Prayer (Part 7) - Christian Principles of Prayer

We're Continuing Our Study on Prayer

We’re Breaking this Series Up into 3 Sub-Series:

“Lord, Teach Us to Pray”

Learning about Prayer from Jesus

“Christian Principles of Prayer”

What Do the Scriptures Teach Us about Prayer

The Who, What, When, Where, Why, & How’s of Prayer?

“Unconventional Methods of Prayer”

Discussing Unconventional…

Methods/Topics/Thoughts/Questions Concerning Prayer

“Christian Principles of Prayer”

We’re Taking a General Overlook…

At Prayer in the Scriptures (Primarily NT)

We’re Doing this by Asking These 6 Basic Questions:

Who, What, When, Where, Why, & How

Last Time We Looked at the “Who?” of Prayer

We Looked at “Who is to Prayer?”

Prayer is Primarily for Christians:

Those to Whom Jesus has Given Access to God

We also Looked at “To Whom Do We Pray?”

The Default Answer is to God the Father

But We Also See Several Inspired People Pray to Jesus

And We Know the Holy Spirit Intercedes for Us in Prayer…

When We’re Suffering & Don’t Know What to Say

Let’s Look at the “What?” of Prayer

What is Prayer?

But Before We Dive into that Main Question…

Let’s Ask, “What Isn’t Prayer?”

Prayer isn’t Thinking Deeply about Something

Prayer isn’t Sincerely Wishing for Something

Prayer isn’t “Sending Good Vibes/Thoughts”

When Someone is Sick or in Need, Sometimes We’ll Say:

“You’re in Our Thoughts”

Or “We’re Thinking about You”

Or One I’m Bad to Say:

“We Hope You Get to Feeling Better”

These are Meant to Be Sympathetic Gestures…

To Let the Person Know You Care about Them

That’s a Good Thing

People Like to Know They are Thought of & Cared for

But Ultimately, What Good Do Our Thoughts & Hopes Do?

I Think, for Some Reason…

Letting Our Faith Show Feels Awkward to Us

I Think We Often Find it Easier…

To Use the Language of Our Secular Culture

For a While Now, I’ve Been Working…

At Being More Purposeful in My Language

“You’re in Our Prayers”

“We’re Praying for You”

“We Pray that You Get to Feeling Better”

But, We Need to Make Sure that We Follow Up on Our Claims

If We Say We’re Praying for Someone…

We Need to Make Sure that’s the Truth

Let’s Get Back to the Original Question:

What is Prayer?

A Very Basic Definition is the Sub-Title of this Series:

“Communication with God”

That May Be the Answer You’d Get from the Random Person on the Street

But I Think Many Tend to Think of Prayer…

As One Specific Type of Prayer: Request/Supplication

When You Type in “What is Prayer” on the Internet…

The 1st Answer that will Pop Up is:

“A Solemn Request for Help”

That’s Definitely an Important Way in Which We Communicate to God

But it isn’t the Only Way

That Leads to Another “What?” Question about Prayer:

“What Should We Pray About?”

We’ve Begun Praying More in Our Worship Services…

To Help Put More Emphasis/Focus on Prayer

We’re Focusing on 4 Broad Areas of Prayer:

Adoration

We Communicate to God By Praising, Glorifying, Exalting Him

Confession

We Communicate to God By Confessing Our Sins to Him & Seeking Forgiveness

Thanksgiving

We Communicate to God By Thanking Him for the Blessings We’ve Received

Supplication

We Communicate to God By Making Requests for Him to Help Us

Of Course You could Get More Specific in Different Types of Prayers…

That Fall Under These 4 Umbrella Categories:

Lament Prayers - Crying Out to God in Anguish Over Suffering

Intercessory - Praying on Behalf of Others

The Point is:

There are Many Things We should Pray about

There isn’t Really a Limit of What We should Pray about

Philippians 4:6–7 (NASB95)

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Worry about Nothing, Pray about Everything

What should I Pray about?

Everything!

Every Desire

Every Need

Every Fear

Every Worry

Every Person

Every Situation You Find Yourself in

Every Mistake/Bad Decision

Every Praiseworthy Thing

Everything!

Before Me Move on, Let’s Look Back at the First Question:

What is Prayer?

