Video Transcript: Lesson 8 Prayer

Hi, and welcome to Lesson Eight of Christian basics. A lesson on prayer. The writer of the  material is Dr. Ed Roels. And I'm David Feddes presenting this material from Dr Roels and  then adding my own thoughts and comments along with it. Introduction, one of the great  privileges we have as Christians is praying to our Father in heaven. Though he is infinitely  greater than we are, we can speak to him at any time about anything. We do not have to  make a special reservation to talk to him, we do not have to meet him at a special place. And  we do not have to use special words or a special tone of voice. When talking to him. All we  need is a humble and sincere desire to bring before God the deepest feelings and desires of  our hearts. God truly wants us to do that. And he promises to listen. When we do. Jesus  Himself said, When you pray, do not be like the pagans, who go on babbling and babbling  and think they'll be heard because of their many words. God isn't a speech, teacher or he's  not a speech judge. He is your father in heaven. And so you go to him the way a child does to your father, knowing that he already knows what you need, and then you go to him instead of  trying to impress the judge of a speech contest. Question one, why should we pray? The  Bible frequently encourages us and even commands us to pray. Prayer is the gateway to a  close and precious relationship to our Father in heaven. So one answer why should we pray  might be command but the real one word answer to why we should pray is relationship.  Scripture references Proverbs 15:8, the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him. Colossians  4:2, continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. I Thessalonians  5:17, pray without ceasing. There are a whole host of invitations and commands and  encouragement to pray throughout the whole Bible. Question two how should we pray, we  should pray in the name of Jesus. praying in the name of Jesus does not mean that we simply say the name of Jesus, when we pray our end our prayers by say, in Jesus name, Amen. We  can enter prayers that way. But it doesn't just mean rattling off Jesus name. Rather, pray in  the name of Jesus means that we pray humbly, confidently and expectantly because of what  Jesus has done for us. And in order for our lives to show the life of Jesus in us. So to pray in  the name of Jesus is to pray on the authority of Jesus based on the accomplishments of  Jesus, in tune with the desires of Jesus. You can't say, in the name of Jesus Lord helped me  to be a successful mass murderer. You know, you just can't pray in the name of Jesus for  things that are totally out of tune with Jesus, you're praying in Christ. Scripture references,  Jesus said, whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Now again, that doesn't mean you think if your request, Lord, give me the latest luxury  cars that I really, really want, and I want it Jesus name, Amen. That's not what Jesus means  by whatever you ask in my name, again, it's on his authority, the things he's authorized you to  ask for the things that are in line with his will. And those are the things where you're asking in  his name, and those are the things he is surely going to do. John 16:23-24, Jesus is truly truly I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He will give it to you. Ask and you  will receive that your joy may be full Ephesians 5:20, says, give thanks always and for  everything to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Question three, what  should we pray about? We should pray about anything and everything. Though God is infinite  and rules over the entire world. He's concerned about even the smallest things in our lives,  even when others might not want to be bothered by our concerns. God is never bothered  when we come to him humbly, thoughtfully and sincerely, no matter what may be on our  hearts or minds. Though we may pray about anything we pray, especially that we may know  God better advance his reign in our world, be filled with the Spirit and overcome the power of  sin and Satan. So there's nothing in your life that's too small or unimportant that you can't talk  Your father in heaven about it. Just come to him with everything. Come to Him with all your  feelings just as you are. Don't pretend to them. Don't try to get overly polite with him and  conceal things from him. Just pour out what's in your mind and heart. We can pray about 

anything. But also we want to learn as we move forward in prayer, that we want to pray about  the things that are dear to God's heart, not just the things that happen to be on our heart. And  that's one of the purposes of prayer, to bring our heart more and more in tune with God's  heart, and at the same time to realize that what's on our hearts does matter to him. And then  he likes to hear our prayers and have us communicate with him. Scripture references  Philippians 4:6, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and  supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, what an invitation,  just let it fly, let your requests and everything be made known to God, but also do it in the  spirit of Thanksgiving for what he's already done. Ephesians 6:18, pray all times in the spirit  with all prayer and supplication to that end, keep alert, and with all perseverance making  supplication for all the saints. So we're praying all the time. Again, this is in the context of  spiritual warfare. So we're, we're in a world where it's constantly a battle to live for the Lord to  please Jesus. And so always be ready to call headquarters. Always be ready to be asking the  Lord for what you find you need, in this particular circumstance, and pray for others to  question for when should we pray, we may pray at any time, it's often helpful to set aside a  special time for prayer each day. But we should not