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A Study on Prayer

by David C. Swanson

  1. Lord, Teach Us to Pray
  2. Our Father. . .
  3. What Is Prayer? -- Some Elements of Prayer
  4. Specific Bible Prayers
  5. Prayer in the Life of Jesus

1. "Lord, Teach Us to Pray"

Luke 11:1-4

Introduction:

  1. Consider the great personalities of the Bible-Abraham, Moses, David, Daniel, Nehemiah, Peter, Paul and Jesus to name a few-and you'll notice that they are also people of prayer.

  2. "How can I have a more effective prayer life?" is the number one sermon request.

  3. How much time do you spend in prayer? The average in a recent servey was seven minutes per day.

  4. Why isn't the church growing as much as it did in the first century? Why are we weak spiritually? We are not a praying people.

  5. Perhaps we are afraid to change the pattern of our prayer lives because we know so little about prayer. Perhaps we don't pray for longer periods of time because we don't know what to say.

  6. Personal prayer may be the weakest area of our spiritual lives, but this is not a new problem. The apostles said, "Teach us to pray"!

  1. Importance of Prayer

    1. It is the nature of God to answer prayers.

      1. Psalm 65:2 --

      2. 2 Chronicles 7:14 --

      3. Jeremiah 29:11 --

      4. Isa. 65:24 --

    2. God commands prayer. 1 Thessalonians 5:17--an attitude of prayer

      1. Arrow prayers--Nehemiah 2

      2. Closet prayers--

      3. Pray without ceasing means to be in an attitude of prayer. God is a moment away if we choose to pray. (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:18--in everything give thanks.)

        1. Luke 18:1ff --

        2. Philippians 4:6 --

        3. 1 Timothy 2:1 --

    3. Jesus Prayed to God.

      1. Predominant part of his life was spent in prayer--

      2. His prayers and His success--

      3. In Gethsemane--

      4. God gave him the power to see it through--

      5. Jesus made prayer the paramount activity in his life.

      6. "If Jesus could not win the victory without daily, regular, consistent, fervent prayer, how could we hope to overcome a single temptation if we do not do the same?"

    4. Attitude of the early church--

      1. Acts 6:4 --

      2. Prayer is important because there are persecutions, afflictions, adversity, and a devil.

    5. God's means of our obtaining blessings.

      1. James 1:5 --

      2. Hebrews 4:6 --

    6. The present work of Jesus Christ

      1. Hebrews 7:25

      2. Prayerlessness is sin. 1 Samuel 12:23 --

      3. If you will not do what God commands you to do, why should he listen to you when you pray?

  2. The Model Prayer -- Luke 11

    1. For disciples and corporate (our Father).

    2. Begins with appropriate praise of God in worshipping his name (hallowed be thy name).

    3. Acknowledges total dependence on God (daily bread).

    4. Dedication to his work (Thy will be done).

    5. Asks forgiveness and acknowledges our responsibility as would-be worshippers to forgive others (forgive us as we forgive).

    6. Short, no flowery language, repetitions or cliches.

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2. "Our Father . . ."

Introduction—

  1. Prayer is a free, moral act.

  2. People everywhere, from the beginning have prayed.

  3. Blindly, uncertainly, erratically, but we pray!

  4. Man's tendency to pray is universal, as is his tendency to be religious:


  1. The Universality of Prayer: Prayer in the world's religions:

    1. Primitive prayer

    2. Babylonian

    3. Greece

    4. Buddhism

      1. Early discouragement of prayer

      2. Mahayana

    5. Hinduism

    6. Sikhism

    7. Confucianism

    8. Judaism

    9. Islam



  2. Assumptions in Prayer:

    1. The reality of God

    2. Our need of God

    3. God hears prayer

    4. God answers prayer

    5. God's love for us


  3. The God Who Hears Prayer


    1. A God who hears prayers must be:

      1. A living God

      2. Omniscient

      3. Omnipotent

      4. A God of providence

    2. God is our Father


      1. A father obligates himself to care and provide for his children

      2. He provides care and well being and support when needed

      3. Our Father is unlimited

        1. Why pray when you can worry? Why worry?

        2. Worry destroys our spirituality, as well as our health and personality.



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3. What Is Prayer? -- Some Elements of Prayer

