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1. Praying is seeking and asking God - Matthew 7:7-12
2. Pray according to the Word of God - 1 John 5:14-15
3. Pray for the knowledge of the unrevealed will of God in a
specific
situation or need - Colossians 3:1
4. Seeking and finding - Jeremiah 29:12-13
5. Pray for the miraculous intervention of God in your life. I am not
speaking signs & wonders, but to handle situations that are
out of your
control - Matthew 17:14-21
Why Pray?
1. Prayer is imperative - Matthew 26:41
2. Prayer is the only way to request things from God - James 4:2
3. Prayer is Joy - John 16:24
4. Prayer can help deliver you out of trouble - Acts 12:1-17
5. Prayer unlocks the treasure chest of God's wisdom - James 1:5
6. Praying is a vehicle for power - Jeremiah 33:3
7. Not praying is a sin - 1 Samuel 12:23
8. Salvation is through prayer in faith for the called of God - Romans
10:13
9. Pray without ceasing - 1 Thessalonians 5:17
10. Prayer brings hope - Psalm 33:22
How to Pray
1. Christ taught the disciples how to pray (see the exemplary prayer) –
Matthew 6:9-13
2. Pray in the name of Christ - John 14:13-14
3. The Holy Spirit interprets when we are short on words and long on
problems - Romans 8:26-27
4. Pray that God's will is done in everything - James 4:15
5. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem - Psalm 122:6 (Not for the city in
Israel
but for the body of Christ who is the New Jerusalem - Hebrews
10:22;
Revelation 3:12; 21:2
6. Pray for daily necessities - Luke 11:3
7. Pray for forgiveness and forgive others - Matthew 18:21-22
8. Pray in faith - Hebrews 11:6
Hindrances to Prayer
1. Selfishness - James 4:3
2. Unbelief - Hebrews 11:6; James 1:6-7
3. Sin in the heart - Psalm 66:18; Isaiah 59:1-2; John 9:31
4. Husbands who do not honor their wives - 1 Peter 3:7
Answers to Prayer
1. Does God answer our prayers? - Jeremiah 33:3; John 15:7
2. Requirements for answers to prayer - Romans 12:1-2; Colossians 3:16-17
3. Delayed - John 11:1-44; Daniel 10:12-14
4. With peace - Philippians 4:6-7
5. With grace - 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
6. God answers all prayers but not always as we ask - Isaiah 55:8
7. Above all we must endure - Hebrews 10:36
Does God answer our Prayers?
God promises in Jeremiah 33:3 that if we call upon Him, He WILL answer
our prayers. He didn't say maybe or might but that He will answer our
prayers. We must keep in mind that God may not answer our prayers the way
we would like Him to. Let me give you four methods by which God answers
our prayers. These are the four D's of answered prayer. It is good that
you memorize them so you will be ready when the answers come and you will
be able to identify it.
1. Direct
God may choose to answer your prayer in a direct manner. You might pray
for something and God will grant it just the way you asked Him for it.
This type of answer means you were praying in accord with the will of
God.
2. Disguised
Let me place before you an analogy which might help you recognize a
disguised answer to prayer. You may be praying for your sick child plus
you lack the funds to take him to the doctor, when all of a sudden Uncle
Emery from the old country (I am Hungarian) shows up for a visit while
you are praying. You immediately view him as another mouth to feed and a
cumbersome responsibility at a bad time. Then you start speaking about
the sickness your child has. Then Uncle Emery asks you what kind of herbs
and spices you have in the house. (You are probably thinking to yourself,
what is he going to make a pot of stuffed cabbage?) You just "happen"
to have the ones he needs. He starts combining them in a mixture and
makes a poultice out of it. He gives it to the child, two days go by,
three days go by, and nothing happens but on the fourth day the child
improves and is sitting up and getting stronger, a week goes by and the
child is cured. You see, God disguised the answer to your prayer in a
visit by Uncle Emery. Sometimes our first inclination toward an answer to
prayer is that "this can't be the answer to my prayer."
3. Delayed
Many times God will answer a prayer but it will be according to His
timing. We may be praying according to His will but He is engineering
special circumstances which will benefit us when it is time to claim the
answer. The delayed answer teaches us a lesson in patience and trusting
God.
4. Denied
This is the answer we never want to hear but many times at a later date
we find out that it was good that God denied my prayer request. When God
denies a request, it is being denied by absolute wisdom, so it is never
to our disadvantage, even though we believe it is.
So we see that no matter when or how we pray, God does answer our prayers
because direct as well as denied is an answer.
The Exemplary Prayer - Matthew 6:9-13
1. Our Father
A. A personal relationship with God
B. "Our" signifies the brotherly relationship with other true
Christians.
C. No implication of the universal fatherhood of God, but it states the
universal brotherhood of all true believers.
D. "Father" indicates relationship between God and His
children.
2. Which Art In Heaven
A. God is in Heaven meaning that He is higher than Man's earth - Psalm
20:6
B. Faith, the Bible teaches without it, our prayers are useless - Hebrews
11:6
3. Hallowed Be Thy Name -- Hallowed means to make holy.
A. Worship - David felt this part of prayer was so important
that he had
a group of men in the temple to do just that - 1 Chronicles 23:5;
25:1,7
B. Worshipped by special angels - Revelation 4:8
C. Worshipping God in the Spirit - John 4:23-24
4. Thy Kingdom Come - Expectation
The kingdom of God is the church and it will not be a visible kingdom as
some are looking for - Luke 17:20-21 The only time the church is visible
is when it is assembled for worship.
5. Thy Will Be Done In Earth As It Is In Heaven
God's will is that he redeem a people for Himself. He did this by
establishing His salvation plan on earth. God's will for salvation was
established in heaven before the foundations of the world. Ephesians 1:4
6. Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread
Our praying should be as our eating habits - daily. The daily bread that
we are to seek is spiritual nourishment. We must seek the face of God in
prayer every day. We may also ask God for daily physical sustenance but
the weightier meaning of this verse is in the spiritual realm.
7. And Forgive Us Our Debts
Debt is a word used in Bible to signify sin. We pray that God will
forgive our sins and if you are true believer then Christ has paid for
your sins. Each person is a debtor to God because of our sin and when we
become saved, that debt is paid by the Lord Jesus Christ.
8. As We Forgive Our Debtors
Do we put forth our hands and say to others I forgive you? One of the
best narratives in Scripture which deals with unforgiveness is found in
Matthew 18:23-35.
9. And Lead Us Not Into Temptation
The word "temptation" may also be translated "a proving,
testing, or trials." In 1 Corinthians 10:13 we read "There hath
no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is
faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able;
but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be
able to bear it."
The word "temptation" in 1 Corinthians 10:13 is the word for
"trials." What is the great trial that will come upon the entire
world that is common to man? It is Judgment Day that is the great trial
of all people on the earth who are unsaved. If you have become saved,
then Christ has stood in your place at your trial and because of Him you
were found not guilty.
10. But Deliver Us From Evil
The Greek allows for this to be translated "keep us from the evil
one." A petition to be delivered out of the hand of Satan. When a
person is unsaved they are in bondage to Satan and sin. This is in
essence is a petition for salvation.
11. For Thine Is The Kingdom, And The Power, And The Glory, For Ever,
Amen. This is a great doxology to end a prayer on. A good example would
be David's prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:10-19.
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