Lesson 17

Prayer is talking with God.

God wants to build His kingdom on the earth through our prayer.

The prayer pattern in the Lord's Prayer

It is only after we have petitioned God to rule on this earth that we petition for our own personal needs (Matthew 6:11).
We must always pray for the government, the lost, the church, and others first before we pray for ourselves.

God wants us to pray everyday for our personal needs.
In this way, we will always be dependent on God and be humble before Him.
He wants us to live one day at a time, totally dependent on His daily supply.
God does not want us to pray only one day a week for the needs of the whole week.

Our daily bread includes all the necessities of life for the well-being of our spirit, soul and body.
It includes God's wisdom and revelation, power and strength, material provisions, health for our body and mind, etc.

"Give us today our DAILY BREAD."
(Matthew 6:11)

It is not right to take the CHILDREN'S BREAD and toss it to the dog.
(Matthew 15:26)

Sin separates us from our Father God.
It breaks our fellowship with Him.
He will not hear us if we have unconfessed sins in our lives.
Sin keeps God's blessings away from our lives.

Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,
     nor His ear too dull to hear.
But your INIQUITIES have separated you from your God;
     your SINS have hidden His face from you,
so that He will not hear.
(Isaiah 59:1-2)

If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law,
    even his prayers are DETESTABLE.
(Isaiah 59:1-2)

He who conceals his SIN does not prosper,
     but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
(Proverbs 28:13)

If I had cherished SIN in my heart,
     the Lord would not have listened.
(Psalm 66:18)

However, if we confess our sins, God will forgive us our sins (1 John 1:9).
Our fellowship with God will then be restored.
Our prayers will then become effective and powerful (James 5:16).

If we CONFESS OUR SINS, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
(1 John 1:9)

Therefore CONFESS YOUR SINS to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a RIGHTEOUS man is EFFECTIVE and POWERFUL.
(James 5:16)

Unforgiveness is a sin and we need to repent of it.
We must forgive all those who have ever hurt us, whether they are dead or living.
We must forgive others no matter what they have done to us.
If we do not forgive others, God will not forgive us, and our prayers are hindered.

Forgive us our debts,
     as we also HAVE FORGIVEN our debtors.
(Matthew 6:12)

For if you FORGIVE MEN when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you DO NOT FORGIVE MEN their sins, your Father will not forgive your sin.
(Matthew 6:14,15)

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, FORGIVE HIM, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
(Matthew 6:12)

God wants us to seek His specific guidance and direction each day.
In this way we will only what is pleasing in God's sight.
We will thus not fall into temptation, trouble or sin, and allow ourselves to be attacked by the devil.

And LEAD US not into temptation,
     but deliver us from the evil one.
(Matthew 6:13)

"Watch and pray so that you will not FALL INTO TEMPTATION."
(Matthew 26:41)

We are to seek God's protection over our lives everyday.
Ask God to cleanse you of your sins by the blood of Jesus, and in this way, closing all doors to the evil one.
Ask God to sanctify you and your loved ones by the blood of Jesus.
Ask God to protect you by the blood of the Jesus.
You will have victory over the devil through the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God (Exodus 12:12-13, 23; Hebrews 13:12; Revelation 12:11).

Submit yourselves, then, to God.
Resist the devil, and he will FLEE from you.
(James 4:7)

I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, and to OVERCOME all the power of the enemy; and nothing will harm you.
(Luke 10:19)

They overcome him
     by the BLOOD of the Lamb
     and by the word of their testimony.
(Revelation 12:11)

We must end all our prayers with thanksgiving, praise and worship.
Thanksgiving is an expression of our faith in God.

We give thanks and praise to God because we believe that:

We must continue to thank God for the answer after we have prayed.
Once we have prayed to God over a matter in faith, we are to begin and continue thanking God for His answer.
We continue to thank God irregardless of what we see around us (2 Corinthians 5:7).
We continue to thank God until and after we see the answer manifested.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, but prayer and petition, with THANKSGIVING, present your requests to God.
(Philippians 4:6)

"For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever."
(Matthew 6:13)

E.g. Just before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He thanked the Father for hearing His prayer.
He did not ask God a second time to raise Lazarus from the dead.

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I THANK YOU that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."
(Romans 4:19-20)

E.g. Abraham gave thanks to God for the child that God promised him, although he and his wife were very old. In the end, his child was born.

And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb.
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in the faith, GIVING GLORY to God.
(Romans 4:19,20)

Self-pity, fears, murmuring, complaining, grumbling, cursing, mourning and crying will negate and nullify our prayers.
These are all expressions of doubt, not faith.
Those who indulge in such habits and attitudes will never receive answers to their prayer.

