Prayer

  • James 5:16
  • Nick Maritz
  • Jan 1, 2012
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    • Prayer

    • Nick & Deirdre Maritz
    • May 12, 2009

    COURSE PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    Purpose

    The purpose of this course is to establish in each believer an understanding of the principles of prayer mainly taught by Jesus.  In this course, we will conduct a topical study of prayer. Through this course students should be challenged to make prayer a continuous and effective part of their Christian lives.

    Outline

    Introduction

    1. The foundations for prayer
    2. Prayer principles taught in the Lord’s prayer
    3. Principles to apply for answered prayer
    4. Attitudes in prayer
    5. Praying in Jesus name

    Supplementary Reading

    1. Read chapters 6-7 of Matthew’s gospel.
    2. Read what Jesus, Paul, Peter, James, John and Jude taught on prayer in the New Testament.

    References

    1. Hagin, K E 2006 Bible Prayer Study Course. Faith Library Publications.
    2. Dunn, R 1994 Don’t just stand there…..pray something. Scripture Press Foundation
    3. Nee, W 1977 Let us pray. Christian Fellowship Publishers.
    4. Sheets, D 1996 Intercessory Prayer. Regal Books.
    5. Dake, F J 2007 God’s plan for man. Printcorp.
    6. Laurie, G 2003 New believers guide to prayer. Tyndale House Publishers Inc.

    Lesson 1

    Outline:

    1. The sovereignty of God
    2. Why the need to pray?
    3. Prayer
    4. A key attitude in prayer

    1. The Sovereignty of God  

    Definition – “God is the supreme power and in that he has absolute dominion over all creatures”.

    God’s sovereignty is absolute. (1 Timothy 6:15-16)

    • He is under no restraint whatsoever.
    • God is the supreme dispenser of all events.
    • All forms of existence fall in the scope of His dominion.

    God is bigger than your understanding of Him.

    The Jacob Syndrome (Gen 32:29)

    • We struggle to tolerate our helplessness and desire to wrestle with God hoping that we could change or coerce God to act on our behalf.
    • We thirst to find God and to bind Him to us.
    • Our expectations, needs, wants and commands do not bid him.
    • God will only be moved to do something because its His will

    The mystery of God’s freedom

    • God remains free to act as He chooses
    • Compare Ezekiel 22:30 with Isaiah 59:16
    • We anticipate and form mental pictures of how God should answer our prayers with time, place and method included. However, often the answer is so different to the picture (Luke 1:5-20) 

    2. Why the need to Pray?

    Psalms 139: 1-2,4,16

    Matthew 6:8

    “Since God knows everything before we even ask Him, why should I pray?” (Matthew 6:8)

    “Why does God need our prayers?”

    “Prayer is the offering up ones desires for lawful and needful things and things we want that are promised by God, with humble confidence that we will attain them through Jesus Christ for God’s glory” Finis J Dake

    2.1     Relationship

    2.1.1    Prayer is not a religious exercise, but a human necessity Matthew 6:7

    2.1.2    One of God’s primary reasons for creating man was to have fellowship/relationship/communion with him.

    2.1.3 Prayer is the simple act of communicating with God, your Father.

    2.1.4    Prayer is a fine balance between talking and listening

    2.1.5    Prayer builds fellowship with God and ignites your relationship with God.

    2.1.6    The right relationship with God is the basis for answered prayer

    • Our Father (Matthew 7:7-11)
    • If we abide in Him (John 15:7,16)
    • Those that believe in Jesus (John 14:12-15) (1 John 5: 13-15)
    • Clear conscience (1 John 3:20-24)

    2.2  Partnership

    “Prayer is essentially a partnership of the redeemed child of God working hand in hand with God towards the realisation of His redemptive purposes of earth” – Dutch Sheets

    2.2.1    God has chosen to work through humans on earth and not independent of them

    2.2.2 God’s original plan was that man would have dominion over the entire earth and all creation (Genesis 1:26-28)

    2.2.3    Satan gained the foothold of dominion that God had given to man (John 14:30, Matthew 4:8-9, 2 Corinthians 4:4)

    2.2.4    God is sovereign and all-powerful but He limited Himself, concerning the affairs of earth, to working through humans.

    • Daniel – Daniel 9
    • Elijah – 1 Kings 18, James 17:18
    • Nehemiah – Nehemiah 1-2
    • Does God need our prayers? – Ezekiel 22:30,31

    3. Prayer

    3.1  Prayer should glorify God (John 14:13-15, 16:24)

    3.2  Prayer is the pursuit of God’s children to enter into Father God’s presence and allow Him to align our wills with His – Its God’s plan for us to partner with Him so that His will is established on earth.

