Prayer > How To Pray (You Are Here)

VI. How to Pray

It may be that the Bible and prayer are unfamiliar and that religion is more or less a puzzle to you. We will start our help to you by giving you advice for a beginner in Christianity. If you are more advanced, these first principles will also do you good. The first thing to do is to realize that you are a sinner and that Jesus Christ died to save you from your sins (Col. 1:20; 1 Pet. 2:24). If you are this far in understanding, you are not far from the kingdom of God.

The second thing to do is to begin to pray directly to God whom you have offended by your sins. Confess your sins and talk to Him as you would to any other person whom you have offended (Lk. 18:9-14; 1 Jn. 1:9). God loves you! He is not going to hurt you unless you reject Him to the end, and He has to cast you into Hell because of your choice in wanting to go there instead of to Heaven (Ps. 9:17; Mt. 24:41, 46). Realize that He does love you and that He gave Jesus to save you (Jn. 3:16). He wants to help you in all the problems of your life; so take Him as your partner in life from now on.

Read Rom. 10:9-10; 1 Jn. 1:7-9 and do exactly as you are instructed to do in these passages. You want to be saved, do you not? Would you not like to know you are forgiven of all sins and that Jesus is your personal Savior? Then do as you are told. Forget all religions and theories of men and concentrate upon the one objective—getting right with God. No church can save you. Jesus is the Savior and He alone can forgive your sins. If you have never prayed and you don’t know how, just repeat the following prayer in deep humility and sorrow for sin.

PRAYER FOR FORGIVENESS

"O God, be merciful to me a sinner! Forgive me all my sins and blot out my transgressions. Cleanse me from all unrighteousness and make me clean by the precious blood of Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit. I will forsake sin and consecrate my life to your service and to the good of others and walk in the light of your Word as I learn it. I believe that you do forgive me according to your Word. In Jesus’ name I ask it. Amen."

The third thing to do is believe that it is done and that you are a child of God. You cannot possibly pray a simple prayer like this from the heart without God hearing you and immediately answering. For it is according to His oath that He will hear you and forgive you (Isa. 55:7; 1 Jn. 1:9).

The fourth thing to do is to start reading the Bible and having prayer when you get up in the morning, just before retiring, and as many times through the day as possible. Don’t make a show out of it, but in some quiet place—at work or any place you are—you can talk to God as you would talk to a friend. Forsake sin and walk in the light of truth as you get to know it (1 Jn. 1:7).

You don’t have to be in a certain place or have a certain posture in prayer. Simply learn to talk and commune with God at home and at work or while doing anything. It does not always have to be in an audible voice. Do not think that you will be heard for your much speaking. Don’t pray to be seen of men. These are the first lessons of the Christian experience (Mt. 6:5-15). There are times, however, when you should unite in prayer with others, as taught in Mt. 18:18-20; Acts 1:14; 2:42-47; 4:24.

It will be wise of you if you are a beginner in prayer to concentrate upon what you have faith for, and as God answers prayer, ask for other benefits. Whatever you do, never ask for one thing that you are not going to believe God for and petition till you receive a complete answer. You will face obstacles in prayer. Both men and demons will try to discourage you and cause you to doubt God, but don’t you do it. Believe in spite of all opposition. Fight to get the answer upon the authority of the promises, the name of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit which dwells in your life as a child of God (Rom. 8:9-16, 26, 27, 34; Jude 20-24). You and God can work wonders. It is a personal matter, after all, and one can get from God anything that he wants, regardless of what anyone says. One person and God are in the majority, and "all things are possible to him that believeth" (Mk. 9:23 through Mark 11:22-24). The only thing that will defeat you is your lack of faith—so be sure always to believe God without a doubt (Heb. 11:6; Jas. 1:5-9).

VII. What to Pray for—the Abundance of Life

You are invited by God to ask and receive anything that you want—not only what you need, but what you want that is covered by the promises of God. I am aware this is startling to you, and it is contrary to modern thinking among Christians, but it is true. You can see this by the promises you have read. Read them again and see for yourself. Forget all limitations. Forget the old prayer "if it be Thy will," for it is already God’s will for you to "ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" (Jn. 15:7; 16:23-26; Mk. 11:22-24). Why throw any reflection upon God by asking Him if it is His will when He has already made clear His will? In other words, what God has promised, that is already His will; so ask and receive. It is only the things that are not specifically covered by the promises that you need to seek the will of God for.

