Prayer
1. Communication with God: Prayer is simple, talking to God.
For a person to pray, there must be
1. An acknowledgment of God's existence,
2. Hope that God knows and cares about us, and
3. Expectation that God is able to and willing to respond to us. Prayer as described in scripture is an expression of covenant relationship. According to the Old Testament, god established a special relationship with Abraham and his descendants.
- Prayer is offered in the name of Jesus Christ presented himself as the way, the truth, and the life, and said "No one come to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). In his death for us, Jesus fully opened the way to God. To come to God in Christ's name is to come having accepted the salvation Jesus died to provide-and identify ourselves with his values and character. Because of Jesus we can, in the words of Heb 4:16, "Approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
- The Holy Spirit is the living bond between the believer and God and, according to scripture, is a participant in our prayers. Romans 8:26,27 says that "The Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express," and "The Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will."
- The New Testament pattern does not suggest that any particular ritual is to be followed in prayer. Instead, it affirms prayer as an aspect of relationship with God, an intimate engagement with each Person of the Trinity,
- God does hear and respond to every prayer of the believer. However, his answer is not always yes. Paul prayed that God removed a "thorn in the flesh" that troubled him deeply. God said no, but promised Paul so much grace that the Lord's own strength would be manifested through Paul's weakness (2 Cor 12:9,10). Furthermore, James makes it clear that selfish prayers will not be answered-not because God is angry when we ask incorrectly, according to God's will, but because receiving such things would be spiritually detrimental (James 4:1-4). Therefore, recognizing that God is committed to what is best for us, the wise Christian makes every request in the spirit Christ demonstrated in Gethsemane, when he said, "Yet not as I will, but as you will." (Mt 2:39)
- While Jesus warned his disciples not to keep on babbling like pagans who think they will be heard because of their many words (Mt 6:7), Christ also told stories that encourage persistence in prayer (Luke 18:1-8). Delay in an answer to prayer in no a denial but an invitation to continue bringing that concern to God (Dan 10).
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