    3.3  We are instructed to pray. Jesus modeled a life of prayer. (Mark 14:36; Luke 3:21, 9:28, 22:42;John 11: 41-43;Matthew 14:19, 19:13, Mark 1:35, 6:46,

    3.4  Some benefits of prayer

    • Keeps us dependant on God
    • Helps us correct, and maintain the correct perspective of, our problems in relation to our awesome Father
    • Helps us overcome anxiety and worry (Phil 4:6)
    • Helps us to resist Satan and overcome temptation (Ephesians 6:12,18)
    • Helps us see and understand Gods will more clearly
    • Builds our faith

    4. A key attitude in prayer

    4.1      You should be praying for results……expect something from God (Matthew 6:7)

    4.2      God created and sustains all things visible and invisible through Jesus (Hebrews 1:2-3)

    4.3      You must approach God knowing that He is all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, able to change anything and able to do exceedingly more that you could ever think or imagine.

    4.4      Jesus responded to those that asked for healing and expected a miracle. (Mark 10:46-52, Matthew 15:21-28)

     

    “The earnest prayers of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results” James 5:16

    Lesson 2

    Outline:

    1. A pattern prayer - The Lord’s prayer
    2. Two common dangers in prayer
    3. Prayer principles from the Lord’s prayer

    A pattern prayer – The Lords Prayer

    2.1.  Introduction

    2.1.1 This prayer is not necessarily a prayer to be prayed word for word but principles in relation to prayer

    2.1.2 The prayer is divided into two parts

    • Part 1: God’s glory
    • Part 2: Our needs

    2.1.3 God’s glory always goes before our needs, first principle to learn about prayer

    2.1.4 All disciples of the Lord should pray.

    2.1.5 Every conceivable need we will ever encounter is dealt with in the pattern prayer

    Two common Dangers in Prayer

    2.2          Don’t pray like hypocrites

    2.2.1     Don’t be hypocrites by praying with the wrong motives

    2.2.2     Hypocrites pray to be seen and to fool man but God will never be fooled. God sees the heart/motives of man.

    2.2.3     This is a mistake made deliberately.

    2.2.4     Hypocrites pervert the purpose if prayer

    2.2.5     We must pray with sincerity (verse 5)

    2.2.6     Jesus commands us to pray privately.

    2.2.7     This does not mean that all prayer should be private because we should also be involved in corporate prayer.

    2.2.8     It’s our duty to build and maintain a healthy, private prayer life so that we could grow spiritually and our relationship with God

    2.2.9     Our reward is that God will hear and answer our prayers

    2.2.10   We must pray with secrecy (verse 6)

    2.3     Don’t pray like heathens

    2.3.1        Vain repetition simply means that they meaninglessly repeat the same prayer word for word, over and over again.

    2.3.2        Reciting prayers requires no faith because your faith rests in the repetition of the prayer and not in the God that answers prayer

    2.3.3        God is not moved by religious practices but by faith. Praying in the wrong manner (James 1:6; 5:15)

    2.3.4        Faith pleases God (Hebrews 11:6)

    2.3.5        This is a mistake made in ignorance

    2.3.6        Heathens misunderstand the nature of prayer

    2.3.7        God answers prayer because you believe Him and not because you pray the right words.

    2.3.8        We must pray with simplicity (verse 7,8)

    2.4     Prayer principles from the Lord’s Prayer

    “Know your Father”

    2.4.1         Emphasis on a new relationship with God by a new birth (John 3:1-8; 2 Corinthians 5:17)

    2.4.2         Emphasis on the right relationship with God through faith. (Galatians 5:24; 1 John 2:29, 1 John3: 7-10; 1 John 5: 1-4)

    • To pray effectively you must be a child of God. You can only address God as your Father if you are His child.
    • God is the creator of all mankind but He is not the Father of all mankind (Ephesians 3:15)
    • Jesus referred to highly religious people as “Children of the devil” (John 8:44)

    2.4.3          We must realise that God is not distant and unapproachable. He wants to draw close to us and He wants us to draw close to Him (Romans 8:15)

    2.4.4          Prayer should be addressed to God the Father (John 16: 23-26, 1 Corinthians 11:3, Ephesians 3: 14-16)

    “Pray that the name of God will be revered”

    2.4.5          Hallowed can be translated as holy

    2.4.6          God is holy, totally and completely perfect and separate from all that is sinful.

    2.4.7          The all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, holy, righteous, good and loving Creator you can approach because He is “Your Father”. This truth should automatically lead you to wanting to worship and adore Him.