Do you realize what this means? All your personal needs—financial, business, social, religious, physical, moral, spiritual, or any personal problem of any kind, you are promised by God that if you ask you shall receive (Mt. 7:7-11; 17:20; 21:21-22). What more do you want? Could God make it any clearer? Do you insist that God must personally rebuke you for your unbelief before you actually wake up to realize the abundance promised you? It matters not what your needs are. Don’t limit God or His promises. Be daring and aggressive in asking and receiving. If you limit the promises, you limit your faith; and if you limit your faith, you limit the supply by limiting God to give according to your faith. You will get exactly what you have faith for. The principle of receiving is "According to your faith be it unto you" (Mt. 8:13; 9:29; Mk. 11:22-24; Jas. 1:5-9; Heb. 11:6). The promises are unlimited; God is unlimited; the believer is unlimited if he will exercise unlimited faith (Mk. 9:23; 11:22-24; Mt. 7:7-11; 18:15-19; 21:21-22; Jn. 14:12-15; 15:7, 16; 16:23-26).

VIII. Practice the Presence of God

Begin to practice a realization of the presence of God in your life. If you have yielded your life to Him, He is with you. He sees you and He is interested in every detail of your life. He is your partner now; so do not ignore Him in any activity of life. Do nothing that you would not do if He were bodily present. Say nothing that you would not like Him to hear. Go no place where you would have the least doubt that He would go. If you will follow these simple principles, your life will be happy and victorious, and God will make you prosperous in all things of life, as you ask in faith, nothing wavering (Jas. 1:5-9; Heb. 11:6).

IX. How to Overcome Sin and Bad Habits

After you have confessed your sins to God (which you have done by now if you are faithfully following us into the abundance we are leading you into), you have no worry about any past sins. They have all been forgiven and cleansed by the blood of Christ. They have been blotted out, and God remembers them against you no more (Acts 3:19; Eph. 1:7; 1 Jn. 1:7-9; Rev. 1:5). Since God does not remember them, you should not bother your mind with them. All you have to do is to forsake sin and live for God from here on (Prov. 28:13). If you are tempted by some old habit or sin, resist it with a definite and vigorous refusal. Do not argue with the devil or play around as near to your old sins and habits as possible, short of actually partaking of them. Get as far away from them as possible. Get your mind on God and His goodness to you. If the temptation lingers and it seems strong, start reading the Bible and go to God in prayer. Draw close to Him. Love God as you would make love to someone else. Begin to thank God for saving you from those evils, and the power of temptation will be broken (Jas. 4:6-10; 1 Cor. 10:12-14).

Do not yield to temptation, for it will be harder to break the next time. Get a clean-cut victory over the old life once and for all, walk in the Spirit and in the light of the truths you are receiving, and it will become easy to live your personal life victorious over sin and temptation (Gal. 5:16-26; 1 Jn. 1:7; Rom. 8:1-3). If you have yielded to temptation, go immediately to God for forgiveness, and He will forgive and give power to overcome (2 Cor. 5:17-18; 1 Jn. 1:9). Christ will change your life and make you happy, free, and victorious. That is His part. Your part is to confess and forsake sin. God does not bear grudges. He forgives and helps every time we need Him. He is not ready to consign you to eternal Hell the moment you do something wrong. He is a kind, loving heavenly Father, forgiving us even when we cannot seem to forgive ourselves. All complications about God’s dealings with us are on our part. Just be faithful to confess anything necessary and resist temptation, and God will give you power to overcome. God wants you to be able to meet the world and overcome temptation, and to make your life a living example to others that God’s power can keep one who submits to Him. God will not do away with your temper or desires, or take you out of the world from those things that tempt you, but He will keep you from yielding to them and make you victorious over all things which are contrary to His word. Remember, thoughts or feelings do not constitute sin. No sin has been committed until sin has been "finished" (Jas. 1:13-16). Temptations are legitimate warnings that you are being attacked by the devil; do not consider temptations themselves as sin.

