[Biblemat] S) PRAYER

Wed Apr 9 05:39:41 CDT 2008

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  Here is a study from my
recent files.  Use to the glory of God.

PRAYER

     God speaks toman through His Word -- the Bible.  Man
talks to God through prayer.  Prayer is not preaching to God,
nor should it be used to preach to man.  One of the Lord's
disciples asked Him to "teach us to pray" (Lk. 11:1).  Many do
not know how to pray or what to pray for because they have
not been taught from God's Word on the subject.

     In answer to the disciples request, Jesus gave the model
prayer, often called "the Lord's prayer."  We will give a brief
summary of this prayer, found in Matt. 6:9-13, and make a few observations 
about it.  (1) "Our Father who art in heaven,
hollowed be Thy name."  This is the address and praise of
God.  (2) "Thy kingdom come."  At this time the kingdom had
not been established, but now it has come and we should pray for it to 
spread.  (More about this later.)  (3) "Thy will be
done..."  When we pray for God's Will to be done on earth we
should be willing to learn and practice His Will in our own lives.  Jesus did 
not strive to do His own will but the Will of
His Father (Jno. 5:30).  Are you really interested in doing God's Will, or 
are you satisfied with following your own will?
(4) "Give us this day our daily bread."  It is proper for a Christ-
ian to pray about the necessities of life, including the job by
which he earns a living.  (See 3 Jno. 2).  (5) "Forgive us...as
we forgive others."  Children of God must repent of their sins
and pray for forgiveness.  Also, they must have a forgiving
heart toward those who wrong them.  (6) "Deliver us from evil."  Christians 
should pray for power to overcome evil temp-
tations.  These words are not necessary, but from this model
prayer we learn some things for which we should pray.

What To Pray For: -- From the model prayer, as we have just
noticed, we learn some things that we should pray about, but
we wish to list some of the other things taught in the Script-
ures on this subject.  (1) We are not to be "anxious, but in 
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let
your request be made known unto God" (Phil. 4:6).  (2) "I ex-
hort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, inter-
cessions, thanksgivings, be made for all men; for kings and 
all that are in high places; that we may lead a tranquil and 
quiet life in godliness and gravity" (1 Tim. 2:1,2).  (3) Pray for
one another (Jas. 5:16).  (4) Pray for our enemies (Matt. 5:44).
Obviously, we do not have to pray for all these things at the
same time, but these are some of the passages that teach on
this matter.

Unscriptural Prayer: -- Now we will notice some of the things
that people pray for that are unscriptural.  (1) Many pray for
the kingdom to come.  This is like asking your father to give
you something that he has already given you!  While Jesus
was on earth, He said, "Verily I say unto you.  There are some
here of them that stand by, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they 
see the kingdom of God come with power" (Mk. 9:1).  From this we learn that the 
kingdom was not then in existence but that it would be established during the 
life
time of some who heard Jesus speak.  When Paul wrote the
Colossian letter, he said that God had "translated us into the
kingdom of the Son of His love" (Col. 1:13).  The church, or
kingdom, was established in Jerusalem at the first Pentecost
after the Lord's resurrection (Acts 2) and from that point on,
the Bible always refers to the kingdom as being in existence.
(2) Some teach those who are not children of God to pray for
salvation.  (If so, where is the passage?)  Jesus did not say:
"He that believeth and prays shall be saved."  He said, "He
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mk. 16:16).  The alien sinner 
must believe, repent and be baptized in order
to be saved (Acts 2;38).  Saul of Tarsus prayed for three days
and did not "pray through."  He was told to "Arise and be bap-
tized and wash away thy sins, calling on His name" (Acts 22:
16; 9:9-11).  A Christian is to repent and pray in order to have
his sins forgiven (Acts 8:13-24; Jas. 5:16; 1 Jno. 1:9).  (3)
Those who pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit do not understand the Bible 
teaching on this subject.  This baptism
was a promise which has been fulfilled and it was never a
command nor was it ever given to save anyone from sin.  (4)
Many of the same ones who claim to receive the baptism of
the Holy Spirit alwo pray for and claim to receive the baptism
of fire.  The baptism of fire is punishment (Matt. 3:11,12), and
those who claim to have received it have not, and would not
pray for it if they knew what it was!  (5) In some of the pray-
ers we hear over the radio and TV, religious people thank God for division 
when Jesus prayed for unity (Jno. 17:20,21).
We may thank God for our freedoms, but our right to choose
does not make our choice right.  There is "one faith" (Eph. 4:
4,5) and we are to "contend earnestly for the faith which was
once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3).  (6) Jesus said,
that we should not pray "to be seen of men," nor should we
use "vain repetitions" (Matt. 6:5-7).  There is a difference be-
tween praying and saying a prayer.  A prayer that sounds good to men may be 
vain in God's sight.

     God has not promised to work miracles for us, but He has
promised to answer our prayers by giving us what we need.
We must pray fromt he heart, in faith (Jas. 5:16), and in the
name of Christ (Jno. 14:13,14).  The Word of God teaches us
to pray and it teaches us how to pray.  --- Frank J. Jamerson
via Gospel Power, Vol. 15, No. 12, Mar. 23, 2008.   </HTML>
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