Prayer
Why do we pray? In any
relationship, good communication is paramount. God cares about you and deeply loves you. He wants you to reach out and
talk to Him through prayer. As with any relationship, communication is very
important to the success of your relationship with God. It is impossible to
develop intimacy with God without prayer. Don't let the enemy deceive you into
thinking that you are not worthy to pray to God due to the amount of sin in your
life. Jesus had to die for all people, since all have sinned. Through his shed
blood, we can openly approach and speak with God.
Here are some reasons why every person should
pray:
- God commands us to
Until now you have not asked for anything in my
name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. John 16:24
I want men everywhere to lift up
holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing. 1 Timothy 2:8
Pray without ceasing 1
Thessalonians 5:17
- Deploy God's abundance
Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks
receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matt
7:7-8
- Appeal to God's mercy
Exodus 32:11-14: Moses' prayer averts disaster from God
- Follow Christ's example
But Jesus Himself would often
slip away to the wilderness and pray. Luke 5:16
- Loose God's plan and bind Satan's plan
"I tell you the truth,
whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will
be loosed in heaven. "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about
anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or
three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:18-20
How to pray:
- In the name of Jesus Christ: Jesus has given Christians
the authority of his name. There is no other
name higher than Jesus, and Jesus tells us to pray in His name (John 16:23-24).
- With a repentant heart: Acts
8:22; Psalm
51:1-2
- With praise: Most of
Psalms contains many examples of praise in a prayer context; Praising God is a powerful
weapon in spiritual warfare
- With confession and thanksgiving: Philippians
4:6-7; 1
Thessalonians 5:16-18 , 1
Timothy 2:1
- With faith and expectancy: Matthew
17:20; Luke
17:6 – Faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountain!
- With humility and earnestness: Supplication (Philippians
4:6-7, Colossians 4:12)
- Persistently: Jesus illustrates this in his parable
about the man knocking at his friend’s door late at night. The friend gets up and
answers the door because of the man’s persistence (Luke
11:5-10). That is how we are
to pray to God! Jesus also emphasizes this concept in the parable of the persistent widow
(Luke
18:1-8).
What to pray for:
- Others' needs (intercession) Romans
8:26-27 , James
5:16-18
- Healing
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble
themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear
from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
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 powerful and effective. James 5:16 (see James
5:14-20)
- Protection against temptation
Watch and pray so that you will not fall into
temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak. Mark 14:38
And said to them, Why are you
sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation. Luke 22:46
- Wisdom, strength, faith and love
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with
power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts
through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power,
together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of
Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the
measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:16-19
For this reason, since the day we heard about
you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of
his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Colossians 1:9
- Revelation and wisdom
I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my
prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may
give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also
that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to
which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his
incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty
strength. Ephesians 1:16-19
- Completion and perfection of faith
Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and
supply what is lacking in your faith. 1 Thessalonians 3:10
- Purity Hebrews
13:18, 2
Corinthians 13:7-9
What will hinder prayer?
- Arrogance
He does not answer when men cry
out because of the arrogance of the wicked. Job 35:12
- Cherishing sin / Sin
If I had cherished sin in my
heart, the Lord would not have listened Psalm 66:18
- Disobedience / Rebellion /
hardening of heart toward God
Then the LORD said to me,
"There is a conspiracy among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem.
They have returned to the sins of their forefathers, who refused to listen to my words.
They have followed other gods to serve them. Both the house of Israel and the house of
Judah have broken the covenant I made with their forefathers. Therefore this is what the
LORD says: `I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to
me, I will not listen to them. Jeremiah 11:9-11
One who turns away his
ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination.
Proverbs 28:9 NKJV
- Failure to forgive others
Therefore I tell you, whatever
you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that
your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. Mark 11:24-25
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. "Do not judge, and you will not be
judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and
running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be
measured to you." Luke 6:36-38
Also see: (Matthew
6:14; Ephesians
4:32, Colossians
3:13)
- Lack of faith
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. James 1:6
- Mistreatment of spouse
Husbands, in the same way be
considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner
and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your
prayers. 1 Peter 3:7
- Out of God's will
This is the confidence we have
in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 1 John
5:14
- Unconfessed sin
But your iniquities have
separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not
hear. Isaiah 59:2
- Wrong motives
When you ask, you do not
receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your
pleasures. James 4:3
Spiritual Warfare
Prayer
As the Sword of the Spirit is for hand-to-hand combat, prayer is like
strategic artillery in spiritual warfare. Prayer foils the schemes of the enemy (Satan, his angels and evil
people) and call forth God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Warfare prayer is best developed and honed through continuous use.
Examples of warfare prayers are noted below:
Home
Sample Prayers