X. Healing and Health

If you are sick in body, then include your request for healing in your prayer for forgiveness. God wants to heal your body, and He will if you ask Him in faith when you ask for forgiveness. Both healing and forgiveness go together in the gospel, as you can see by reading Ps. 103:1-3; Mt. 8:16-17; 9:1-8; 13:15; Jas. 5:14-16; 1 Pet. 2:24. You can get healed as easily as you can be forgiven of sins. Both come on the same basis of faith in the work of Christ for you on Calvary. Ask and then believe that you are healed and forgiven, and God will do both. He does not desire His children to be sick any more than you would want your children to be sick. This is clear from Mt. 7:7-11, Mk. 11:22-24; Jn. 14:12-15; 15:7, 16; 16:23-26. Your life will be rich in blessings which you perhaps have been taught are not for you today. You are getting new light, so walk in it and all things will be yours (1 Jn. 1:7; 1 Cor. 3:21-23).

Men are sick, unhappy, and defeated in life, simply because they have been taught wrongly and because they do not surrender their lives to God and understand how to pray and get an answer. These conditions in the human family are not God’s will. If all men would conform to God’s will we could banish want, poverty, sickness, sin, and all the curse, and God would make New Heavens and a New Earth at once. Because all men are not going to do this, God has to put down rebellion forcibly on the Earth before He can make all things new. The purpose of the Millennium is to do this very thing. As an individual, however, everyone can get the benefits of the promises here and now, and this is what you are going to do when you learn how utterly simple the will of God is and know that His provision is for you to have these blessings.

We cannot give you all that you need to know in this one lesson, nor in several lessons. However, you can even now begin to get benefits if you will do as you have been instructed above. The conditions of defeat were not brought upon man in a day, and they cannot be overcome until you get to know the truth that will set you free. Jesus said, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (Jn. 8:31-36).

XI. What Faith Is and How to Use It

If one wants to please God he must have faith: "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Heb. 11:6). This is one sure way to please God. If God can be made happy and well pleased in such a simple way, why shouldn’t everyone who loves Him put forth the utmost effort to have faith in Him? None of us would be pleased if our friends constantly made us a liar every time we opened our mouths. Not one of us would feel like doing anything for those who did this. The same is true with God. He is a person, and we should learn to treat Him as a person and not insult Him by questioning and doubting every promise that He makes. How can we expect to get answers to prayer as long as we continue in such an attitude? How can we have the nerve to come to God continually and ask Him for something, and then tell Him by our acts and innermost feelings that we do not believe Him and cannot trust Him to the extent that He demands? Is it any wonder that we get so few prayers answered by such a procedure? The greatest miracle of all is that He ever answers us once. God is under no obligation to answer if we do not have implicit faith in Him for what we ask.

Faith is simple. It is believing God without a waver, without doubting, and without questioning what He says. It is taking God at His Word and believing that what He has promised He is able to perform it. It is believing not only that He is able, but that He will do it. It is the quality of counting those things that "be not as though they were" (Rom. 4:17). Faith is also the absolute conviction that what God has promised and what we have asked according to His Word is done already. It is "the substance of things hoped for" and the first payment on things that we desire from God (Heb. 11:1-3).

The way to get faith is by hearing the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). The way to use faith is to take God at His Word and count Him faithful in granting what is asked in the name of Jesus. Ask and then believe that it is done. Thank God for it as if it were already done. Expect the complete answer whether you see it at once or not. Forget symptoms, feelings, impossibilities, or anything to the contrary and it shall be done regardless of how impossible it may appear outwardly. Faith laughs at impossibilities and cries, "It is done." It leaves all results and all answers with God as being God’s part, and it assumes that it is done. Our part then is to cooperate with faith and not hinder its working by doubting and questioning the how and when of the answer.

If a Christian will truly exercise faith that he knows is necessary, there will be no question as to the answer. One can get healing, health, success in business or in any undertaking, prosperity, happiness, or anything that would cause one to be victorious in any phase of life (Mt. 17:20; 21:22; Mk. 11:22-24; Jn. 15:7, 16; Rom. 8:32; Heb. 11:6; Jas. 1:5-8).

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