Prayer

Luke 11:1 NIV

1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

Of all that they could have asked Jesus to teach them, they asked about prayer.

Matthew 6:5–14 NIV

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ 14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

The Word tells us about who God is, of his attributes, of what he thinks about us.

Prayer is what brings us into close fellowship and the very presence of God in a living relationship.

Charles Hodge declared that “prayer is the converse of the soul with God.”

Philippians 4:6–7 NIV

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

We are able to talk to God.

We commune with Him through prayer.

In and through prayer we express our reverence and adoration for God;

we bare our souls in contrite confession before Him;

we pour out the thanksgiving of grateful hearts; and

we offer our petitions and supplications to Him.

In prayer we experience God as personal and powerful. He can hear us and act in response.

Prayer works! Literally gets things done.

Prayer is a means God uses to bring His sovereign will to pass.

ps 5 1-3

Psalm 5:1–3 NIV

1 Listen to my words, Lord, consider my lament. 2 Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. 3 In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.

1. Prayer is to be addressed to God alone

either to God as Triune or to the distinct persons of the Godhead.

a. To pray to creatures is idolatry.

2. Approach God with sincerity

a. Empty and insincere phrases are a mockery to Him. Such prayer, far from being an exercise of godly religion, is an offense against God.

3. Approach God with reverence

a. In prayer, we must always remember to whom we are speaking.

b. To address God in a cavalier, casual, or flippant manner, as we might speak with our earthly friends, is to treat Him with the contempt of familiarity.

i. As people pay homage to a king by entering his presence with a posture of respect and obeisance, so we come before God in full recognition of His supreme majesty.

4. Approach God in humility

a. Not only must we remember who He is, but we must also remember who and what we are.

b. We are His adopted children.

c. We are also sinful creatures. He invites us to come boldly before Him, but never arrogantly.

Hebrews 4:16 NIV

16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

God instructs us to be earnest and fervent in our requests. At the same time, we come in willful submission. To say “Your will be done” is not an indication of a lack of faith. The faith we bring to prayer must include a trust that God is able to hear our prayers and that He is disposed to answer them. Yet when God says no to our requests, this faith also trusts in His wisdom. God’s wisdom and benevolence must always and everywhere be assumed by those who entreat Him with petitions.

We pray in the name of Jesus because we do thereby acknowledge His office as Mediator. As our High Priest, Christ is our intercessor even as the Holy Spirit is our helper in prayer.

A helpful tool in learning to pray is the acrostic A-C-T-S. Each letter in the acrostic indicates a vital element of prayer.

A = Adoration

C = Confession

T = Thanksgiving

S = Supplication

By following this simple acrostic we are sure to include all of the proper elements of prayer.

Summary

1. Prayer is communion with God.

2. Prayer is to be addressed to God alone.

3. Prayer must be sincere, reverent, and humble.

4. We are commanded to be fervent and persistent in prayer.

5. The prayer of faith is a prayer trusting in God’s wisdom and kindness.

1 John 5:14–15 NIV

14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.