restrict our pray, we should not limit our  praying to one particular time, God is willing to hear our prayers at any time of day or night,  we may pray while walking, driving, resting, working, playing or at any other time, I can be  praying right now, while I'm talking to you, I'm talking to you. And at the same time, my mind is saying, Lord, help the people listening to this to discover the beauty of prayer in the wonder of prayer. And I'm not going to tell you everything I pray about all I'm doing these videos. But  even while I'm talking or preaching or whatever I'm doing, I'm often talking to the Lord of my  mind, even while I'm talking to you with my mouth, we can pray publicly, or we can pray  silently, when others around us are not even aware that we're praying. There's no time or  situation when praying is inappropriate. So it's good to have set times for prayer. And those  can really be a valuable launching pad to just praying all the time. Think about it. In terms of  sports contest, I used to play quite a bit of basketball. And we would have timeouts where the  coach and the players would get off the floor and huddle up and talk about what's going on in  the game and get some encouragement from the coach as well as some advice on what to do next. And so those special times where we just stopped the game, and went to the coach  were very important. But that didn't mean that there was no communication going on. While  the game was happening, the coach would be shouting instructions from the sidelines, we'd  be listening to those instructions, we'd be telling fellow players what's going on and watch out  for that guy. He's open and throw the ball to him. So there's a lot of communication going on  during the game. But it was also very important to take those timeouts to catch our breath to  get our energy back to spend a little time without being in the middle of the ballgame, just to  talk about what's going on, and to get encouraged. And so it is in our prayer life. Your time is  just set apart to spend some time with the coach, and where you're not running around doing  a whole bunch of other stuff. But when you are running around and doing all that other stuff,  you still need to be listening to the coach and communicating with him and talking to him and  letting him know what your needs are. Scripture references Luke 6:12. All night Jesus  continued in prayer to God. So Jesus didn't say, oh, there's just a time now. And then he did  spend special time apart with God, sometimes even all night. And other times he was praying  constantly, Mark 1:35 and rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he Jesus  departed, and went out to a desolate place and there he prayed. And very often, Jesus spent  the special extended times in prayer just before he was going to make a very important  decision such as calling his 12 disciples or launching a new initiative, Jesus, even though he  was the Son of God was also human. And therefore Jesus was a man of prayer, even as he  was also the son of God. Acts 1:14 says all of these with one accord were devoting 

themselves to prayer Colossians 1:9 from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for  you asking that you may be filled with The knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and  understanding. Again, you can be praying all the time. And not only that, what are you praying for you're praying that other people will know God well, that they'll grow in spiritual wisdom  that they'll grow in understanding. And just a side note here, as you read these prayers in the  Bibles such as this one and Colossians, where the apostle is praying for others, it gives you  an excellent clue about some things to pray for yourself as well. You can pray to the Lord,  Lord, help me to pay these bills help me to deal with some of the problems or illnesses in my  life, bless others who have those needs to but notice what Paul's praying for here mainly, to  know God's will, to have spiritual wisdom and understanding. In Ephesians. He prays that  God will give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.  Those are tremendous prayers. Ephesians St. Paul prays that they may know how wide and  long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge,  that you may be filled with a measure of all the fullness of God. So again, when you read the  prayers of the Bible, realize that these are things God wants us to be praying for, for  ourselves and for others, and to be doing that on an ongoing basis, while we're in the middle  of the busyness of day to day life, as well as in those special times alone with the Lord.  Question five, where should we go to pray? Where should we pray? Well, we can pray  anywhere and be assured that God hears our prayers wherever we are. However, it's often  desirable to have a quiet place where we can pray to God without distractions. Jesus himself  went off by himself to quiet places where he could be alone with his father in heaven just as  you want a set time, as well as praying all the other times. So sometimes, it's good to have a  set place for prayer, as well as the ongoing prayers, whatever places you happen to go.  