Lesson 19 - How to Pray
I. Why Pray? Prayer is not an option, not a luxury- it is a necessity. How else can we wage war in the heavenlies? How else can we use the spiritual weapons at our disposal? Prayer is the key to the Christian life. If Christianity is a relationship "(rather than a philosophy), we must have communication with the other party in the relationship. There are many philosophies in the world. There is only one God- Christianity is a living relationship with him. Prayer is communication. We must pray. Through prayer we: 1. exercise dominion over Satan 2. rescue souls from hell- for God has placed in our hands the power and responsibility to win this world. 3. enforce heaven's decisions on the earth, "God will do nothing, except by prayer" (Eze 22:30-31; Eph 1:22-2:1-6; Lk 10:18-19; Js 5:13-18) 4. become more like God- for prayer is time spent with God. Without prayer, we have only our human resources to work with. 5. tap the unlimited resources of God at our disposal. Fellowship with God is more vital than fellowship with man. Prayer can: transform men- Moses deliver loved ones- Abe & Lot holdback God's judgment- Moses & Israel, Abe & Lot part the waters- Red Sea deliver God's people- Joshua bring revival- Elijah open prison doors- Peter & Paul The testimony of those whose lives have been effective for God bears witness to the importance of prayer: Martin Luther - initiator of the Protestant Reformation- "Prayer is the most important thing in my life. If I should neglect prayer for a single day, I should lose a great deal of the fire of faith." John Knox - leader of the Reformation in Scotland- John Knox could plead, "O God, give me Scotland, or I die". God gave him Scotland, and his fame as an intercessor was so marked that "Bloody Mary" (Queen of Scotland) confessed that she feared the prayers of John Knox more than an army of soldiers. John Wesley - leader of the Methodist Revival in England- "I have so much to do that I must spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it." George Mueller - a great man of faith who is estimated to have "prayed in" 4 million dollars during his lifetime to support orphans- "When once I am persuaded that a thing is right, I go on praying for it till the end comes. I never give up! Thousands of souls have been saved in answer to my prayers...the great point is never to give up until the answer comes...the great fault of the children of God is, they do not continue in prayer; they do not go on praying; they do not persevere. If they desire anything for God's glory, they should pray until they get it." R.A. Torrey - author of "The Power of Prayer"- "Prayer can do anything that God can do, and God can do anything, prayer is omnipotent." Billy Graham - "A prayerless Christian is a powerless Christian" John Wesley & John Knox changed the course of nations and brought revival. Charles Finney saw whole towns saved - bars went out of business, stolen goods were returned. All of God's mighty men throughout history have been men of great prayer. II. What is Prayer?- Communication (conversing with God) Types of prayer: A. Petition - asking "Ye have not because ye ask not" You must ask for forgiveness, ask for salvation, ask for Holy Spirit Baptism- everything we get from God comes by asking in prayer. We must: 1. ask in faith - Matt. 21:22 2. abide in Christ - Jn 15:7 3. have proper motivation - James 4:3 4. ask according to His will - 1 Jn 5:14-15 (Bible gives His will- pray Biblically) 5. be obedient - Psalm 6. be persistent - Luke 18:1-6 7. be specific B. Devotion - communion with God/seeking, Confession, deep fellowship with God- just loving and worshipping Him. Listen to God- learn from Him- don't just ask. C. Intercession - knocking. We partake of His suffering- our soul goes into anguish over the needs of others. God has chosen to include us in on getting His will done- we are partakers with Him. Through intercession we overcome Satan, move men's hearts, breakdown walls of resistance, overcome obstacles. Intercession is hard- it costs. We will struggle against spiritual opposition. We must spend much time and energy- Intercession is when the battle is won- our service which follows this type of prayer will be fruitful. III. How to Pray - Prayer must become a way of life for us. There is no better way to spend your time than with God. We must have private prayer, family prayer, group prayer, and planned prayer meetings- (planned warfare.) We need fasting and prayer. We must learn to pray. A. The primary thing in prayer is sincerity. You can study the how to's, the conditions, and everything else but prayer without feeling is only words. Prayer must be a thing of the heart. Just talk to God, honestly, respectfully, but like a friend and father- no formal language necessary. Only a broken heart can truly pray. Don't bother God with vain repetitions, empty words, cold heartless prayers. Don't pray because you're supposed to- don't worry about things you don't care about. God answers the desperate pleading of our hearts. "He the sows in tears, shall reap with rejoicing" B. The second thing is to be consistent. A prayer every once in awhile will not do. We must start our day with prayer and pray