The most perfect and ideal prayer we can make is to commend ourselves unto God's care, let His will be done in a prayer of relinquishment, and have the faith to mean it when we say, "Amen!" We must dismiss the notion that we can change God, but let successful prayer change us.
Jesus rebuked the vain repetitions of the Pharisees and the meaningless long-winded prayers they were wont to do, then He formulated the Lord's Prayer because the disciples asked Him "Lord, teach us to pray," of all things to want to learn. This prayer was never meant to be a recital or vain repetition, but the answer to the question, "How shall we pray?" (not "What shall we pray?). It is never wrong to go through the petitions and pray them as long as one comprehends it and meditates on it while doing it. Therefore, everything we need to know about prayer is in this paradigm or framework Jesus gave us if we understand and apply it rightly. The vital link is, "How big is our God?" because this affects our prayer life and our faith in the answers--that is why it is said, "Be it done unto you according to your faith."
God's name or reputation is holy and worthy of praise; for He exalts above all things His name and His Word (Psalm 138:2). Prayer, by definition, is communion or communication with the Almighty and that means it is two-way--not just us doing all the talking. We have to learn to listen like Samuel who prayed, "Speak LORD, for your servant hears." The more we listen, the more we hear; we must practice this fervently because hearing God, as well as prayer to Him are like muscles one must exercise to be fit--we don't want to become unfit or turn a deaf ear to God by negligence or because we are remiss or derelict doing our part. The book of Job (33:14) says that God speaks to man, but he doesn't hear. God always speaks to me when I read the Scriptures because I have trained myself in this discipline. Sometimes God has much to say and we do all the talking. One way God speaks to us is by verses we have committed to memory, something a believer told us in edification, or some circumstance. Being cognizant of His control or providence shows our faith and how we will interpret the answers.
Psalm 100:4 says to "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, enter His courts with praise." For the LORD "inhabits the praises of His people" according to Psalm 22:3. The essence of prayer is communication and to change us, not change the unchangeable one! The purpose of prayer is prayer--we should love to touch base with God and stay in fellowship with Him by keeping short accounts of our sins and confessing them ("If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the LORD would not have listened," says Psalm 66:18) and we should "pray without ceasing," which means that we keep the conversation going (our attitude and fellowship) as Brother Lawrence, the humble cook and Carmelite monk in a monastery, did in the seventeenth century when he wrote The Practice of the Presence of God, which is a classic on the continuity of daily fellowship in our labors.
When we do corporate or public prayer one goal is to be a witness to others and teach them how to pray and be an example; and, if possible, to convert any unbeliever by our witness. All prayer should be in the power of the Spirit, as it says in Jude 21: "Pray in the Spirit." We should strive to put our heart into our prayers, but sincerity is not everything if we ask amiss or are wrong. Just because we can put a lot of emotion into it is no guarantee that God will answer affirmatively. Prayer is, in summation, acknowledging God for who He is and what He has done; thanking Him for what He has done, and praising Him for who He is. The better we know God, the better our prayers.
When we pray we should think of putting on Christ and assuming our role and position as a son of God and having the authorization to use Christ's name and permission to call the Most High our Father--the angels don't have this authority and power to influence God--remember prayer is the ordained means that God uses to accomplish His will and we are acting as vessels of honor, being used for His glory. This implies intimacy and the more we pray, the closer we get to God--if we don't pray much, it is because we probably don't believe God is listening or answering our prayers. Finally, our prayers are in the power enabling the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who puts our feeble words and baby talk or lisping into groans too deep for words to the Father. "For we know not how to pray as we ought, but the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us." We go to the top in our prayer, the Most High, who is the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He has an open-door policy, which means we are always welcome and God is never inconvenienced.
We should think of the attributes of God when we pray: His greatness or awesomeness (nothing is too great, nor too small for God--they are all small); His sovereignty (we can be assured that He is in control and we are on the winning side); God is omnipotent or almighty (nothing too big for God--"Is anything too hard for Me?" says the LORD in Jeremiah 32:17); God is eternal and everlasting (He has all the time in the world to answer our prayer and time is no object, because He is not bound, defined, limited, nor in the time/space continuum that we are slaves to--this means God knows the future from the past and can forgive our sins past, present, and future as an example. God is worthy of praise, worship is essentially "worth-ship" because only God is worthy to be worshiped--we can't praise God too much, in fact, there is power in praise!
Prayer is where the action is and is the acid test or the so-called litmus test of our spiritual relationship. Many people have weak prayer life because they take themselves too seriously; we should pray as we can and not as we can't. It is a trick in prayer to learn to pray the Word and claim its promises. It is not to be seen as a duty but as a glorious calling and honor. Learn to be sensitive to the inner voice of the Holy Spirit and the promptings He will give. God does speak; it's just that man doesn't listen. "Indeed God speaks once, Or twice, yet no one notices it" (Job 33:14). In sum, the greatest prayer is one of relinquishment, uttering in the manner of Jesus, "Thy will be done! Soli Deo Gloria!