Daniel had his special place for prayer, as well as special times Daniel 6:10, says, he went up to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem, he was  living in a foreign land, but he never forgot the City of God. Daniel got down on his knees  three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God. Acts 21:5, kneeling down on  the beach, we prayed, you can pray in the upper chamber of government officials as Daniel  happened to be, you can be praying on the beach, when you're meeting with fellow believer  just before you hop back on a ship. Acts 10:9, the next day as they were on their journey and  approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop, about the sixth hour to pray. So Peter  went up on that house top to kind of get away from other people and have some special time  alone with the Lord. Jesus said, When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, Matthew 6:6, Jesus said this partially not so that you don't get  addicted to the habit of public prayer. Those of us who are in ministry have to beware of  praying only to be heard by others. It is good as we're going to see in a few moments to pray  with others, and sometimes on behalf of others. But if that's your main area for prayer, and if  you're doing it just so that other people will hear how you pray, then you've got to do  something very different. Jesus says, If you don't have this private time of prayer, where you  go to your room by yourself, and pray just because you want to be with your father, then  you're missing out on the secret of prayer. You've already got your reward if you're just going  to pray in public for people say, Oh, that guy's pretty good at praying. Well, actually, you're not very good at praying if that's your only prayer life. So praying alone is the key to all the other  forms of prayer. Luke 5:16, Jesus would withdraw to desolate places and pray. And again,  Luke 6:12, Jesus went out to the mountain to pray. And all night he continued in prayer to  God. So the times, there's sometimes special times, there are some times and then you just  pray all the time. There are special places. And then any place whether it's a mountain, the  house atop a beach, what have you pray? Question six, is there a special posture? A way of  positioning our body that we should have when we pray? No, now that answer might surprise 

you, because many of us learn to fold our hands and close our eyes in some areas, others  learn to bow others learn to do this or that but there is no special posture. That is the posture,  the body position, that all people have to pray and we should always be thoughtful, humble,  reverent, and sincere when we pray. That's a position of the Spirit. But there is no special  bodily posture required in order for us to pray in a way that pleases God. We may bow, kneel,  sit, stand, raise our hands, or lie prostrate on the ground when pray. Many people however,  feel that kneeling in prayer is a special sign of sin. ceremony and reverence and therefore  usually kneel when they pray in private, and often in public as well. So there are postures that are valuable if it helps you. If that physical posture helps you and your spirit to show honor to  Jesus and reverence to the Father, then adopt that posture. If raising your hands gives you a  special release in your spirit to pray, and to praise God, well then raise your hands. There's a  variety of postures but don't legislate how others have to position their bodies when they pray. And don't spend too much time worrying about the ways others might legislate how you have  to position your body when you pray. The Bible has a great variety. Here are some of the  references. I Timothy 2:8, I desire them that in every place the man should pray. Ezra 9:5-6, I  fell on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord, my God, Luke 18, the tax collector,  very sinful man standing far off without even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast  saying God, be merciful to me, a sinner. So his posture was just create distress, he won't  even look up and he's pounding on his chest. He's so sorrowful. It's this physical expression  of the inner state of his heart. II Chronicles 20:18, the king bowed his head with his face to the ground and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord worshiping  the Lord. Matthew 26:39, Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before he dies, he's sweating great drops of blood in agony. As he anticipates what's going to happen. He fell on  his face and prayed. I Kings 8:54, when Solomon is at the temple, dedicating the newly built  temple to the Lord, now, as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and plead to the Lord, He arose from before the altar of the Lord where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward  heaven. Question seven, is it appropriate to pray directly to Jesus, and to the Holy Spirit, as  well as to the Father? Yes, the resurrected and ascended Jesus is reigning as the ruler of the  entire universe, and is always willing to listen when we pray. The Holy Spirit is our comforter  and guide and the one who enables us to live a Christian life. He also hears us when we pray. The Christian Church has therefore produced a number of hymns of petition or praise, which  are specifically directed to Jesus, or to the Holy Spirit. So it is appropriate sometimes to pray  directly to Jesus and address them as Lord Jesus, and other times to speak directly to the  Holy Spirit and ask the Spirit to fill us and mold us and shape us. Having said that, though, we should observe that in the Bible, it is most common still, to pray directly to God, the Father,  Jesus said, He did everything, not just for his own honor, but to point to the Father, and the  Holy Spirit points to Jesus, and then to the Father. And so it's appropriate sometimes, to pray  directly to Jesus, or to the Holy Spirit. But if you were to get into the habit of never speaking to the Father, then you would be kind of getting away from what Jesus and the Holy Spirit are  directing us to in prayer, pray primarily to the Father and then also to Jesus and to the Holy  Spirit. When you pray to the Father, of course, you're always praying in the name of Jesus  and as the holy spirit moves you to pray to the Father. Here are some examples of prayer to  Jesus and related to prayer to the Holy Spirit from the Bible, John 14:14, Jesus said, If you  ask me anything in my name, I will do it. So there you have an invitation just asked me about  Jesus also, later on in much in that very same passage as asking the Father in my name. So  asking me asking the Father in my name, both are valid forms of prayer. When Stephen, the  first man to die for his faith, after Jesus's resurrection when Stephen was being stoned, he  called out Lord Jesus received my spirit he was praying directly to his Dear Lord Jesus, whom he saw as heaven was opened to him. Romans 8:26-27 says, The Spirit helps us in our 