    2.4.8          We should start with praising and worshiping God, contemplating His greatness and glory, before we precede with all our petitions (Philippians 4:6, Hebrews 13:15-16)

    “Pray that the rule of God will be established”

    2.4.9          The Kingdom of God and its interests should be the main focus of our prayers

    2.4.10     We put the Kingdom of God first in our lives, even before ourselves (Matthew 6:10)

    • We should not worry about material things. (Matthew 6:25-27).  They will not be taken from you if you put God first, they will only be added to you.
    • God knows your needs, just as a natural father would. (Matthew 6:31-32).
    • You can cast all your cares upon Him: because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7)

    2.4.11     We spend most of our prayer time focusing on our own needs. However, if our priorities are right in prayer, we should not have to do so much praying about our own needs

    “Pray that the will of God be done”

    2.4.12     All prayer should willingly submit to God’s purposes, plans and glory.

    2.4.13     Prayer should accept and agree with God’s will, we are to submit to God’s will in prayer.

    2.4.14     Actively seek to align your will with God’s will through prayer and the word. (Romans 12:2)

    “Pray for daily provision”

    Starting with the right relationship with God our Father, adoring and worshipping Him because we love Him and putting the interests of His Kingdom first leads the way for us to boldly petition God for our own needs.

    Petitions for our needs have its proper place.

    This is not merely requesting from God but acknowledging that all things ultimately come from God. (James 1:17)

    God has committed Himself to meeting the needs of His children and Jesus has taught that we should ask God to provide for us. (Romans 8:32 Matthew 6:11)

    When we ask God to provide we must be diligent and do our part and trust God that He would provide for us

    “Pray for daily pardon”

    Jesus teaches that we need to deal with sin through confession and repentance

    We must deal with wrong motives towards others and forgive as God has forgiven us

    We ask God to forgive us as we have forgiven those that have sinned against me.

    Emphasis is on the right relationship with God and man.

    “Pray for daily protection”

    Guidance and deliverance should be part of our prayer life.

    God does not tempt us we are subjected to trails. (James 1)

    This reflects the desire of a believer to avoid the dangers of sin all together.

    Lesson 3  

    Outline:

    1. Be specific with your prayer and know what the word promises
    2. Ask and believe
    3. Continually thank God for answering your prayers

    1.        Be specific with your prayer and know what the word promises  

    1.1  Decide what you want from God and understand what the word promises regarding those things

    • Be specific not vague in prayer, a short specific prayer is more effective than a long meaningless babbling of words.
    • What are you praying for right now?

    1.2  Pray according to God’s word

    • Faith begins where God’s will is known. (Hebrews 11:1-2)
    • God’s will is His word.
    • Faith grows through the hearing of God’s word (Romans 10:17)
    • Don’t pray for things not promised by the word and out of context.
    • Many people pray “hoping” they will receive what they pray for but things hoped for should be aligned to faith in God’s promises (Hebrews 1:1-2)
    • Get the word of God and His promises firmly fixed in your heart and not only in your mind through meditating on the word (Joshua 1:8, Psalm 119:11, Proverbs 4:20-22)
    • We can not conclude that unanswered prayer is as a result of not being God’s will, if you praying according to the word

    1.3  God only works and moves in line with His word (John 15:7)

    • He has bound Himself to His word.
    • Stand by the word and God will stand by you and make His word good in your life.
    • With God’s word abiding in us we have a good foundation to stand on.

    1.4 Stand up for what belongs to you.

    • We fight for the natural things that belong to us but we are often passive towards the spiritual things that belong to us.
    • We must fight the good fight of faith. If there was not any opposition it would not be a fight (1 Tim 6:12)
    • If God’s word says something belongs to you then it belongs to you.
    • There is a good fight that needs to be fought to appropriate and receive our promises and rightful inheritance in Christ
    • Jesus fought the good fight of faith by quoting the word (Matthew 4:7-11). Jesus did not use any other weapon that we don’t have available to us today

    “God said it, I believe it, that settles it”

    2       Ask and believe

    2.1  To say that you are leaving things up to God because He will automatically do whatever is best for you is not scriptural. –

    • Matthew 6:32
    • Matthew 7:7,8
    • Mark 11:23-24
    • John 16:23-24
    • Ask and then believe that you will receive when you pray. Some people believe before they ask.

