Prayer - Intimacy with God

The purpose of salvation is to restore lost people to relationship with God our Father. Through the cross of Jesus, the barriers to that relationship were removed. When we begin to trust God once again and turn from our sin, He comes into our lives to begin a new relationship of love with us. God is in every true Christian (Romans 8:9,10; John 14:23; Revelation 3:20; 2 Corinthians 13:5). Our faith and love towards God will lead us to recognise His presence with us, to talk with Him, to listen to Him, to sense Him. This is prayer. We express our thanks, our faith, our love, our hopes with God in prayer, and we receive from Him answers, assurance, guidance, peace, strength, power, revelation of who He is and what He wants to do. (Matthew 7:7-8; John 16:13; Philippians 4:6-7; Ephesians 1:17,18 ).

This teaching Copyright (C) 1996-2007, Michael Fackerell

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• What is Prayer
• Why Pray?
• How to Begin
• Preparing Yourself to Pray
• Principles in Prayer
• Steps Following Prayer
• Types of Prayer
• Praying the Word
• Dedication to Prayer
• Key Bible References on Prayer

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WHAT IS PRAYER?

For true Christians, prayer [Gk: "proseuche"] is "communion with God". Through prayer we actually experience relationship with God. The quality of our prayer life then determines the quality of our relationship with God. Prayer is talking with God. Prayer is listening to God. Prayer is enjoying the presence of God. It can take many forms - for example: worship, confession, thanksgiving, praise, petition (asking for things), waiting (silent, listening and sensing of God) and warfare (command). If we are baptised in the Spirit we can pray with the spirit, in languages unknown to us but not to God. (1 Corinthians 14:2,14).

Prayer is not simply saying words. It is not repeating formulas. God is looking for heartfelt relationship. We are told by Jesus not to make meaningless repetitions of words when we pray. (Mathew 6:7). Tongues may be meaningless to our understanding, but it is not to God. In a future lesson we will give more attention to this subject.

There is a lot of prayer that never reaches God. "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself" (Luke 18:11). "One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer shall be an abomination." (Proverbs 28:9). It is outside the scope of this lesson to talk about prayers offered to false gods or to the devil. Also, we will not look at religious prayers or traditional prayers that can be uttered without heart. We will be considering prayers that come from one who has repented of his sins to the best of his knowledge, and who walks by faith.

HERE is another article related to prayer, and getting prayer answers.

WHY PRAY?

1. We pray because we love God. We spend time with God in prayer and communion because we love him. Just as a man and woman in love desire to be together and communicate, so we - if we love God - will desire to be with Him and to fellowship with Him in proportion to our love for Him.

2. We pray because we depend on God. God is our source. He is our life (Colossians 3:4). Through prayer we receive the comfort, the strength and all the other resources that we need in life - both naturally and spiritually. Prayer - relationship to God - is as necessary to the spiritual life as air to the natural life.

3. We need to pray in order to resist temptation. "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation." (Mt. 26:41). Much sin is the result of the sin of prayerlessness. Through lack of prayer, we are weak, others are weaker and Satan gains the advantage in our lives.

4. We need to pray because it is necessary for men to invite God to act in salvation. God gave the earth to Adam and his descendants. We must invite God to work here. If no-one invites God to work here, Satan (the god of this world through man's universal rebellion - 2 Corinthians 4:4) will dominate the affairs of men and eventually the judgment of God will come. By inviting God often and specifically, multitudes can be saved that would otherwise be lost.

5. We need to pray because God commands us to pray. "Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving." (Colossians 4:2). "Then he [Jesus] spoke a parable to them to this end, that men ought always to pray and not lose heart." (Luke 18:1). The need to pray is as great as the authority of God which commands us: "Pray without ceasing." (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Prayer is so vital to all that God wants to do on the earth, and so essential to us, that God commands us to do it all the time. We should even deny ourselves sleep and food at times in order to pray more and with greater power. (Matthew 6:16; Luke 6:12; Luke 21:36; Colossians 4:2; 2 Corinthians 11:27).

HOW TO BEGIN

If you are not sure how to pray, don't despair! Everyone had to begin sometime. Just talk with God respectfully but openly. Talk with Him as your Father. Jesus taught us to pray, "Our Father ...". Recognise God as a loving Father. Recognise Jesus as a Friend and a Brother. Recognise the Holy Spirit as your Comforter and Guide. Come to the Father in Jesus' name (John 14:6; Hebrews 10:19). Begin your prayer with confession of your unconfessed sins. In this way the blood of Jesus cleanses us and prepares us to really relate to God. "Enter his gates with thanksgiving..." (Psalm 100:4). Thank God for forgiving your sins, for coming into your life, for making you His child. Then just talk with God, asking Him for whatever you need. Thank Him and praise Him for His answer. Spend time also asking for His Spirit to help you to pray. Talk to the Holy Spirit. Tell Him you want to know Him. "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us..." (Romans 8:26). The Holy Spirit will guide you into all the truth (John 16:13) and He will teach you to pray.

