Prayer is the only thing anyone asked Jesus how to do.
Oh, how few find time for prayer! There is time for everything else, time to sleep and time to eat, time to read the newspaper and the novel, time to visit friends, time for everything else under the sun, but-no time for prayer, the most important of all things, the one great essential! -Oswald J. Smith
We have great promises from God that He will answer prayer.
Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Matthew 7:8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Jesus said: “…men always ought to pray and not lose heart…” Luke 18:1
This purpose of this handout is to teach believers how to pray and perhaps more importantly, why to pray:
1. How to pray
2. Why to pray
3. Quotes on Prayer by people who have prayed
Is there a right posture in which to pray?
Standing up, on your knees, face down on the floor, Eyes open?/ Eyes closed? Hands folded in front of you or raised high? If you hold your hands high, do you hold them forward to surrender or backwards to receive?
None of that matters except to put yourself in a position that allows you to focus your mind on God. If it hurts to kneel down, it will only distract you.
Find a comfortable position. But not so comfortable that you fall asleep!
The important thing is the position of your heart.
Do you love the Lord with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength?
Have you totally submitted to Him?
Expect God to speak to you.
Listen for Him and to Him
It takes time to learn to hear the voice of God
We always think of prayer as us asking [begging, pleading...] God for things.
But prayer is supposed to be a conversation with God. Nobody likes a conversation in which the other person never lets you talk.
God wants to talk to you more than you want to talk with Him. But He loves to listen to us!
If you have trouble hearing God, read His word. Pray with an open Bible.
The real reason to pray and the result of prayer is to get to know God. It is a lifelong learning experience and lifelong growing in knowing God. Jesus said:
John 17:3 (NKJV)
3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Some people fall into the trap of looking for the right phrases to pray thinking that there are “special” combinations of words that “work”. They want a formula without relationship. God wants a relationship without a formula.
Jesus warned of using repetitious prayers.
There are no “magic” words in prayer. God listens to honest, from-the-heart prayers.
Having said that, there are some words to consider:
“In Jesus’ name!”
The words, “In Jesus’ name’ are not special words to tack onto the end of your prayer.
But it is a very important concept. Jesus said we could use His name to ask of the Father. It is like He wrote a check for us that we can cash in at the bank because His name is on it Or a line of credit. We have access to the Father “on account of” Jesus’ name. Jesus said ask anything in My name and it shall be given to you.
John 16:23–24 (NKJV)
23 “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.
24Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
John 15:6–8 (NKJV)
6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
The key is to abide in Christ. That means you live in Him and He lives in you. Your desires will be His desires. Ask according to His will and you learn what that is by “reading, praying, trusting and obeying”.
“Hallelujah”
Hallelujah is a Hebrew word that means “Praise the Lord”
It is always appropriate to praise the Lord in prayer. Considering the nature and character of God, especially in relation to yourself, is always a reason to praise Him.
Praise is the first thing in the Lord’s Prayer. “Hallowed be thy name” means to see that God is far above all things and should be “hallowed” or praised.
“Forgive me”
It is always appropriate to acknowledge your sin and ask for forgiveness. When you sincerely ask God to forgive you, He is faithful and just to forgive your sins.
Jeremiah 17:9–10 (NKJV)
9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind,
Here is a great prayer from Psalm 139:
Psalm 139:23–24 (NKJV)
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
The cleansing comes after confession:
1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
“Thank you”
Paul says: “In everything give thanks”.
Consider that everything we have is made from molecules created by God. Even the air we breathe is His. God was taking care of us even before we knew Him. It is good to thank Him for the things we have, material things, relationships, hard times form which we learned so much, food, clothing, shelter, etc. Thankfulness leads to an attitude of praise.
Counting your blessings and giving thanks to God helps keep you in the right frame of mind, i.e., “God is God and you are not”. He is the one who made everything for us and all
James 1:16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
What if you pray wrong?
Remember who you are praying to!
Your prayers are not spells that you cast on someone.