weakness, the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. and He who searches our hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints, the believers, according to the will of God. And so the spirit within us is expressing  prayer, and we may also be talking to the spirit and asking him to intercede with us. On and  on our behalf to the Father. The Spirit intercedes, Jesus intercedes, and God the Father here  Are those prayers? Question Eight? Does God hear and answer our prayers? Absolutely.  Absolutely. He hears and answers all the prayers of those who pray according to His will.  However, he does not always answer our prayers in the way that we personally would choose or desire, at times his response may be No, and other times his response may be not now,  sometimes he may give us something much better than we had asked for, even though we  may not understand immediately why it is better, but whatever his answer might be, we may  be confident that our prayers are always heard. And we'll think about that a little more in later  questions. Our prayers are always heard. Scripture references I John 5:14, this is the  confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears  us. Matthew 7:7-8 Jesus said, Ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and  it will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and the  one who knocks it will be opened. Jesus said in John 15:7, If you abide in me and my words,  abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. Hebrews 4:16 says, Let us  then with confidence, draw nearer to the throne of grace. That's what prayer is, it's going to  the throne. And let's do that confidently knowing that God hears and answers, let's with  confidence drawn nearer to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to  help in time of need. James 5:16, says plainly, the prayer of a righteous person has great  power, as it is working, what tremendous encouragement we have, from the Word of God to  pray that prayer is powerful when it's offered from a heart that is seeking God. And prayer is  powerful when it's offered to the living God who always hears his people. Question Nine. Are  there any specific examples in the Bible of God's answers to prayer? Yes, the Bible has many wonderful examples of God's answers to the prayers of His people. Women who were barren, gave birth to children, prisoners were set free battles were one protection was provided water  and food were given, wisdom was granted, lives were changed, and many other blessings  were experienced, in answer to prayer, some scripture references, Hannah was a person who was unable to have a child and she longed for a child. And she prayed for a child and God  gave her a very special child named Samuel. And afterward Hannah said for this child, I  prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore, I have lent  him to the Lord. James 5:17-18 says, Elijah, that great prophet was a man with a nature like  ours. So he wasn't all that different from us. And he prayed fervently that it might not rain. And for three years and six months, it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and  Heaven gave rain and the earth bore its fruit. Back in I Kings 18, we read the original stories  of Elijah that James is later talking about. And Elijah calls for a showdown with the prophets of Baal, a false god. And he says, you set up an altar with a bull sacrificed on all set up an altar  with a bull sacrificed on it, you pray to your God, I'll pray to mine. And whoever's God  answers, that God is the true God. And they howled and yelled and prayed all day and got no  result. And then Elijah prayed to the real God answer me, oh, Lord. So these people may  know that You oh Lord, our God, then the fire the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering.  And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said the Lord, He is God, the Lord, He is God. So God answered Elijah's prayer, for fire from heaven. And also, he answered his  prayer to turn the hearts of those people, that to the reality of God. In Luke 1:3, there's the  elderly priest, who has been unable with his wife to have a baby. And the angel Gabriel came  to Zechariah the priest and said, Do not be afraid. Zechariah for your prayer has been heard,  and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name, John and he'll be 

great in the eyes of the Lord and bring you much joy and prepare the way of the Lord Jesus.  This was the great John the Baptist and he was given an answer to prayer from an old Guy  and his wife had longed for baby. Acts 4:24, 31 speaks of the apostles, having been warned  not to speak in Jesus name anymore and facing many threats. What did they do? They went  and they prayed. They lifted their voices to gather to God. And what did they pray for? What  they prayed for was boldness. They said, Lord consider their threats. And they didn't even tell  God what to do about those threats. They said, Lord, consider their threats, and give us  boldness that we may keep on testifying to Jesus. And did God answer yes, he did. When  they had prayed, the place where they gathered was shaken. And they were all filled with the  Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God, with boldness. And many of us who are  preachers of the gospel today, we need to pray that same prayer and get those same results  filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking the Word of God with boldness. For some of you, if you've  already