Growing Your Relationsip with Christ through Prayer
Growing your Relationship with Christ • Sermon • Submitted
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· 3 viewsGrowing your Relationship with Christ involves Talking with HIm. Prayer is integral.
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Prayer in Ancient Cultures
Prayer in Ancient Cultures
Communication with God, primarily offered in the second-person voice (addressing God directly). May include petition, entreaty, supplication, thanksgiving, praise, hymns, and lament.
The ancient civilizations all recognized a god who created everything. The Egyptians had Amon-Re, and later the sun god Aton. The Sumerians had Istar, and the ancient Hebrews had Yahweh.
The Hebrews, however, were monotheistic and their prayers were addressed to Yahweh alone. The other cultures had many gods, with one who was greater than all the others. Yahweh has no counterpart in the heavens - He alone is God.
“O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!
“You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name.
“You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you,
for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of the Lord your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.
The other cultures would praise their gods for their attributes, while Israel praised God for his deeds. They did note His attributes, but their prayers continually refer to His acts.
that Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant and to the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to You.
“For You have separated them from all the peoples of the earth as Your inheritance, as You spoke through Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers forth from Egypt, O Lord God.”
I shall remember the deeds of the Lord;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
To Him who smote the Egyptians in their firstborn,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
And brought Israel out from their midst,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
With a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
To Him who divided the Red Sea asunder,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
And made Israel pass through the midst of it,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
But He overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
To Him who led His people through the wilderness,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
To Him who smote great kings,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
And slew mighty kings,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting:
Sihon, king of the Amorites,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
And Og, king of Bashan,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
And gave their land as a heritage,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
Even a heritage to Israel His servant,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
You, in Your great compassion,
Did not forsake them in the wilderness;
The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day,
To guide them on their way,
Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go.
“You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,
Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth,
And You gave them water for their thirst.
“Indeed, forty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not in want;
Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.
“You also gave them kingdoms and peoples,
And allotted them to them as a boundary.
They took possession of the land of Sihon the king of Heshbon
And the land of Og the king of Bashan.
“You made their sons numerous as the stars of heaven,
And You brought them into the land
Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.
“So their sons entered and possessed the land.
And You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,
And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land,
To do with them as they desired.
“They captured fortified cities and a fertile land.
They took possession of houses full of every good thing,
Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,
Fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate, were filled and grew fat,
And reveled in Your great goodness.
Also, the prayers of ancient cultures were one-way. Their gods did not directly communicate with them. They did not speak, but communicated through oracles and omens.
Yahweh, however, spoke directly to His people.
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 3
9 Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “aWhere are you?”
The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;
for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.
“I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered.
“Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.”
God speaks directly with His people and they respond. They cry out to Him and expect Him to answer!
To Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord.
Abram said, “O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.”
Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.”
And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
Abraham spoke with The Lord continually, petitioning Him to save even Sodom:
And the Lord said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.
“I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”
Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the Lord.
Abraham came near and said, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
“Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it?
“Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”
So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account.”
And Abraham replied, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes.
“Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the whole city because of five?” And He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”
He spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose forty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it on account of the forty.”
Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
And he said, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the twenty.”
Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.”
As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the Lord departed, and Abraham returned to his place.
This is the relationship Yahweh had with Abraham! This is the relationship He wants to have with us!
From this free conversation with God, sprung standardized prayers:
“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
“These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
“You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
“You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
“You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Prayer was central to the temple service and in the synagogues, where service was structured around reading the Law and the Profits with ceremonial prayers offered by the attendant. So much was synagogue identified with prayer that by the time of Josephus, the word for “prayer” also became associated with “place of prayer.”
This standardization of prayer did not mean that the Jews gave up spontaneous, heartfelt prayers. The formal prayers were designed to lead and instruct the community. When they left synagogue, they would continue to cry out to the Lord as they needed.