Jesus rebuked the vain repetitions of the Pharisees and the meaningless long-winded prayers they were wont to do, then He formulated the Lord's Prayer because the disciples asked Him "Lord, teach us to pray," of all things to want to learn. This prayer was never meant to be a recital or vain repetition, but the answer to the question, "How shall we pray?" (not "What shall we pray?). It is never wrong to go through the petitions and pray them as long as one comprehends it and meditates on it while doing it. Therefore, everything we need to know about prayer is in this paradigm or framework Jesus gave us if we understand and apply it rightly. The vital link is, "How big is our God?" because this affects our prayer life and our faith in the answers--that is why it is said, "Be it done unto you according to your faith."
God's name or reputation is holy and worthy of praise; for He exalts above all things His name and His Word (Psalm 138:2). Prayer, by definition, is communion or communication with the Almighty and that means it is two-way--not just us doing all the talking. We have to learn to listen like Samuel who prayed, "Speak LORD, for your servant hears." The more we listen, the more we hear; we must practice this fervently because hearing God, as well as prayer to Him are like muscles one must exercise to be fit--we don't want to become unfit or turn a deaf ear to God by negligence or because we are remiss or derelict doing our part. The book of Job (33:14) says that God speaks to man, but he doesn't hear. God always speaks to me when I read the Scriptures because I have trained myself in this discipline. Sometimes God has much to say and we do all the talking. One way God speaks to us is by verses we have committed to memory, something a believer told us in edification, or some circumstance. Being cognizant of His control or providence shows our faith and how we will interpret the answers.
Psalm 100:4 says to "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, enter His courts with praise." For the LORD "inhabits the praises of His people" according to Psalm 22:3. The essence of prayer is communication and to change us, not change the unchangeable one! The purpose of prayer is prayer--we should love to touch base with God and stay in fellowship with Him by keeping short accounts of our sins and confessing them ("If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the LORD would not have listened," says Psalm 66:18) and we should "pray without ceasing," which means that we keep the conversation going (our attitude and fellowship) as Brother Lawrence, the humble cook and Carmelite monk in a monastery, did in the seventeenth century when he wrote The Practice of the Presence of God, which is a classic on the continuity of daily fellowship in our labors.
When we do corporate or public prayer one goal is to be a witness to others and teach them how to pray and be an example; and, if possible, to convert any unbeliever by our witness. All prayer should be in the power of the Spirit, as it says in Jude 21: "Pray in the Spirit." We should strive to put our heart into our prayers, but sincerity is not everything if we ask amiss or are wrong. Just because we can put a lot of emotion into it is no guarantee that God will answer affirmatively. Prayer is, in summation, acknowledging God for who He is and what He has done; thanking Him for what He has done, and praising Him for who He is. The better we know God, the better our prayers.
When we pray we should think of putting on Christ and assuming our role and position as a son of God and having the authorization to use Christ's name and permission to call the Most High our Father--the angels don't have this authority and power to influence God--remember prayer is the ordained means that God uses to accomplish His will and we are acting as vessels of honor, being used for His glory. This implies intimacy and the more we pray, the closer we get to God--if we don't pray much, it is because we probably don't believe God is listening or answering our prayers. Finally, our prayers are in the power enabling the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who puts our feeble words and baby talk or lisping into groans too deep for words to the Father. "For we know not how to pray as we ought, but the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us." We go to the top in our prayer, the Most High, who is the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He has an open-door policy, which means we are always welcome and God is never inconvenienced.
We should think of the attributes of God when we pray: His greatness or awesomeness (nothing is too great, nor too small for God--they are all small); His sovereignty (we can be assured that He is in control and we are on the winning side); God is omnipotent or almighty (nothing too big for God--"Is anything too hard for Me?" says the LORD in Jeremiah 32:17); God is eternal and everlasting (He has all the time in the world to answer our prayer and time is no object, because He is not bound, defined, limited, nor in the time/space continuum that we are slaves to--this means God knows the future from the past and can forgive our sins past, present, and future as an example. God is worthy of praise, worship is essentially "worth-ship" because only God is worthy to be worshiped--we can't praise God too much, in fact, there is power in praise!
Prayer is where the action is and is the acid test or the so-called litmus test of our spiritual relationship. Many people have weak prayer life because they take themselves too seriously; we should pray as we can and not as we can't. It is a trick in prayer to learn to pray the Word and claim its promises. It is not to be seen as a duty but as a glorious calling and honor. Learn to be sensitive to the inner voice of the Holy Spirit and the promptings He will give. God does speak; it's just that man doesn't listen. "Indeed God speaks once, Or twice, yet no one notices it" (Job 33:14). In sum, the greatest prayer is one of relinquishment, uttering in the manner of Jesus, "Thy will be done! Soli Deo Gloria!
- It is well said that we should pray as if all depends on God, and work as if it all depends on us. The purpose of prayer is simply to get God's will done on earth, not our will done in heaven. A good prayer is not the last resort, but the first line of defense or request. It is the acid test of our spirituality, but some of us have become hard-of-hearing spiritually and don't listen for answers; however, He never turns a deaf ear to us but is disposed to answer our petitions. Pray like a hedonist: "O Lord, I want to be where you are!" We long for His presence (Psalm 16:11; 84:2). In prayer, we boldly approach the throne room of the Father--another dimension. Prayer doesn't take time, it saves time--it's an investment to redeem the time for God. Martin Luther started out each day with at least 2 hours in prayer, and more if he was busy; John Wesley would devote entire days to prayer.