Introduction--

  1. Read Matthew 21. Have we made the house of God (i. e., the body of Christ) a house of prayer?

  2. What is involved in prayer? Some simple definitions:

    1. "Prayer is the desire, opportunity and privilege of talking with God." -Herbert Lockyer

    2. "Prayer is the voice of faith." -Thomas Horne

    3. "A prayer, in its simplest definition, is a wish turned heavenward." -Phillips Brooks

    4. Asking of God the things we need.

    5. While these "definitions" of prayer are inadequate overall, each of them does describe a facet of prayer.

  3. Prayer is more than "Give me, give me" or an "emergency cord."

  4. There are lots of places in the Bible we can learn about how to pray. We don't do enough praying. See Psalm 25:1; 143:8; 62:8. We need to pour out our hearts to God.

  5. Communication to God. "There is never a time when you are closer to your God or to Heaven or more in fellowship with Jesus Christ than when you pray."

  6. John 17:3 We know the people with whom we have communication. Can't get to know someone unless we communicate with him or her first. Two way communication is necessary. God speaks through his word, the Bible, and we speak to God through prayer.


  1. Adoration and praise--

    1. Adoration--perhaps the most difficult to do correctly.

    2. Confession

    3. Thanksgiving

    4. Supplication or intercession

  2. Power, majesty, glory, love, mercy, "our Father."

    1. Angels address God as "Holy, holy, holy" (Isa. 6:3; Luke 2:14; Rev. 4:8; Rev. 4:11).

    2. Respect and reverence in the presence of God (Psa. 111:9; Psa. 89:7; Heb. 12:28; Psa. 46:10)

    3. If necessary, visualize a scene to talk to God (Rev. 4:2). Hebrews 4:14-16.

      1. Psalm 63 -- become thoroughly acquainted with this passage.

      2. Hymns.

    4. Asking -- Matthew 7:7 Ask for something definite. Ask expecting answers Acts 12:5, James 4:2; Phil. 4:6. Asking for something definite, according to God's will, in faith, expecting answers is in fact acknowledging God's power, majesty, mercy, etc.

  3. Confessing-- 1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

    1. Isaiah 6:5 -- appreciate our smallness before God.

      1. Humble ourselves before God. James 4:10; 1 Peter 5:5; Psalm 9:1; Isaiah 57:15; Psalm 10:17; 37:17.

      2. Prayer is more than what we say, it is an attitude of the heart.

      3. Prayer is a natural result when we condition ourselves to be humble before Him.

      4. Helplessness is one of our greatest assests in prayer. See Nehemiah 1:4. Consider the Publican and the Pharisee (Luke 18:9-17)

      5. In public prayer acknowledge sin against God

      6. In private prayer do not use generalities when confessing sins.

    2. Definition of "confess" -- Greek homolegao : "to speak the same thing, to say along side of." Matthew 10:32-33: I say along with God that Jesus is who He claims to be.

      1. Prayer is bending our will to match God's will--"speaking the same thing" in all aspects, not just where our sins are concerned. There is no worse condition than if our prayer is an abomination to God (cf. Prov. 28:9--"He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, Even his prayer is an abomination.")

      2. If I do not yield to God's commandments, then I have no right to expect God to hear, listen to and honor my prayer requests. (Isaiah 59:1, 2)

      3. When you find your prayers answered in the negative, examine your heart. Your spiritual condition may be hindering your prayers. (Psalm 139; Prov. 28:13; Psalm 66:18)

    3. Iniquity in your heart is not a momentary or temporary weakness in sin, but looking upon sin as your friend, as a welcome guest in your home, something your can increase by your imagination and lust, something you feel without which you would be very unhappy.

      1. Prayer and sin don't go together.

      2. Guard against sin so that your prayers are not hindered.

  4. Thanksgiving -- simply thanking God for what you have. Putting into words the gratitude that ought to be in our hearts whenever we begin to consider what God has done for us. Isaiah 25:1

    1. Words of adoration and praise are offered because of who God is.

    2. Words of thanksgiving are offered because of what God has done.

    3. We ought to thank God for all he has done for us: 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Philippians 4:6, Hebrews 13:17, Psalm 103; 92:1; 9:1; 105:1; 100:4.

