Talking to God in Prayer
Notes
Transcript
8927 Prayer is not flight; prayer is power. Prayer does not deliver a man from some terrible situation; prayer enables a man to face and to master the situation.
William Barclay
Prayer is an expression of sincere desire. It is not to inform God of matters that he would otherwise be ignorant of, and the validity of prayer is not affected by length or repetitiveness. Private prayer is to be discreet and secret (Mt 6:5–15).
The habit of prayer is good, but the spirit of prayer is better.
Charles Spurgeon
It is in Paul’s writings that the theology of prayer is most fully developed.
The NT believer is a son, not only a servant.
The Spirit who, as a result of Christ’s triumph, has come to the church is the Spirit of adoption, enabling the Christian to come to God as his Father, with all his needs.
Prominent among these needs, in the mind of the apostle, are:
A deepening of faith in Christ
love for God
A growing appreciation of God’s love in turn
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Prayer is a part of the Christian’s armor against satanic attack
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
the effective ministry of the Word of God depends on the prayers of God’s people
Eph 6:18, 19
19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,
and the Christian is enjoined to pray for all sorts of things, with thanksgiving
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
and so to be free from anxiety. Paul’s own example in prayer is as instructive as the teaching he gives.