It’s Communication with God

It can Take Many Different Forms…

And it can Be about Anything

In the Scriptures, the Idea of Prayer is Taken for Granted

From the Very Beginning, We See that Our God is a Personal God

He’s a God that Speaks to His Creation & can Be Spoken to

He isn’t Some Far Off Deity that His Creation has No Relation to

He Wants a Relationship with His Creation

That’s Always Been the Case

So Prayer isn’t Something that God had to Teach or Command

It was Something that was Present from the Beginning

But, What’s Also Been Present from the Beginning…

Is Not Just Humanity Being Able to Speak to God…

But God Also Speaking to Humanity

Communication is Often a 2-Way Street

God, on Many Occasions, Spoke to People

Some People Claim that God Speaks Back to Them in Prayer

I’ve Never Audibly Heard God Speak Back to Me in Prayer

So, that Gives Me Some Doubt When Others Claim that

I’ve Received Clarity Through Prayer

One could Make the Argument…

That God Speaks Back to Us By Granting Wisdom/Clarity

We Know from James 1:5 that God Grants Wisdom to Those Who Ask

One could Also Make the Argument…

That Through Prayer to God…

We Recalibrate Our Hearts/Minds to the Will of God

And that’s Why During Prayer, We Start Thinking More Clearly…

About What God would Want Us to Do in Our Given Situation

Why Might it Be that God Doesn’t Speak to Us…

The Way He Spoke to Abraham, Moses, the Prophets, and Jesus?

We Need to Remember that God hasn’t Spoken Audibly to Most People in History

99.99999999% of People have Never Heard the Voice of God

What More Revelation would God Need to Speak to Us Directly?

He’s Given Us the Written OT & NT Scriptures to Guide Us

He’s Given Us Jesus to Believe, Follow, and Learn from

We have Everything We Need…

On How to Be Justified & Sanctified By Him

2 Peter 1:1–3 (NASB95)

1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

God has Fully Equipped Us to Faithfully Bear His Image

Through the Scriptures & Through Jesus…

We See & Know Who God is & What He Expects of Us

There’s No Need for Further Revelation

Let’s Look at the “When?” of Prayer

When Should We Pray?

There’s Really No Correct Answer to this, Except:

Whenever

Religious Jews would Pray 3 Times a Day

9 a.m., Noon, & 3 p.m.

Some People have Their Own Scheduled Prayers

As Soon as They Wake Up & Lay Down

Before Every Meal

Maybe at Certain Times of the Day

God has Given Us No Such Rules as to When We should Pray

Prayer, it Seems, should Be as Natural & Frequent as Breathing to a Christian

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (NASB95)

16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

My Favorite Way of Praying is…

By Keeping a Running Conversation with God Going

There are No Set Times

There are No Beginning Phrases or Ending Phrases

It’s Like the Guy I Used to Work with…

Who was Always on the Phone with His Wife

He’d Be Quite for a Long Time…

And Then Out of Nowhere would Begin a Conversation…

About Something He’d Experienced or Remembered or Whatever

Praise, Petitions, & Thanksgivings can/should Happen…

Anytime & All the Time

Pray Without Ceasing = Constantly

Prayer Helps to Build Our Relationship with God

It Demonstrates & Builds Our Trust in/Dependence on Him

The More We Pray:

The Closer to God We will Become

The More We will Trust Him

The More Our Heart/Mind/Will will Align with His Heart/Mind/Will

Let’s Look at the “Where?” of Prayer

Where Should We Pray?

When Solomon Built the Temple…

He Considered it a House of Prayer

It was a Place Where People would Go to Pray & have Their Prayers Heard

For Those Who were Not in Jerusalem…

They would Pray Toward the Temple

It was the Place Where Communication with God Took Place

But What about Today?

The Only Instruction We have that is Remotely Close…

To Telling Us Where to Pray…

Is Jesus Teaching Us to Go to a Private Place to Pray

Jesus would Often Go Up on Mountains or in Gardens to Pray Alone

Ultimately, Location Doesn’t Matter

We are Not Expected to Pray Toward Jerusalem or the Temple…

Because We are the Temple

God Dwells in Us Through His Holy Spirit

We can/should Pray Anywhere/Everywhere

Invitation

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (NASB95)

16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

These 3 Short Verses Contain 3 Imperative Commands

When We as Christians Obey These 3 Commands…

We are Doing God’s Will for Us as Christians

Always Rejoice (Be in a State of Happiness)

Constantly Pray

In Everything Be Thankful

Don’t Allow Your Circumstances to Negatively Impact Your:

Happiness

Communication with God

Gratitude

No Matter How Difficult the Trials of Life May Be:

They Can’t Take Away Your Ability to Be Happy

They Can’t Take Away Your Communication with God

They Can’t Take Away Your Gratitude Toward God

We have God as Our Father, Jesus as Our Savior, the Holy Spirit as Our Helper

Always Rejoice

We have Constant Access to an All-Powerful God…

Who Loves Us & Wants What’s Best for Us

Pray Constantly

We have a God Who Blesses Us with Everything We could Need in this Age…

And Who has Promised Us Eternal Life in the Age to Come

Be Thankful in All Circumstances

This is Our Challenge this Week:

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (NASB95)

16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.