#8. PRAYER, Fundamental of the Christian Life
“And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
(Luke 11:1KJV)
Prayer is ‘talking with’ not ‘talking to’ Jesus. It is the pouring of one’s desire to God for all things lawful and needful with confidence that we shall obtain them through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Prayer should consist of at least four parts — ACTS:
A — Adoration: praise and worship of the soul to God.
C — Confession: repentance from every known sin.
T — Thanksgiving
S — Supplication: intercession, requests, petitions, and desires.
Our prayers should be directed to God the Father (Acts 12:5), in the Name of Jesus Christ (Jn. 14:13), through the power of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 6:18).
IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER
Prayer is the vital breath of sustaining the Christian life. To neglect prayer is a grievous sin to the Lord. Many evils in life are to be attributed to the lack of prayer.
We are commanded to pray continuously (Col. 4:2; 1 Thes. 5:17); and we are commanded to take leisure or vacation for prayer when we are fulfilling our conjugal right as married couples (1 Cor. 7:5).
Prayer is God appointed method of our obtaining what He has to bestowed (Mat. 7:7). The lack of all the necessary blessing in life comes from our failure to pray (Jas. 4:2). The apostles of Christ regard prayer as the most important employment that could engage the time and attention (Acts 6:4).
IMPLICIT NATURE OF PRAYER
It is quite interesting to trace the development of prayer in the Scriptures. In the life of the patriarch Abraham prayer took the form of a dialogue (Gen. 18:19); developing into intercession (Gen. 18:23, 33); and then into a personal request (Gen. 15:12; 23:12). So it was in the life of Jacob (Gen. 28:20; 32:9–12). The patriarchal blessings are called prayers (Gen. 49:2; Deut. 33:11).
Prayer could be ejaculatory, secret, family, group and congregational in a public service. It could take place any time, everywhere in the closet, in the temple or fellowship center. Private prayer will be made in the secret place. Family prayer will be made with a small group at home and public prayer will be made before the congregation.
IDEAL OF PRAYER
Many pray but don’t know the ideal, that is the principle of how to comport themselves in order to really relate to God in prayer. And so, their prayer is just a religious noise and mere pandemonium of psychiatric home.
The heart must be pure if our prayer will be answered (Psa. 66:18, 19). We must pray with forgiving spirit (Matt. 6:14). We must pray with simplicity without many words (Mat. 6:5–7). We must pray in humility and repentance with faith in Christ’s Name (2 Chr. 7:14; Mk. 11:24). Our prayer must be in the will of God as we abide in Him (1 Jn. 5:14; Jn. 15:7).
We are to pray for everything like the will of God to be done, daily bread, forgiveness, guidance, victory over temptation and sin and follow Christ’s pattern. We are to pray for all categories of men.
Finally, beware of hindrances to prayer. They are unbelief (Jas. 1:6,7), unforgiving spirit (Mk. 11:25), iniquity (Psa. 66:18), asking amiss- with wrong motives (Jas. 4:3), and marital disharmony (1 Pet. 3:7).
God surely answers prayer (Jer.33:3). The answer could be: Yes (Isa. 65:24), No (2 Cor. 12:7–10), and Wait (Gen. 15:1–6; 21:8). Will you make a commitment to pray now and cease from asking help where there is no help? Do it now on your knees in His presence.