PREPARING YOURSELF TO PRAY

1. Prepare your heart for fellowship with God (Psalm 24:3-5)

- Confess known sin in your life (1 John 1:6-9; 1 John 3:21-22; Hebrews 10:19)

- Forgive all who have offended or hurt you (Mark 11:25-26)

- See yourself then as dead to sin and sinless in the eyes of God. (Romans 6:11; 2 Corinthians 5:21)

2. Have a purpose in prayer. Know what you are going to pray about. It is difficult to pray fervently without knowing what you want or desire from God. We should have a clear-cut, well-defined idea about what we are asking God for. If we do not have this, we can wait on God until He reveals His purpose for our prayer time. We do this by sitting still, or by worshiping in our hearts, waiting for God to place desires there. We can also begin by telling God our appreciation for Him.

Jesus told us to ask, seek and knock. (Matthew 7:7). In asking, we must be definite. In seeking, our goal is to know God and commune with Him. In knocking (intercession) we must understand what the Lord wants to do and pray the Word for that thing.

Sometimes we do not know what to pray for, and so we can pray in the Spirit (Romans 8:26). We can pray in tongues without understanding, even for hours, according to the will of God. However, Paul stated that he prayed with the spirit and with the understanding (1Corinthians 14:15). Our whole being, including our minds, should be involved in praying. Our minds should understand what we are asking God for. However, we can pray with the spirit (in tongues) when our minds need a rest (Isaiah 28:11,12)

The fact remains, however, that when we set ourselves to pray, especially in a group, we must be agreed about what we will pray for (Matthew 18:19). The issues that are important to the Lord may become clear as we wait upon God and begin to express ourselves to God, opening our hearts to Him.

3. Know what the Word of God says regarding the thing you are praying for.

We must renew our minds with the Word so that we know God's will on the matter without a doubt. God's will is to do what He promises in the Word. By meditating on the Word and letting it transform our hearts as we renew our mind in it, we prepare ourselves to pray in faith. If we don't know what the Word says, there is a good chance that doubt will enter, and if we doubt we cannot expect to receive from God (James 1:6,7)

PRINCIPLES IN PRAYER

1. Depend on the Holy Spirit.

In prayer, you should look to the Holy Spirit to help you to pray effectively. He can give you the right words with which you can pray effectively. Its very good to ask the Holy Spirit to help you to pray. Talk to the Holy Spirit as a person, and ask Him to help you to come to the Father in Jesus' name.

Rather than rushing in to God's presence and saying many things, it is good many times to quieten your mind and wait in God's presence so you can feel God's heart and pray the things that the Holy Spirit shows you to pray for. We should realise that learning to listen to God is an important part of prayer.

We are told to "pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:18). It is the Spirit who is to lead us in the kind of prayer we offer to God. He gives us the power to pray.

Spend at least part of your time seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). The more filled you are with the Spirit, the more effective will be your whole life with God.

2. Realise who you are in Christ, and on what basis God will hear you.

We must pray to the Father in Jesus' name, not our own name (John 16:24,26; Colossians 3:17) This means that we are basing our approach to God on Jesus' righteousness and goodness, not on our own. We receive His righteousness when we repent, confess our sins and believe that we receive His righteousness. We should know then that "we are the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21) and we can come directly to have an audience with God because of the sacrifice of Jesus in our place. We come as children of God (Galatians 3:26; John 1:12), as members of the royal family of God (Revelation 1:6), and NOT AS BEGGARS or STRANGERS. Therefore when we pray we should expect that God will grant results in response to our prayer. (1 Peter 3:12)

3. It is good to begin your prayer with thanksgiving and praise. "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name." (Psalm 100:4). Thank God for answers to prayer, for your salvation. Tell Him how great He is. It is good to use the Word of God to praise God. This is not a form of flattery in order to get God to give you things, but it is only fitting to thank Him and praise Him. Thanking God will increase your faith. Praising God will also increase your faith, since you will begin to fix your eyes on God, His goodness and faithfulness and greatness and power, and not on your problem.

4. Worship God. Many effective prayer-warriors recognise the importance of spending much time in worship, even up to 80% of prayer time. This deepens our fellowship with God, increases our faith and pleases the Holy Spirit. We are then more likely to really hear His voice and thus pray effectively.

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