done some preaching, or some evangelism, you may say, Oh, I wish more were  happening. Well, don't just spend more time trying to have a more clever sermon, or a more  clever way of doing things. Pray to the Lord for that holy boldness and the power of the Holy  Spirit. And the Lord answers such prayers. Here's a prayer for deliverance. In Acts 12. Peter  was locked in prison by Herod, and was awaiting execution. Herod had already killed the  Apostle James, and now he was after Peter. So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer  for him was made to God by the church. And while they're praying, an angel of the Lord stood next to Peter, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and welcome saying  Get up quickly, and the chains fell off his hands, and the doors to the jail open, and the outer  gate opened. And they brought, the angel brought Peter out into the street and Peters thought he was dreaming the whole time, till he got out into the cool evening air. And this really  happened. And he went to the place where they were having the prayer meeting, and they  didn't believe it was him. The fact of the matter is, sometimes we pray, and we don't have very much faith at all. And even then God might hear our prayer and give an answer that we didn't  anticipate. God doesn't always give us what we asked for remember, James died, and I'll bet  they had a prayer meeting for him too. And I bet they had more faith at the prayer meeting for  James than they had at the prayer meeting for the release of Peter and yet for reasons of  God's own wisdom. He allowed James to die for the faith. And at least then he released Peter and Peter later died for his faith too. So God answers our prayers, sometimes in amazing  ways, some ways that we can hardly believe when it happens, but not always, just to make  life comfortable for us. But prayer is powerful, it's effective. Question 10. Are there any things  that might cause God not to answer our prayers in the way we desire? Yes, though God is  merciful and gracious, there are certain conditions which must usually be met before our  prayers will be answered. Among them are humility, sincerity, obedience, faith, right motives,  commitment, and forgiving spirit. If these and other conditions are not met, our prayers might  not be answered in the way we desire. Scripture references II Chronicles 7:14 says, if, notice  that word if my people who are called by my name, humble themselves, and pray and seek  my face and turn from their wicked ways, if they do those things, then will I hear from heaven,  and will forgive their sin and heal their land? Psalm 66:18, if, if I had cherished iniquity in my  heart, the Lord would not have listened. James 4:3, you ask, and do not receive because you  ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. So they're praying, and they're asking for stuff from God, but they're asking out of greed. And just God helped me to be my own selfish pig and  give me everything I want, hurry up and do it. That was basically the attitude that underlay  some of their prayers. And James says, God's not answering he's not giving you what you  ask. Jeremiah 29, then you will call upon me and come to me and pray to Me and I will hear  you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. There are many  cases of half hearted prayers or a divided heart where we love God we love money, and God 

just might wait a while to answer our prayers or say no to our prayers until our hearts get  more focused on him, Hebrews 11:6, and without faith, it is impossible to please God, for  whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who  seek Him. So we need to pray in faith and in trust that God is real, and that he's rewarding.  Mark 11:25. And when you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so  that your father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. If you go to God for  forgiveness, but you will not forgive others, then don't expect to receive God's blessing and  assurance and forgiveness. That's why Jesus taught us to pray, forgive us our debts, as we  also have forgiven our debtors. If you're going to ask for forgiveness, you better be ready to  give forgiveness and unforgiveness in your life may block God's answers to prayer. The  apostle Peter writing in the New Testament, tells husbands now you've got to be considerate  as you live with your wives, and you've got to treat your your wife well, so that nothing may  hinder your prayers. If you're not considerate, and kind to your wife. Don't wonder why the  Heavenly Father is not being considerate and kind with you by answering your prayers. That's what Peter's saying, do you consider it as your limited wives treat her well, and then that'll get  something out of the way that might otherwise block your prayers. So there are things that are just a myths in our life, that may hinder our prayers from getting through, or that may cause  God to say, I'm not going to answer or give you a good hearing just yet, until you deal with  that. Now, question 11. Does this mean that our prayers will not be answered? You know,  that's kind of a discouraging answer. If you say, Well, you've got to do this and this you got to  be sincere, you got to be forgiving. Gotta be this you got to be that and only then will God  answer your prayers. You might be you say, Well, does this mean our prayers won't be  answered? Unless we're totally free from sin and personal weaknesses? No, no one is totally  free from sin or personal weaknesses. If we repent and ask for forgiveness, we will be  restored to a right relationship with God. However, if we deliberately continue to sin without  repentance or genuine sorrow for our sins, God will definitely be displeased with us. And our  prayers might not be answered. Proverbs 28:13, whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper. But he confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. words of David in Psalm 51,  create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me, then I will teach  transgressors your ways and sinners will return to you. Psalm 32, When I kept silent, my  bones wasted away through my groaning all day long, he's not willing to admit to God that  he's been sinful, he's not willing to deal with the issues in his own life. And the longer he  refuses to deal with the issues, the more he withers away inside, the more he senses that his  prayers just aren't getting through. Then he says, I acknowledged my sin to You and I did not  cover my iniquity, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Therefore, let everyone who is godly  offer prayer to you, at a time, when you may be found. Question 12. Are there any other  reasons besides those referred to above which are dealing with things that might be wrong  with us? Are there any other reasons why God might not grant us what we asked for? Yes,  God might not grant what we asked for if our desires or requests are not in accord with his  own will or purposes, God had a different purpose for James than he had for Peter, His  purpose for James was that James would glorify Jesus by dying for his faith. God's purpose  for Peter on that occasion, was that he would glorify God by being miraculously rescued from  the clutches of Herod. And so God may have different purposes. And we don't always know  those in advance when we're praying, but we offer our prayers to God, and then realize that  sometimes even if we're not praying sinfully or even if there's nothing particularly wrong with  us or our prayers, God might have a purpose in mind that we weren't aware of. And why is  that? Well, one big reason is God is so much greater his mind and his plans are so much  beyond what we can grasp at as the heavens are higher than the earth. so are my ways  higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts? Even Jesus himself didn't always

get what he asked for? Matthew 26:39, Jesus prayed, My Father, if it's possible, let this cup of suffering pass from me nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. So Jesus desire He was  that he not have to suffer so terribly. But at the same time, he had an even greater and deeper desire to do whatever his father called upon him to do. And so we can come to God with our  prayers, expressing our desires to him, and at the same time realizing that God's will, might  have something planned that's different from what we would naturally desire. And then in such cases, we say, But Lord, now that I've told you my desire, please carry out your will. Paul  wrote to the people in Rome, his fellow believers, there you are always in my prayers, asking  that somehow, by God's will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you, I have often  intended to come to you, but thus far have been prevented, in order that I may reap some  harvest among you, as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. Paul's chomping at the bit, he's eager to go, he wants to get to Rome. It's the capital of the empire. After all, he's a  missionary, and he wants to meet the believers there, and then preach to other people there.  But he's prayed about it. He's tried. And so far, at the point, he's writing this letter, he hasn't  been able to get there. God hasn't yet granted that request. Oh, and by the way, with fall, Paul finally does get his request. He gets to go in chains, as a prisoner. So for a while he's praying  to go to Rome, and he can't go. And when he finally does get that great desire of his to go to  Rome, he doesn't go in exactly the way most of us would like to go. So there are prayers  where God's purposes overrule our wishes. Paul experienced this on another occasion, he  had some tremendous revelations from God of the glories of heaven of the wonders of Jesus.  And God knew Paul was still not a perfect man. And so to keep me from being too elated, by  the surpassing greatness of the revelations, says, Paul, a thorn was given me in the flesh. We don't know why exactly what it was. But it was something painful and troubling, a thorn was  given me in the flesh, a messenger from Satan, to harass me, to keep me from becoming too  elated. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to  me, My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly if my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me for  when I am weak, then I am strong. Initially, when we pray, we say, Lord, I could serve you so  much better if I was healthy. If I got rid of this illness, I could serve you so much better if I  didn't have this chronic temptation that I have to keep fighting, I wish it was just gone. And  God may say, keep struggling with that illness. Keep battling that temptation or not removing  the temptation completely. I'm just going to leave it there. I know it's a messenger from Satan. I know you hate it, it's there. You're gonna have to depend on me. You just got to face it,  you're weak. But here's the good news. My power is made perfect in weakness. Again, prayer is a marvelous thing. Sometimes we get the exact thing we pray for. Other times, God doesn't  give us what we asked for. But he's still God. And he's still sufficient, and His grace is there,  and his power rests upon us. Question 13 is prayer primarily a matter of asking God for things we want or need? No, prayer does include requests or petitions, but it also involves praise,  confession and thanksgiving. If the only time we pray is when we want or need something  from God for ourselves or others. We do not have the kind of fellowship with God that He  wants us to have. So yes, it's important to be asking God for the various things we need. But  if that's all there is to our prayer life and we've got a problem. What kind of relationship is it  when you know somebody else and the only time they ever talk to you is when they need  something from you or want something from you. Their relationship is totally based on what  they can get out of you. And their conversation is basically gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme,  gimme. Now, is that the kind of relationship you want? No. And that's not the relationship God  wants with us? Yes, he's generous. Yes, he loves to have us ask him for things and to depend on him. But if all we're in it for is for the goodies and not for God himself, then we're missing  out on many important aspects of prayer. One key part of prayer, besides just asking is 

