How Are We To Pray
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Greetings…
Over the last several weeks we have been studying through the theme of this year “Fundamentals” with the express desire to “grow into salvation” by knowing the “pure spiritual milk” like we should.
2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—
A few weeks ago, we began a “mini” theme within our overall theme concerning the “acts of worship.”
We looked at what biblical worship is, “worshiping in spirit and truth” (John 4:24).
Last week, we asked and answered the question “What Is Prayer?”
It is a pouring out of our soul (1 Samuel 1:15) to heaven in an effort to have a relationship with our Creator and draw closer to our God (Psalm 73:28).
Today, we are going to continue looking at prayer but this time we are going to ask the question “How Are We To Pray?”
It’s one thing to know we must pray but another to understand “how we are to pray.”
Proper biblical prayer is threefold.
We discussed last week and mentioned just a moment ago one aspect of prayer which is understanding the motive behind prayer.
It is the pouring out of our soul to God in every aspect of our life so as to draw closer to the Father, Son, and Spirit.
The next two we are going to examine today beginning with…
Reverent Actions
Reverent Actions
Physical Prayer Positions.
Physical Prayer Positions.
We see “bowing down.”
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
11 The Lord will be awesome against them; for he will famish all the gods of the earth, and to him shall bow down, each in its place, all the lands of the nations.
We see “kneeling.”
41 And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed,
36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.
We see “falling on the face.”
22 And they fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?”
39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
We see “standing.”
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven,
25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
We see “lifting of hands.”
2 Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.
8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;
Summary
Summary
All of this tells us two things…
First, there is no specific physical action we must perform while praying.
In other words, we don’t have to stand every time we pray or kneel every time we pray.
Second, what we actually never see is someone praying in a physically non-reverent position.
What I mean by this is our physical posture should be considered, more often than not, when we pray.
Prayer is not something that is a haphazard wandering without thought when it comes to our physical reverence to God, rather it is something we must consider and develop in our prayer life.
This means we must work at always being…
Ready To Pray
Ready To Pray
What Does This Mean?
What Does This Mean?
Being always ready to pray means, our heart is true going into our prayer.
61 Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Being always ready to pray means, our lips are free from deceit going into our prayer.
1 Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!
Being always ready to pray means, we are confident that God will hear us and answer us before we go to Him in prayer.
7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.
14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
Being always ready to pray means, we are ready to submit to God’s will before we pray.
42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
Being always ready to pray means, we want to communicate with our God before we begin to pray.
1 Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy! 2 Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned.
Summary
Summary
All of this tells us that before we even say one word to God we must be prepared to do so.
This isn’t saying prayer can’t or shouldn’t be spontaneous, it is sometimes, but that our life is being lived in such a way that if necessary our spontaneous prayer won’t be hindered.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Unger’s Bible Dictionary says about prayer, “Prayer, is the expression of man’s dependence upon God for all things.”
When we pray to our God for help, thanksgivings, blessings, repentance, confession, our joy and trust, or anything else let it be done in accordance with God’s will with the desire to draw closer to our Creator our Father in heaven.
Invitation
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.