Your prayers are a conversation with God.
He knows your heart.
Jesus’ ministry as our high priest is to intercede for us with the Father. Jesus knows you. He is able to take your heart’s cry to the Father even if you do not use the right words. So pray with the faith that God wants to answer your prayers.
Prayer is asking God- He has the right and obligation to say no!
God will not give you things that will hurt you.
All of us, if we are honest, are very happy that God did answer some of our prayers. Unanswered prayers are a way that God leads us into His will for us.
I prayed for years to be a foreign missionary in North Africa and South America. Every time I tried to go God stopped me. I did work with a ministry in Canada for 5 years. But Canada is so much like the USA in language and culture it didn’t seem like a cross cultural mission to me. And now I am here serving the Lord in Clearlake!
The main function of prayer is to get to know God and His will for our lives. He knows how to lead us.
Pray loud enough for all to hear and agree.
It is fine to pray silently. But no one can agree with you in prayer if they can’t hear you.
You can agree silently with someone praying out loud.
Don’t worry about having all the right words. Feel free to say it however it comes out.
You are speaking to God in front of people.
-Not the other way around.
Do not judge other people’s prayers.
Instead agree with their heart cry.
Take turns.
Don’t hog the whole prayer. Leave a little on the table for the next person to pray
Don’t be afraid to come back and fill in gaps if nobody prays for any aspect of the subject matter.
Volume doesn’t necessarily mean more power. The power comes from God
Things generally avoided:
Praying to impress others (long, showy language)
Correcting or preaching at others through prayer
Sharing overly personal or sensitive information about others
Gossiping about someone while praying for them.
Interrupting someone else’s prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer
Matthew 6:5–13 (NKJV)
5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
But, it is OK to repeat your prayer everyday and multiple times a day. Keep listening and watching for God’s answer.
It is interesting to me that so many people repeat the words of the Lord’s Prayer over and over again, seemingly with no understanding of them, as if the words are magic. I believe the Lord is giving us a guideline for prayer, not a formula.
8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Keep His name Holy. Worship Him. Praise Him. Thank Him for all He has done. Remember Who it is you are speaking to.
10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Request for His kingdom to come
His will to be done
If you ever don’t know how or what to pray for, pray “They will be done”
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
Ask God to give you what you need to live
12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
Ask for forgiveness for our sins against others and God.
Ask for a heart of forgiveness for others who have hurt us or others.
(Forgiveness means you give up all hope of a better past.)
13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Pray to be delivered from temptation and evil from the evil one and his servants
Doxology- Praise God. It builds faith and trust in Him to answer the prayers He asked you to pray!
In Paul’s writings He often breaks out in written prayers. I have used some of these as guides for my own prayers for people. Read these and study these prayers. You may find like me that you use certain of these ideas or phrases often when you are praying for people.
Ephesians 1:15–23 (NKJV)
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Paul prayed:
He gave thanks for what God has already done
He exalted God
Prayed for wisdom and revelation with enlightened understanding
A spirit of wisdom and revelation
He prayed that they may know the WHY to do what He wants and the Power He gives to do it
Ephesians 3:14–21 (NKJV)
14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—
19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
He prayed:
For strength through His Spirit with inner conviction
Knowing Christ is dwelling in your hearts
Rooted in the love of Christ and filled with all the fullness of God
Declares that God is exceedingly abundantly able (to build faith)
Philippians 1:9–11 (NKJV)
9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,
10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,
11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Paul prayed:
Your Love would abound- not mushy love- but based in knowledge [truth] and discernment
Discernment means knowing what is excellent and what is not
Means living right with God and humans
Be filled with fruits of righteousness
So people will see the results of Jesus working in you and praise God
Colossians 1:9–12 (NKJV)
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;
12giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
Paul prayed:
That you would have knowledge, wisdom and understanding to know His will
Your walk would please God
Bear fruit [of the Spirit and souls saved]
Grow in knowledge of Him
You be strengthened by His power for patience and longsuffering with joy
Giving thanks to God who qualifies us for His blessings
2 Thessalonians 1:11–12 (NKJV)
11Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power,
12that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
That you fulfill the calling of God, showing God to be good
that you do the work of faith with His power, so He is glorified
1 Thessalonians 3:11–13 (NKJV)
11Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you.
