P R A Y E R

 

 

 

 

Prayer is spiritual communication with God.  Often we choose to pray only when we are in severe need of help, and then it is a one way conversation.  God wants us to reach a point where we communicate with Him (talk and listen about every issue in our life.

We do not always know what to pray about or how to pray about it.

Romans 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

Romans 8:26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;

Romans 8:27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

 

If we pray in faith and with perseverance, we can expect God to respond.

Matthew 7:7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Matthew 7:8 "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

 

We pray as a response to need.

James 5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.

James 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;

James 5:15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.

 

A communal responsibility.

James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

James 5:17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

James 5:18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

 

God hears action before words, making some prayer conditional.   Too often, we expect God to do all the work while we continue on our old path of life.  God established the principle that what we do will return to us. 

Matthew 7:12 "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Matthew 7:13 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.

Matthew 7:14 "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

 

Fortunately, forgiveness is also available  Our action is our prayer.  We are judged as we judge others.

Matthew 6:14 "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

Matthew 6:15 "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

 

Mark 11:24 "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.

Mark 11:25 "Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.

Mark 11:26 ["But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions."]

 

Prayer is an ongoing experience.  We must be sincere, earnest and persistent.

Jeremiah 29:11 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:12 'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

Jeremiah 29:13 'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

 

1 Samuel 12:23 "Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way.

1 Samuel 12:24 "Only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:15 See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.

1 Thessalonians 5:16 Rejoice always;

1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray without ceasing;

1 Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

 

We are to use patience and perseverance in our prayer life.

Luke 13:1 Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.

Luke 13:2 And Jesus said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate?

Luke 13:3 "I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

Luke 13:4 "Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?

Luke 13:5 "I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

Luke 13:6 And He began telling this parable: "A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any.

Luke 13:7 "And he said to the vineyard-keeper, 'Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?'

Luke 13:8 "And he answered and said to him, 'Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer;

Luke 13:9 and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.'"

 

Sometimes, we try to get the things we want by wrong methods, rather than humbling ourselves and asking God or other people for help.

James 4:1 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?

James 4:2 You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.

James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

James 4:4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

James 4:5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"?

James 4:6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE."

James 4:7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

 

A condition of being in the Will of God.

1 John 5:14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

1 John 5:15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.

 

1 John 3:22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.

1 John 3:23 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.

1 John 3:24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

 

BREVITY

Ecclesiasties 5:1 Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil.

Ecclesiastes 5:2 Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.

NASB

AMERICAN COLLEGE DICTIONARY.

prayer.   1. a devout petition to, or any form of spiritual communication with God or an object of worship.

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