness
Isaiah 1
15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from
you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are
full of blood.
9. Iniquity
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.
10. Stubborness
Zechariah 7
13 Therefore it is come to pass, [that] as he cried, and they would
not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:
11. Instability
James 1
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth
is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the
Lord.
8 A double minded man [is] unstable in all his ways.
12. Self-indulgence
James 4
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume
[it] upon your lusts.
13. Not in accord with God's will
2 Corinthians 12
8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart
from me.
9* And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my
strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I
rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest
upon me.
14. Price
Isaiah 16
6. We have heard of the pride of Moab; [he is] very proud: [even] of
his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: [but] his lies [shall]
not [be] so.
15. Bearing God's name in vain
Jeremiah 7
9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and
burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my
name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?
16. Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor
prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear
thee.
16. Insincerity
IV. God's promises concerning prayer
A. James 5:16 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous
man availeth much.
We are made righteous by His touch in our lives. Christ is our
righteousness.
B. Ephesians 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that
worketh in us,
God's ability goes far beyond our needs.
C. Jeremiah 33:3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and
shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Nothing could be clearer. God promises to answer prayer.
This page hosted by 
Get your own Free Home Page