12And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you,
13so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.
Pray for direction
Pray that you may increase and abound in love
That you be blameless in holiness at the coming of Jesus
Church services
That Jesus will be high and lifted up
For a fresh vision/renewed joy and strength for tired Christians
Non-believers to surrender to Jesus
Pray for divine encounters with Spirit led Christians
Pray that you may be one of those for someone
Pray that God will fill up all the chairs in the Sanctuary
Power from the Holy Spirit in the words you speak
For Him to give us the right words to speak at the right time
Unity, friendship, and love in our church family
Pray that God would raise up youth leaders to reach into our schools
Missionaries:
Jim and Anna in Belize
Jordon and Renata in Argentina
Jorden and Aleah in the Middle East
It is how God accomplishes His will.
It is one of those mysteries of God that He asks us to partner with Him to pray for His will to happen on earth as it is in heaven.
He says we are His coworkers!
Prayer is how we come to know God’s voice and His will.
Prayer is the one ministry that every member of His body can do.
It is the most important thing we can do for God.
Prayer can change the spiritual climate of a family, a church, city, a state, a nation!
Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?
-Corrie Ten Boom
Don't worry about having the right words; worry more about having the right heart. It's not eloquence he seeks, just honesty.
-Max Lucado
The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayer-less religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.
-Samuel Chadwick
Four things let us ever keep in mind: God hears prayer, God heeds prayer, God answers prayer, and God delivers by prayer.
-Edward McKendree Bounds
Talking to men for God is a great thing, but talking to God for men is greater still.
-Edward McKendree Bounds
Pray for great things, expect great things, work for great things, but above all pray.
-R. A. Torrey
Triumphant prayer is almost impossible where there is neglect of the study of the Word of God.
-R. A. Torrey
No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying. We have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferers, few intercessors; many writers, but few fighters. Failing here, we fail everywhere.
-Leonard Ravenhill
Most Christians pray to be blessed. Few pray to be broken.
-Leonard Ravenhill
If you would do the best with your life, find out what God is doing in your generation and throw yourself wholly into it.
-Arthur Wallis
Nothing tends more to cement the hearts of Christians than praying together. Never do they love one another so well as when they witness the outpouring of each other's hearts in prayer.
-Charles Grandison Finney
Prayer is not an agency by which my will is to be accomplished upon the earth. The purpose of prayer is to get God's will to be accomplished upon the earth, and so many times we ask and receive not because the motive behind our asking is really that of accomplishing my will rather than God's will.
-Chuck Smith
There are more battles won through prayer than by any other means.
-Chuck Smith
Prayer is the most important activity a born-again Christian can perform. It should head your list of priorities, for certainly the world around us desperately needs prayer. Prayer will open the door for God to do a glorious work in these last days. Prayer will stem the tide of evil.
-Chuck Smith
Prayer is not the answer. God is the answer. Prayer is the vehicle by which we reach God.
-Greg Laurie
Know this: God’s delays are not necessarily His denials. So keep praying.
-Greg Laurie
Pray, and let God worry.
-Martin Luther
None can believe how powerful prayer is, and what it is able to effect, but those who have learned it by experience.
-Martin Luther
The fewer the words, the better the prayer.
-Martin Luther
The whole meaning of prayer is that we may know God.
-Oswald Chambers
God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.
-Oswald Chambers
Most Christians are satisfied living as common Christians, without an insatiable hunger for the deeper things of God.
-Aiden Wilson Tozer
Faith is not a conclusion you reach...it's a journey you live.
-Aiden Wilson Tozer
Prayers have no boundaries. They can leap miles and continents and be translated instantly into any language.