confession, admitting our sins, Ezra 9:6, oh my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face  to you, My God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. Daniel 9;3-5 I Daniel turned my face to the Lord God, seeking Him by  prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. We have sinned and done  wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.  Just one thing I'd point out here, Ezra and Daniel were actually among the holiest of all their  people. And yet they were pouring out the confessions of guilt on behalf of the people and  also on their own behalf. They identified themselves as sinners. And so, if even great and holy people in many respects such as Ezra and Daniel, were pouring out confessions of sin to  God, then surely you and I need to make confession of sin and of our own guilt and need for  forgiveness, an important part of our prayers. Scripture references about Thanksgiving and  there are too many to count here are just a few Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about  anything but in everything by prayer and supplication. supplication is asking, requests are  asking, but with thanksgiving, in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let  your requests be made known to God. So yeah, request away, ask away. But remember to  give thanks for all the good answers God gives. I Thessalonians, 5:17-18. Pray without  ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  And then the psalms are full of calls to thanksgiving and worship. Psalm 105:4 is one  example. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him,  bless his name. Believe that Psalm 100:4. And then psalms of praise Oh, come, let us  worship and bow down let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, for He is our God and we are  the people of His pasture and the sheep of his hand. Psalm 95. Psalm 34:1 says, I will bless  the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth. There are many other  Psalms worship the Lord in the splendor of His Holiness, make his praise glorious. Worship is really why we exist. There are many other things that God doesn't. That prayer involves, but  just adoring God being awestruck at God reveling in him enjoying him, this is the very heart of prayer. Question 14. Is it better to pray alone or to pray with others? It is important for us to  pray frequently when we are alone with God. However, it's also important for us to pray  frequently with others. The Bible has many examples of both individual prayers, and the  prayers of larger groups of people who join their voices and hearts together, in bringing their  praise and petitions to the Lord. Scripture references again, the words of Jesus, when you  pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your  Father who sees in secret will reward you it is vital to have personal time set apart with just  you and the Lord. But if you were to take those words of Jesus as indicating that we should  never pray with others, or while others are listening, then we'd be drawing the wrong  conclusion. If we're praying only in order to be heard by others, then we've got a problem. But to be praying with others, as we join our hearts together in prayer to God, that is very  valuable. So personal prayer is important, but so is praying together. Matthew 18:19-20.  Jesus says, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth, about anything they ask, it will be done  for them by my Father in heaven, For where two or three are gathered in my name. There I  am, among them. Jesus wants us to gather together and to pray in His name. Acts 1:14 says  that Jesus disciples, were all in one accord devoting themselves to prayer. And again, when  Peter was in prison, you see the whole church had gathered together to pray for Peter. So  there's a valuable, precious place for personal prayer, just between you and the Lord. There  are also times when you get together with fellow Christians, to offer prayers and to delight in  God and to seek His face to gather and many other examples. Sometimes, we read in the  Bible where the whole nation would be called to prayer and repentance and ask for help the  whole church would have special kinds of prayer. The examples are too many to mention. We have to have the full balance of Scripture, personal prayer and community prayer. Question 

15 Is it desirable for us to fast when we pray? Many people fasted in Bible times and many  still do so today. Fasting is good. If it helps us focus our hearts and minds on God. And if it is  a genuine sign of reverence, sincerity and humility before God, we should not fast however, in order to try to earn favor with God, God may reward our prayer and fasting, but he grants us  this blessing because of his own mercy and grace and not on the basis of our merits. We're  not piling up points with God by fasting. And then the more we fast the more God owes it to us to answer our prayers that far from it, the Pharisees would fast twice a week and Jesus said  they're fast, it was a waste, because they were working in their own righteousness, and they  were trying to impress God and trying to impress others. The purpose of fasting is to wean  yourself away from the things of the world for a bit to wean yourself away from some of your  own appetites a bit, so that you can concentrate more and focus your desire more fully on  God, it is not to earn things from God, but to tune yourself better, so that you can pray more  earnestly and more in tune with the mind of God. Scripture references of some fasting, Ezra  8:21, 23 Ezra proclaimed to fast there at the river, a Hava that we might humble ourselves  before our God to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children and all our goods.  