    2.2  Believe God’s word and not your senses/circumstances/emotions

    • By asking, let your faith create your reality in life (Romans 4:17)
    • Believing means we must walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7)
    • God is not a liar (Romans3:4)
    • Act like the word is true and base expectations on the word and not on what you see or think
    • Make every prayer a statement of faith

    2.3 Don’t contradict your faith

    • Resist doubting and let every thought and desire affirm that you have the answer.
    • Resist the devil by getting your mind on God’s word and the promised answer (James 4:7, 1 Peter 5:8)
    • Guard your mind because it is the battlefield. (2 Corinthians 10:5, Philippians 4:8)
    • Don’t contradict God’s word with your actions or words, just believe and respond knowing the God has heard you.

     3.    Continually thank God for answered prayer

    • Continually lift your heart to God in praise and gratitude for who He is, what He has done and what He is doing (Philippians 4:6)
    • Replace your anxiety with thanksgiving.

    Lesson 4

    Outline:

    1. Important attitudes in prayer
    2. Praying in Jesus name
    3. Boldness in prayer

     1.    Important attitudes in prayer

    1.1  Forgiveness

    1.1.1        The act of excusing or pardoning others in spite of their slights, shortcomings, and errors.

    1.1.2        Forgiven people are forgiving people (Matthew 18:23-35).

    1.1.3        Prayer will be ineffective because of  a unforgiving spirit (Mark 11:25-26)

    1.1.4        Unforgiveness is a symptom of a sinful heart attitude

    1.1.5        Don’t allow a root of bitterness, envy and revenge to get into your heart. Guard your heart with diligence (Proverbs 4:23).

    1.1.6        Changes in attitude are required from believers, we must forgive others (Ephesians 4:31-32, Colossians 3:12-13, 2 Corinthians 2:5-11)

    1.2  Humility

    1. A freedom from arrogance that grows out of the recognition that all we have and are comes from God, not depending on our own merits.
    2. One of our greatest challenges is not to depend on how long we have been saved, how good we have lived our lives and how much better we are than others. (Luke 18:9-14)
    3. Biblical humility is not a belittling of oneself (Matt. 6:16–18; Rom. 12:3), but an exalting or praising of others, especially God and Christ (John 3:30; Phil. 2:3).
    4. Humble people focus more on God and others than on themselves.
    5. True humility does not produce pride but gratitude.
    6. Humble yourself to God’s plans and call on your life

     1.3     Persistence

    1.3.1         The prayer of importunity (Luke 11:5-13)

                    1.3.1.1       Persistence translated as bold and unashamed (Hebrews 4: 16)

    1.3.2         Persistence in prayer is persisting in faith knowing that God will answer your petitions according to His will

    1.3.3         In our instant world we have forgotten how to persevere.

    1.3.4         Pray and don’t lose heart (1 Kings 18: 42-46)

    1.3.5         Do we give up too quickly?

     2.    Praying in Jesus name

    John14:13, 14:14, 15:16, 16:23, 16:24, 16:26

    2.1      All of God’s children have the legal and redemptive right to use the name of Jesus in asking and receiving from God

    • We have power of attorney to carry on the works of God in the world.
    • Jesus’ statements confirming the power of attorney (Matthew 18:19-20, Mark 16: 15-20, John 14: 12-15, John 15:16, John 16:23-26)
    • God makes good the words of Jesus

    2.2      Praying by Jesus’ authority

    • To pray in Jesus name means to pray “by the authority of”, “in harmony with” or “sanctioned by” Jesus.
    • It is as if Jesus is praying it Himself.
    • God always hears Jesus’ prayers (John 11:41-42) therefore when we pray in Jesus name we have the assurance that God hears our prayers.
    • Our prayers pass into the hands of Jesus and He assumes responsibility for the answer (John 14: 12-15)
    • All authority has been given to Jesus in heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18)

    “To pray in Jesus name, is to pray according to His will, with His approval, and consistent with His nature, character and purpose. It is as though Jesus Himself were making the request. That is our authority.” – Ronald Dunn

    3.      Boldness in prayer

    3.1  Boldness in prayer shows our need and friendship with God. (Luke 11:5-8)

    3.2  Fear to come into Gods presence indicates lack of faith, trust and relationship usually because our hearts are not with God.

    3.3  Natural confidence before God results from a close walk with God.

    3.4  We are commanded to come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16).

    3.5  We can be bold because Jesus is our great high priest and mediator. If we have such a great friend representing us before the farther how can we fail to get answers in prayer (Romans 8:34, 1 Tim2:4-6)

    3.6  Study Hebrews 10:19-23