Contents
1.
Pray for Anything?
2.
Praying as Guided by Jesus in Scripture
3.
Praying as Guided by the Holy Spirit
4.
Praying in the will of Jesus
5.
Praying out Scripture
1.
Pray for Anything?
-
what does a child ask its father?
-
it asks father for things
- it
asks father for help
- it
asks father questions
- what
else does a child say to its father?
- it
tells him what it feels
- it
tells him what it is doing
- it
tells him what it hopes
- it
learns to say thank you for what it receives
Somebody
has suggested for Phil 4:6 the following:
“Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything and tell
God all your needs and then don't forget to thank Him for His answers.”
From that we see we can pray about?
Remember God knows about every area of your life and nothing
is hid from Him. Think about that: He knows about every intimate area
of your life and there's absolutely nothing hidden from Him. We also
need to remember that He knows everything there is to know about everything,
including our own areas of “expertise” See Lk 5:1-9 for
the shock Peter had when he suddenly realised this!
Jas 4:2 also provokes us with the suggestion that perhaps
we don't have because we don't ask (we'll see what follows on later)
and so the reminder is there
- ask! Don't be afraid of asking, little children ask of their fathers.
2.
Praying as Guided by Jesus in Scripture
In Scripture, in the so-called “Lord's
Prayer” of Mt 6:9-13, Jesus gives us some guidelines as to what to ask
for:
v.9 “Our Father in heaven”
-
there
it is again, a loving, caring child to father relationship
-
He
is in heaven overseeing us and waiting for us
-
He
has all the resources of heaven at His disposal
v.9 “hallowed be your name”
v.10
“your kingdom come”
v.10 “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”
-
a
desire to see God's desires to be fulfilled as clearly on earth
as they are perfectly done in heaven
-
this requires our lives to be lived out to the best of our
understanding, not merely praying it, but seeking it as well
v.11 “Give us today our daily bread
-
a
realisation that we entirely rely on God for our daily need
-
we can ask for wisdom to know “how” (Jas 1:5)
-
we can ask for the grace (ability to cope and triumph) needed for
any and every situation (Phil 4:19 / 2 Cor 9:8)
v.12 “Forgive us our debts”
v.12
“as we forgive others”
v.13 “and lead us not into temptation”
v.13 “but deliver us from the evil one”
v.13 “for yours is the kingdom”
So
daily we can :
3.
Praying as Guided by the Holy Spirit
In Eph 6:18 Paul encourages us to
pray in the Spirit on all occasions, or pray as led by the Spirit. This
means that as we develop in the Christian faith, seeking to do His will,
we also seek to learn to be guided and directed by the prompting of
the Holy Spirit from within. To achieve this we need to observe one
or two simple guidelines
1.
We do need to be praying (see also Jas 4:2)
-
it is as we pray that we are led
- it
is easy to talk about prayer but rarely do it!
2.
We need to be listening
- if
we are to be led, it means we hear from God
- we
need a listening, attentive attitude
- we
need to clear our minds and focus on Him
- we
will need to learn to be disciplined and not side-tracked
3.
We need to check everything against Scripture
- the
Bible is to be our ultimate check
4.
Praying in the Will of Jesus
As we pray led by the Spirit,
- we
may expect Him to give us a sense of what Jesus wants us to
do,
- that
we may pray it out and
In
Jn 14:13 Jesus promises that he will do whatever we ask in his name.
That last little phrase means that we ask things that Jesus would
want us to ask. It is as if we come to Father and say, “Father,
I ask this because I believe Jesus wants this”
In
Jn 15:7 Jesus says that he will give us whatever we ask when we remain
in him and his words remain in us. This condition means we will
get what we ask when we maintain a close relationship with him and his
teaching fills our minds, so that when we pray we are praying out his
heart.
Finally,
Jas 4:3 tells us that we don't receive when we ask in prayer when we
ask for selfish motives. There is a very real sense therefore that prayer
is bringing us in line with Jesus' will. Perhaps, therefore, we should
view it as a learning experience, whereby we learn to hear from God
by His word and by His Spirit and pray that out.
5.
Praying out Scripture
If the Bible is God's declared will,
then if we use Scripture to focus our praying, we will find that we
are praying out God's will and the Holy Spirit will witness within us
the truth of what we are praying, and faith will be released. This is
not possible with all Scripture but it is with much. Use the Scripture
as a source for thanks, declaration and petition.
An example using Eph 2:8-10 is shown below:
Father, thank you that you have saved me, and it is
by grace.
Thank you that it is all because of what you have done through
Jesus, Thank you that it's all a
free gift. I didn't have to work for it
Thank you that you have a purpose for me
Please help me to walk in that purpose with understanding
Thank you that I can rest in your leading me into it
Please release faith in me more and more to do your works.
To
finish, choose your own passage and pray it out .
If
you want to ask anything further about these things, contact Tony Thomas:
tony.thomas@rochfordcc.co.uk
Sunday Services
Back to Prayer Contents Page