So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty. So fasting and  prayer together for a safe journey. It was going to be a long one with lots of women and  children with lots of dangerous bandits and other troubles that could come upon them. They  prayed, and God answered, Nehemiah one, verse four, has heard that Jerusalem is in a state  of disrepair, that the city of God has its walls burned down, and that nobody's doing anything  about it. As soon as I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I  continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. He kept fasting and praying. And  finally, God gave him opportunity with the emperor of Persia and Nehemiah was able to go  back and have his prayers answered and really do something about it, to rebuild the city of  God. Daniel 9:3, I Daniel turned my face to the Lord God seeking Him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. This is when Daniel was especially pouring out  his heart, because of the sins of the people and confessing his own sins. And so he was  fasting to show his genuine sorrow. Luke 2:37, speaks of that very old lady Anna, a  prophetess, who love the Lord, and was privileged to see the baby Jesus. She did not depart  from the temple worshipping with fasting and prayer, night and day. So she combined her  prayers with fasting. Acts 14:23, when they Paul and Barnabas had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting, they committed into the Lord, in whom they had  believed, if you'd backtrack a little bit in the book of Acts, you'll find that the people in the city  of Antioch were praying and fasting when Paul and Barnabas were sent out to be  missionaries in the first place. And so you find that fasting plays a very important role at key  points in God's plans. And here where they're appointing elders, they want to commend them  to God's care with prayer, but also with fasting. So fasting is very valuable, it's very frequent  throughout the Bible can be misused. But just because something can be misused, doesn't  mean therefore I'm never going to use it. I know some believers who very seldom or never  fast, and haven't taken seriously what the Bible says about it, I urge you to take seriously  what the Bible says about fasting as an aid to prayer, and then use it rightly without misusing  it. Question 16 Does God give us only those things we ask for in prayer? No, God often  grants us far more than we ask much more than we deserve. And at times even more than we can imagine. Besides, sometimes we're too sick, too tired or too confused? To know what to  ask for. Sometimes, all we can do is groan and just mutter a prayer and hardly know what  we're saying. And God comes through with far more than we could even bring to mind.  Ephesians 3:20, says Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or  think, according to the power at work within us, to Him the glory in the church and in Christ  Jesus, forever and ever. So when you pray, don't say, Well, maybe God can do a little bit of 

what I asked, no, God can do all you ask. God can do more than all you ask. God can do far  more abundantly than all we ask. And he can even do more and far more Then all we can  think or even imagine. And so prayer, the only limit on prayer is God's wisdom and will not any limit on God's power. in I Kings 3:12 or 13, God said to Solomon, I now do according to your  word I give you also what you have not ask. God said to sound, I'll give you whatever he  asked for. And Solomon said, Well, you know, I'm young, and I'm taking over his king from a  great and wise king, my father, David, I'm not up to the job. And this is such a great people  you've given me Please, Lord, give me wisdom. So I'll know how to rule well, and how God  answered that prayer, said, I will give you wisdom, like no ruler has ever had. And I'll also give you those things you didn't ask for wealth and, and power and, and all those other things that  weren't even a part of your request. Jesus says, Seek first the kingdom of God and His  righteousness, and all these things, food and clothes, and everything else will be added to  you. If you keep your prayers focused on what God wants for you. Don't be surprised if God  throws in a whole lot of fringe benefits along with it. Malachi 3:10, put me to the tests as the  Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a  blessing until there is no more need. God just throws open the windows of heaven and pours  out blessings, more than we thought of more than we imagined. That's what God wants us to  know. And that's how we need to come to Him in prayer. Knowing that yeah, there's gonna be  times when we ask for things that he doesn't give us. But there are going to be many times  when he gives us things we didn't ask for that turn out to be So honoring to him and such a  blessing to us that our hearts are just flooded with joy. Question 17 What is meant by the  Lord's Prayer? That is the prayer which Jesus taught his disciples when they came to him and said, Lord, teach us to pray. And the prayer from Matthew 6 goes like this our Father in  heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in  heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven  our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. And very often  when that prayer is prayed, we add for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory  forever. Amen.