Author: Gary Witcher

Prayer

"I sought the Lord,” David writes in Psalms 34:4, "and He answered me, and delivered me from my fears."
How do you feel when you pray?  Do you know how to pray?  Do you know what to expect when you pray?
"This poor man cried and the Lord heard him; and saved him out of all his troubles," David continues in verses six and seven.  "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them."
Daniel chapter six records the well-known story of Daniel in the lions' den, Verse five states that Daniel's enemies knew they could find no accusation against him unless it involved the law of God.  They decided to enact an injunction against praying or petitioning anyone except the king.  What did Daniel do?  He continued to pray to God three times a day as always, even though it resulted in his being thrown in with the lions.  Prayer was important to Daniel.
"First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all," Paul says in Romans 1:8. 
"For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the Gospel of His Son, is witness as to how increasingly I make mention of you," he continues in verses 9-10,  "always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you."
The first chapter of nearly every one of Paul's letters mentions that he remembers that person or group of people in his prayers. Prayer was important to Paul.
When Jesus realizes in John 6:15 that the people are wanting to make Him king by force, He withdraws to the mountains by Himself. Matthew 14:23 sheds some light on what Jesus did when He went to the mountains alone: He prayed.  Luke 5:16 tells us that Jesus often went off to pray.
	We all know about the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus in the form of a dove when he was baptized.  But Luke 3:21 notes that this took place while he was praying.  Luke 6:12 informs us that Jesus spent an entire night in prayer before selecting His apostles.  Luke 9:18 points out the fact that Jesus was praying when he asked his Apostles who they thought He was.  Verse 28 states that Jesus was going to the mountain to pray when the transfiguration took place.
	Jesus prayed before multiplying the loaves and fish, as we learn in John 6:23 and Matthew 15:36.
Luke 22:39-46 records Jesus’ intense prayer in Gethsemane.
And Matthew 26:53 mentions the tremendous power that Jesus had at His disposal through prayer: He could have prayed for a huge army of angels to rescue Him.
Prayer was very important to Jesus.
	Prayer should be as important for us as it was for Daniel, Paul and Jesus.   But it is something that we often do not understand and, therefore, frequently neglect.   We need to adopt the attitude of the Apostles in Luke 11:1.
"Lord, teach us to pray" is their request.
Why, when and for whom should we pray?
"Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father," Paul instructs in Ephesians 5:20.
"With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints," he adds in verses 18-19 of the following chapter, "and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the Gospel."
So the answer to when is "always."   
"Pray without ceasing," is Paul's simple statement in 1 Thessalonians 5: 17.
One of the groups of people for whom we should pray, Paul says, is those who are preaching the Gospel.  Paul has a similar admonition in Colossians 4:2-4.
	"Devote yourselves to prayer," Paul admonishes in this passage, "keeping alert in it with {an attitude of} thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God may open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; in order that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak."
	Another group Paul mentions is the saints. As we have mentioned before, the term  "saints" refers simply to Christians and not to some special group of people who have died and are able to help in performing miracles.  Notice that we are to pray FOR the saints and not TO them.
	"Be anxious for nothing," we are told in Philippians 4:6, "but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God."  
	So we find that we are to pray for the things that we need.  We also notice that there are different elements of prayer, including supplication and thanksgiving.  We'll say more about this later.
"First of all, then,” Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:1-2, "I urge you that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity."
We are to pray, then, for all people, especially those in leadership positions.
To understand why we should pray, let's look at some examples of when people prayed in the New Testament.
Acts 12 tells about Peter being placed in prison by Herod.  It was the king’s intent to have the Apostle executed.  The Christians were worried about Peter, so they met to pray.   We learn this from verse 12.  When early Christians were disturbed about something, they prayed.
There came a time when Paul had to leave the people with whom he had worked.  Acts 20:36 records such an occasion.  When the Christians were sad about Paul leaving, they prayed.
Early Christians were admonished to pray when they were suffering, as we learn from James 5:13.  They were to pray for those among them who were sick…either physically or spiritually…as we are told in James 5:16-18.
Acts 13:3 says that they prayed before sending someone on an evangelistic mission. Acts 16: 25 states that they prayed when they were in prison.  Acts 4:24-31 informs us that they prayed when they were released by the authorities.
In short, they prayed for what they needed and for what they had received.   They prayed when they were sad and when they were happy.
	How are we to pray?  We are to pray to the Father through the Son, with help from the Holy Spirit (Philippians 4:6; Colossians 3:17; Romans 8:26-27).  We are to pray with the spirit and with the mind (1 Corinthians 14:15-17).  We are to pray with perseverance (Matthew 7:7-11; Luke 11:1-13, 18:1-8).
We are not to use empty words when we pray (Matthew 6:7).  We are not to pray to be seen or heard, or to be praised for our piety (Matthew 6:5-15).
We must pray with faith (James 1:5-8) and we must pray for the right things  (James 4:1-3).  What we pray for must be in accordance with the will of God (1 John 5:14).
We will be helped in praying if we remember the simple word "ACTS."  The letters of this word stand for "adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication."  Our prayers should include all four elements.
How does God answer our prayers?   We mentioned Daniel earlier.  God's answer to his prayers was that God is in control.  This is obvious from Daniel 6:7-10,22.
Elijah approached God because he thought he alone was serving the Lord.  The answer, as repeated in Romans 11:4, was that Elijah was just one of 7,000 followers of Jehovah.
Saul spent three days in prayer after being blinded on the way to Damascus.  God's reply was, "I can use everyone, and I can use you."
Cornelius prayed to God, as we learn from Acts 10:31.  "I have a plan that is valid for everyone, including you and the rest of the Gentiles," God responded.
One thing we should notice about God’s replies to the prayers of Saul and Cornelius is that God answers the prayers of someone who is not a Christian by sending someone to teach him what he needs to do to become a child of God. The Lord forgives the sins of those who obey Him.  Those who are not children cannot expect the same treatment from the Father as those who are His sons and daughters.  It is not realistic to expect God to help us if we are not willing to do what He has told us.
We must listen to and obey the Truth which is revealed in God's Word.  If we do, God will hear our prayers and set us free from our sins.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."