    4. God has rebuked the sin of ingratitude throughout the generations:

    5. We should be thankful for God's gift of Jesus for our salvation (1 Corinthians 15:57; 2 Corinthians 9:15; 2:14)

    6. Recognize God's blessings

      1. Spiritual

      2. Physical -- specifically thank God for these as well.

    7. Do we show our love and appreciation (thankfulness) to God everyday? (2 Corinthians 8:24; Matthew 25.

      1. We prove our love to God by the time we want to spend alone with Him.

      2. Can we go days, weeks, months without spending time with God, talking with Him? If one can do this without missing it and feeling empty, then one doesn't really have a close relationship with God.

      3. Our prayer time with God is the time we get the strength to do the other things God has commanded us to do.

      4. Our goal is to develop a relationship with God that is such that we are not uncomfortable with God or being in His presence.

      5. If your relationship with God is not what it ought to be, Satan will give you all kinds of excuses not to spend a half hour a day with your Heavenly Father, thanking Him.

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4. Specific Bible Prayers

From the Old and New Testaments

Introduction--

  1. One of the most effective ways to understand the power and effectiveness of prayer is to study the specific examples of prayer we have in the Bible.

  2. There are some who believe that there is no benefit to prayer today because God no longer manifests his power in miracles.

    1. This assumes that God can only answer a prayer by means of a "miracle."

    2. At times in the past, God has suspended natural laws to accomplish his will.

    3. Our Father, who put the natural laws into effect does not need to alter a single law to grant our prayers. He can simply put his will into these laws and into the hearts of people and use them to answer our requests.

    4. It is not important that we understand how God brings about answers to our prayers, but it is very important that we fervently believe the fact that He can and does answer them.

  1. Elijah's prayer on Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18)

    1. A simple, trusting prayer to the living God.

    2. Answer came immediately.

    3. Who would not be convinced that Elijah's prayer was effective?

  2. Hezekiah's Prayer for Deliverance of Jerusalem from the Assyrians (2 Kings 19)

    1. Hezekiah humbled himself before God -- "Hezekiah prayed before the LORD." (v. 15)

    2. God sent word through His prophet Isaiah: "For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David's sake." (v. 34)

    3. God took swift and terrible action: "Then it happened that night that the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. . . . So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home." (vv. 35-36)

  3. Nehemiah's Prayer for a Successful Petition (Nehemiah 2)

    1. Arrow Prayer: "I prayed to the God of heaven." (v. 4)

    2. Bountiful Answer: "And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me." (v. 8)

    3. Nehemiah gave God the credit (v. 8).

  4. Daniel's Defiance of Darius' Injunction (Daniel 6).

    1. Daniel continued in his usual routine and kept his window open as he prayed toward Jerusalem. (v.10)

    2. His habit of prayer gave him strength to continue in the face of opposition: "Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously." (v. 10)

    3. God was inclined to help him in time of need. "So Daniel was taken up out of the den and no injury whatever was found on him, because he had trusted in his God." (v. 23)

  5. Jonah's Prayer from the Belly of the Fish (Jonah 2)

    1. Jonah was at a spirtual low point (vv. 4, 6, 7)

    2. He repents and asks God for deliverance.

    3. No request in prayer that is consistent with God's will is too difficult of God

  6. Prayer for Preaching Boldly (Acts 4)

    1. Peter and John had been warned not to preach the gospel (v. 18)

    2. Once Peter and John had been released, the church prayed together with them that God would "grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence." (v.29)

    3. The prayer also consists of a recount of what God had done and how the world reacted (vv. 24-30) which includes a quote from Psalm 2. (Quoting Scripture to God is scriptural and brings honor and glory to Him!)

  7. Prayer for Dorcas (Acts 9)

    1. Dorcas (Tabitha) was a disciple of Christ who was greatly loved by the church at Joppa and was "abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did." (v. 36) She had fallen sick and died.

    2. The church called for Peter. He entered the upper room where her body lay, sent out the mourners, knelt down and prayed, and then raised her from the dead (vv. 39-40).

