WHAT IS PRAYER?
Our Prayer is how we communicate directly with God. It is a spiritual connection that transcends time and space. God made it easy for us to connect with Him without needing any electronics or intermediary to reach Him. Prayer is one-to-one with God.
WHO CAN PRAY?
Anyone can pray, believers and unbelievers alike. Believers in Christ are praying to their God. Unbelievers who cry out to the Lord, God will still hear them. God said He is good.
The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. Psalm 145:9 KJV.
Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the way. Psalm 25:8 KJV.
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Matthew 7:11 KJV.
He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. Psalm 33:5 KJV.
The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. Nahum 1:7 KJV.
Throughout the Bible, God is good, provides justice, and teaches His ways of righteousness. That is the reason for His Word given to us. No man is good on his own, and all have sinned before God. Without His Word, there would be no transformation or need to know the ways of God. What God made was good would ultimately turn to pure evil and death of the soul in judgment. One can look around the world and see the evidence of this firsthand. All the places void of Christ are self-destructing by violence, poverty, tyranny, decaying, evil-spirited, lawless, idolatrous, greedy, possessive, destructive, abusive, heartless, and generally devoid of any good. God said His spirit could not dwell with man forever, shortening our lifespan to 120 years. Genesis 6:3. Within this time, God gave us free will to choose Him and His Kingdom or die without Him in decay and evil to lose the soul. Christ gave us His Arc for salvation, a way out of Satan’s Kingdom of darkness and evil.
HOW DO WE PRAY?
We come before God in a moment for supplication. Supplication means to ask humbly in prayer. Jesus taught us how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13 KJV:
“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
WHY DO WE PRAY?
Jesus encourages us to pray. In Luke 18:1 NIV,
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
Jesus told them a parable regarding a persistent widow who never stopped asking the town’s Judge to grant her justice from her adversary. The Judge finally granted her justice not because he feared God but because the woman kept bothering him to wear him down. Luke 18:1-5 KJV.
The Judge said, “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:7-8 NIV.
WHEN DO WE PRAY, OR WHERE SHOULD WE PRAY?
There are no rules to prayer but general guidance. You pray when you want to talk to God and ask for help. You can pray anywhere and at any time. In much of the Scriptures, it says to cry out to the Lord.
In Jonah 2:1-2 KJV,
Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly, And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
In 1 Thess. 5:17 KJV, we are told to “pray without ceasing.” In Matthew 6:5-8 NIV, we are to pray in secret and not be repetitious babblers:
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
WHAT TYPES OF PRAYERS?
Your relationship with God will determine how far your prayers will go. No prayer is too big or too small for God.
Jabez prayed for blessings and to enlarge his coast. God granted his prayer.
Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him what he requested. 1 Chronicles 4:10 KJV.
We ought to pray for others, our leaders, our country, and even on behalf of our enemies. Paul often prayed for intercession and on behalf of others.
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 1 Tim.2:1-2 KJV.
Make your requests known in anticipation of results.
Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.” Micah 7:7 KJV. Jesus said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. Mark 9:23 NKJV.
Prayers of thanksgiving and expressing your gratitude to God for what he has done for your already.
What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me? Psalm 116:12 KJV.
In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1 Thess.5:18 KJV.
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. Psalm 121:1 KJV.
Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving. Colossians 4:2 KJV.
We pray against spiritual warfare and demonic attacks from the enemy; prayers to break strongholds over us.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12 KJV.
We pray for supernatural healing for ourselves and others.
And the Lord shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them. Isaiah 19:22 KJV.
WHY THEN DO MY PRAYERS GO UNANSWERED?
People often pray with the wrong motive or lack of faith to receive what they ask for. This is why this article attempts to help the reader understand the power of prayer and pray the right way so that the gift of God hears us.
Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. Psalm 24:3-4 NKJV.
A few reasons are outlined below for why your prayers may not be answered.
1 YOUR FAITH: When you pray, have faith and believe that your prayers have been answered. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 KJV. By faith Able, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sara, Jacob, and Isaac received their blessings and were answered supernaturally by God. Hebrews 11:2-11. “But without faith, it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 KJV.
2. PRAYING AMISS: “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” James 4:3 KJV.
3. STATE OF THE HEART: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” Jeremiah 17:9-10.
“The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.” Proverbs 20:27 KJV.
“There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.” Proverbs 19:21 KJV.
4. DEFILING YOURSELF: Daniel kept himself holy and did not defile himself in what he ate, drank, or conducted. “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.” Daniel 1:8-9 KJV.
“Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.” Ecclesiastes 9:8 KJV.
5. UNFORGIVENESS: Be quick to forgive and sin not. If anyone offends you, make peace. “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.” Mark 11:25 NKJV.
6. GUILT: We are to walk boldly into His presence. Christ has forgiven us and cleansed us from all our unrighteousness upon faith. We do not live our lives in guilt once repented of our sins. We are not to continue to condemn ourselves.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1 KJV.
By faith, our guilty flesh is made clean. Therefore, we are to come to God without guilt and shame but reborn in the Spirit of God.
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered.” Psalm 32:1 NKJV.
You are praying to your idols instead of God. There is no need to worship objects, people, or saints. God has given us a direct connection to Himself through Jesus. Jesus is our intercessor. If you follow man's religion for your salvation, God will give you over to what you believe. However, God loves all people, even if they do not yet know Him. He hears all people of all nationalities and faith because He is a good God.
CONCLUSION
We talk to God through our prayers. When we don’t know how to pray or what to pray, the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf. We can pray the prayer as Jesus taught us. We can ask for anything with a pure motive and a clean heart. God will hear us if we call out to Him by faith. He will answer our prayers in His goodness and according to His will. God answers prayers in His own time and due season. His ways are not your ways, and His thoughts are not your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8. “To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV. So, continue praying, and your prayers will be answered.
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