over everything we do, every decision we make. Make a habit of prayer. C. Never pray in a hurry - You can say short prayers (God cares more about your attitude than your length of prayer), but don't make prayer a rushed thing. You must wait upon God. D. A pattern of prayer: The Lord's prayer praise- seeking His will- requests- repentance & forgiveness- guidance- protection- praise- Make a list - requests, other people, authorities, ministries. Use a pattern - Sunday for salvation Monday for missions Tuesday for friends Wednesday for family Thursday - etc. My pattern - Bible reading- adoration- pray for church family - specific requests (healing, salvation, etc)- church visitors- missionaries- thanksgiving- listening. Change your pattern if you are bored. E. Conditions for Effective Prayer 1. Contrition 2 Chronicles 7:14 ; Isaiah 58:9 2. Whole-heartedness Jeremiah 29:13 3. Faith Mark 11:24 ; Matthew 21:22 4. Righteousness James 5:16 ; 1 Peter 3:12 5. Obedience 1 John 3:22 6. He must hear it 1 John 5:14-15; Job 34:28; Psalms 4:3; 1 Samuel 7:9; Psalms 18:6; 34:17; Proverbs 15:29; Micah 7:7 7. Agreement Matthew 18:19 8. In secret Matthew 6:6 9. Sincerity Matthew 6:7-8 10. In Jesus’ Name John 16:26 11. Constant 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Acts 2:42; 6:4; 12:5 12. Cleanness (Purity) Psalms 17:1 ; 66:18 13. Patience Hebrews 2:1-3 14. Importunity (persistence) Lamentations 3:49-50 ; Luke 11:5-13 ; Romans 12:12 15. Take authority over distraction Acts 16:16-18 16. Fervency Romans 15:30 ; James 5:16 17. Perseverance Ephesians 6:18 18. All prayer (various kinds) Ephesians 6:18 19. In the Spirit Ephesians 6:18 20. Expectancy Colossians 4:2 21. Giving thanks Colossians 4:2 ; Phil. 4:6 22. Godly fear Hebrews 5:7 23. Right marital relationship 1 Peter 3:7 24. Watchfulness & sobriety 1 Peter 4:7 25. Courage & commitment Daniel 6:11 26. Soul-searching & confession Joshua 7:6-13 ; Psalms 139:23-24 27. Abiding John 15:7 F. Reasons for Unanswered prayer 1. Disobedience Deuteronomy 1:45; 1 Samuel 14:27; 28:6 2. Unconfessed sin Psalms 66:18; Joshua 7:6-13 3. Indifference Proverbs 1:28 4. Neglect of Mercy Proverbs 21:13 5. Despising the law Proverbs 28:9 6. Blood-guiltiness Isaiah 1:15 7. Iniquity Isaiah 59:2-3; Micah 3:4 8. Stubbornness Zechariah 7:13 9. Instability James 1:6-8 10. Self-indulgence James 4:3 11. Not in accord with the Exodus 33:20; 3:26; Divine Will 2 Samuel 12:16; Ezekiel 20:3; 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 12. Pride Isaiah 16:6 13. Bearing God’s name in vain Jeremiah 7:9-10, 16 14. Insincerity Mark 12:4 15. Wrong relationships 1 Peter 3:7-12 16. Unforgiveness Mark 11:25
Study Guide For "What The Bible Is All About"
by Henrietta Mears
Chapter 19 - Understanding Jeremiah and Lamentations
1. What did God tell Jeremiah not to be afraid of? ________________ 2. What reasons did Jeremiah give for not accepting the call? _______ , __________, and _____________. 3. The book of Jeremiah is not in __________________ order. 4. What are some of the symbols (object lessons) Jeremiah uses in teaching the people? ___________, _____________, _____________, _____________, _____________, ___________, _____________, _____________, _____________, _____________. 5. Christ is pictured as - ________________, ________________, ________________, ________________, ________________, ________________,________________. 1. What are the three great elements of Jeremiah’s life? ___________, ______________________, and ___________________________. 7. What did the false prophets tell the king? _____________________ 8. When did God ordain Jeremiah to be a prophet? ________________ 9. A prophet is simply God’s ________________ delivering God’s ________________. 10. What did God do so Jeremiah could not complain of inability to speak? _____________________________________. 11. Jeremiah was only to go to ____________________________ and to say only __________________________________. 12. Jeremiah had to choose between ___________________ and ___________________. 13. God’s Word shows its power in two ways - ______________ and _______________. 14. Why did Jeremiah have to move to Jerusalem? ________________ 15. Who were Jeremiah’s chief enemies? ________________________ 16. If we live godly lives, we will suffer _______________________. 17. Jeremiah was the first prophet to mention ___________________. 18. Jeremiah told the people that the Temple would be _____________ and Jerusalem would become a __________________. 19. Why did they put Jeremiah in a dungeon? ____________________ 20. Jeremiah’s was a ________________ battle. 21. Why did Jeremiah incur the displeasure of the prophets in Babylon? __________________________________________________________. 22. Jeremiah urged Judah to ______________________________. 23. What four ‘words’ trace Israel’s history? __________, __________, ____________, and __________________. 24. ____________, ______________, and ______________ were Jeremiah’s rewards. 25. The message of the book deals with the certainty of God’s ________, yet the ________________ and ______________ of his love. 26. Jeremiah is concerned with ___________________. 27. Lamentations consists of what? ______________________________