    3. "It became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord." (v. 42)

  8. Prayer for Peter in Prison (Acts 12)

    1. The church prayed fervently for him (v.5).

    2. "On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward" (v.6) an angel rescues Peter from the prison.

    3. Peter gives God the credit (v. 11) and explains to the disciples what had happened (v. 17).

  9. Paul's Payer for the Removal of the Thorn in the Flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

    1. Paul's thorn in the flesh may have been a physical affliction or it may have been the constant persecution by his Jewish countrymen.

    2. Though Paul's request for the removal of this thorn was not granted, he received a better answer than he expected: "my grace is sufficient for you, power is perfected in weakness."

    3. Paul was more than content with the answer: "Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong." (v. 10)

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5. Prayer in the Life of Jesus

Introduction--

  1. There are 15 instances of Jesus praying mentioned in the gospels.

  2. The gospel of Luke contains the most information. Here we learn that the man Christ Jesus prayed often, prayed long, needed to pray, and loved to pray.

  3. He practiced the principles He taught in his preaching and parables: sincerity, humility, obedience, faith, forgiveness, persistence, privacy, according to divine will, in the spirit.

  1. At His baptism (Luke 3:21, 22)

    1. Only Luke adds that Jesus was praying as the Holy Spirit descended (see Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11)

    2. This marks the beginning of His ministry. This and every undertaking in His earthly life was attended with prayer.

    3. Christ knew that He had to depend on the power of God to see Him through. We must never begin any worthy project in our lives without asking God's blessing, guidance, and assistance.

  2. In solitude (Mark 1:35; Luke 5:15, 16; see also Matt. 14:23; Mark 6:46)

    1. Jesus knew the value of private prayer. To insure an uninterrupted talk with God, he withdrew himself from not only the crowds, but also his disciples.

      1. Busy, exhausting ministry

      2. Sought strength to carry on.

    2. If Jesus prayed for strength and renewal, how much more do we need to rely on God?

    3. He also needed strength to face the temptation of self-honor and self-glory as his popularity increased. How dangerous success and/or popularity can be for us!

  3. Before choosing the twelve (Luke 6:12)

    1. A subject of his all-night prayer is understood from the context: in the morning, he chose his closest disciples (v. 13)

    2. He was prepared as a result of the long prayer to choose the men who would be the foundation of the church (Eph. 2:20) and the man who would betray him.

    3. We often must make important decisions in our lives. We would do well to pray over each decision, seeking wisdom to make right choices.

  4. On the Mount of Transfiguration (Luke 9:28, 29; see also Matt. 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8)

    1. It was while Jesus was in close communion with the Father that his appearance was changed--white and dazzling.

    2. What will constant, fervent prayer do for us? Change our lives for the better? Allow our lights to shine even brighter to the world?

  5. Praise and Thanksgiving (Matthew 11:25; see also Luke 10:21; John 11:41)

    1. Jesus was always mindful of God's blessings and here thanks Him.

    2. Hebrews 13:15, 16; Colossians 3:16f

  6. For Peter (Luke 22:31, 32)

    1. Jesus prayed for humanity as a whole, his disciples as a group, and individuals

    2. Peter was in danger of yielding to temptation, which would bring him into Satan's control.

    3. Jesus' prayer did not stop Peter from denying Him three times, but Jesus was confident that His prayer would be answered (cf v. 32)

  7. Of anguish (John 12:27, 28)

    1. He is thinking of His coming anguish and death.

    2. He turns to a loving Father to gain strength and comfort.

    3. He sets for us the example of seeking to increase God's glory.

  8. For His disciples (John 17:1-25)

    1. For Himself (vv.1-5)

    2. For His first disciples (vv. 6-19)

    3. For His future disciples (vv. 20-25) -- for our unity

  9. In Gethsemane (Matthew 26:39; 42-44; see also Luke 22:43, 44)

    1. Impossible for us to fully understand His anguish.

    2. Hebrews 5:7-9

    3. He was heard. The "cup" did not pass from Him, but the help He sought was given. This help may be ours as well.

  10. On the Cross

    1. For his enemies (Luke 23:34)

    2. Inquiry (Matthew 27:46)

    3. Commending His spirit to God (Luke 23:46)