Besides the 8 principles of prayer taught by our Lord Jesus in the Lord's Prayer, other important principles were also repeatedly taught by our Lord Himself.
Without applying these principles, our prayers will be ineffective.

These other principles are as follow:

The name of Jesus is the name that is above every other name.
The name of Jesus represents the authority of Jesus, the Son of God.
We have been authorized by Jesus to use his name whenever we come before God in prayer (John 16:23).
Jesus has given us the power of attorney to exercise power on His behalf on this earth.

Because we come before God in the name of Jesus, all our prayers that are in the will of God will be answered.

Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place.
     and gave Him the NAME that is above every name,
that at the NAME OF JESUS every knee should bow..
     in heaven and on earth and under the earth.
(Philippians 2:9)

In that day you will no longer ask me anything.
I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask IN MY NAME.
Until now you have not asked for anything IN MY NAME.
Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
(John 16:23-24)

In our prayer, we must be as specific as possible.
We must ask God in detail for what we want and begin to thank God for it.
In the natural, when we ask things of our earthly fathers, we have to specify in detail the things that we want.
In the same way, we must be specific when we ask of God.

E.g. In the parable of the man who boldly asked bread from his neighbor, Jesus indirectly taught His disciple to be specific in prayer (The man asked for three loaves of bread in the story).

"Friend, lend me three loaves of bread."
(Luke 11:5)

E.g. In the healing of a blind man at Jericho, Jesus wanted the man to specify what the man wanted from Him.

Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?"
"Lord, I want to see," He replied.
(Luke 18:40-41)

Whenever we pray, we must pray with faith in God.
We must believe in God's promises concerning His love and goodness to us and His willingness to answer our prayers whenever we pray.
In this way, we will soon see the manifestation of the answer to our prayer.

Jesus said: "Have FAITH in God...... Therefore I tell you, WHATEVER you ask for in prayer, believe that you HAVE RECEIVED it, and it will be yours."
(Mark 11:22,24)

And without FAITH it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
(Hebrews 11:6)

I tell you the truth, my Father will give you WHATEVER you ask IN MY NAME. Until now you have not asked fro anything IN MY NAME.
Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
(John 16:23-24)

We must never doubt God's promises whenever we pray and after we have prayed. If we doubt, our prayer will not be answered.

But when he asks, he must believe and NOT DOUBT, because he who DOUBTS is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a DOUBLE-MINDED man, unstable in all the does.
(James 1:6-8)

We must by faith begin to give thanks to God for the answer, after we have prayed.
We must believe that we have received whatever we asked for (Mark 11:24), and declare it with our mouth.

E.g. We must begin to say, after prayer for healing and for wisdom:
"I believe that by the wounds of Jesus, I am healed."
"My son has the wisdom of God; the mind of Christ."

God has the perfect timing, the perfect way, using the perfect situation to answer our prayer.
We must not and we cannot demand that God answer us at our own timing.
Because of this, we need perseverance and patience.

We do not want to become lazy, but to imitate those who through FAITH and PATIENCE inherit what has been promised.
(Hebrews 6:12)

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a women, born under law, that we might receive the full rights as sons.
(Galatians 4:4-5)

Under the Old Covenant, one of God's people can chase a thousand while two can put ten thousand to flight (Deuteronomy 32:30).
Where God's people work together in unity, there God will release his anointing (power) to bless His people (Psalm 133).
So when two or more believers agree in prayer, the power behind their prayer is greatly multiplied (Matthew 18:19).

Again, I tell you that if to of you on earth AGREE about ANYTHING you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.
(Matthew 18:19)

E.g. The early church was able to receive mighty answers to their prayer because of their unity in prayer.
The 120 who first received the Holy Spirit prayed for 10 days in one accord before the Holy Spirit came down on them (Acts 1:14; 2:1).

They all joined together constantly in prayer (in the Prayer), along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
(Acts 1:14)

When they were persecuted, they prayed with one accord for boldness and God mightily answered them.

And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God WITH ONE ACCORD, and said: ........
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
(Act 4:24, 31)

Lack of agreement and faith will hinder prayer.
Jesus put out all those who did not have faith when he raised up Jairus; daughter from the dead (Mark 5:39-42).
Peter did likewise when he raised up Tabitha (Dorcas) from the deadbed (Acts 9:40). 

Your thought

Pray for the following subjects: Government of the country; Righteousness in the  families in the Church; Christian maturity; Riches in Christ; Ministries in the church; Ingathering of the Harvest.