-Billy Graham
Jesus told us to follow Him, but He didn’t tell us where we are going. Prayer is where we get our marching orders for the day.
-Dave Miner (I just made this one up from what Ryan Ries said)
Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.
-Saint Augustine
Prayer is not a preparation for the battle; it is the battle!
-Leonard Ravenhill
I believe the place of prayer is not only a place where I lose my burdens, but also a place where I get a burden. He shares my burden and I share His burden. ... To know that burden, we must hear the voice of the Spirit. To hear that voice, we must be still and know that He is God.
-Leonard Ravenhill
I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.
-Charles Spurgeon
We should pray when we are in a praying mood, for it would be sinful to neglect so fair an opportunity. We should pray when we are not in a proper mood, for it would be dangerous to remain in so unhealthy a condition.
-Charles Spurgeon
Pray without ceasing.
-Paul (formerly Saul) of Tarsus
Don't worry about having the right words; worry more about having the right heart. It's not eloquence he seeks, just honesty.
Max Lucado
The Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Power helpeth our infirmity in prayer. The Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Life ends our deadness in prayer. The Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Wisdom delivers us from ignorance in this holy art of prayer. The Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Fire delivers us from coldness in prayer. The Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Might comes to our aid in our weakness as we pray.
Leonard Ravenhill
Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure.
Dwight L. Moody
Nothing tends more to cement the hearts of Christians than praying together. Never do they love one another so well as when they witness the outpouring of each other's hearts in prayer.
Charles Grandison Finney
...True prayer is measured by weight, not by length. A single groan before God may have more fullness of prayer in it than a fine oration of great length.
Charles Spurgeon
When the devil sees a man or woman who really believes in prayer, who knows how to pray, and who really does pray, and, above all, when he sees a whole church on its face before God in prayer, he trembles as much as he ever did, for he knows that his day in that church or community is at an end.
R. A. Torrey
A man may study because his brain is hungry for knowledge, even Bible knowledge. But he prays because his soul is hungry for God.
Leonard Ravenhill
We must begin to believe that God, in the mystery of prayer, has entrusted us with a force that can move the Heavenly world, and can bring its power down to earth.
Andrew Murray
God shapes the world by prayer. Prayers are deathless. The lips that uttered them may be closed to death, the heart that felt them may have ceased to beat, but the prayers live before God, and God's heart is set on them and prayers outlive the lives of those who uttered them; they outlive a generation, outlive an age, outlive a world.
Edward McKendree Bounds
Before we can pray, "Lord, Thy Kingdom come," we must be willing to pray, "My Kingdom go."
Alan Redpath
Our God has boundless resources. The only limit is in us. Our asking, our thinking, our praying are too small. Our expectations are too limited.
A. B. Simpson
A friend ... said, "You were healed by faith." "Oh, no," I said, "I was healed by Christ." What is the difference? There is a great difference. There came a time when even faith seemed to come between me and Jesus. I thought I should have to work up the faith, so I laboured to get the faith. At last I thought I had it; that if I put my whole weight upon it, it would hold. I said, when I thought I had got the faith, "Heal me." I was trusting in myself, in my own heart, in my own faith. I was asking the Lord to do something for me because of something in me, not because of something in Him.
A. B. Simpson
We must surrender ourselves so utterly that we can never own ourselves again. We must hand over self and all its rights in an eternal covenant, and give God the absolute right to own us, control us and possess us forever.
AB Simpson
The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, buy unoffered prayer.
F.B. Meyer
A marble cutter, with chisel and hammer, was changing a stone into a statue. A preacher looking on said: "I wish I could deal such changing blows on stony hearts." The workman answered: "Maybe you could, if you worked like me, upon your knees."
Arthur Tappan Pierson
Intercessory prayer might be defined as loving our neighbour on our knees.
Charles Bent
Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon their knees.
William Cowper
Intercessory prayer is an act of communion with Christ, for Jesus pleads for the sons of men.
Charles Spurgeon