Prayer
What is prayer?
God created prayer so we talk directly to him
with faith about our burdens and troubles.
Prayer is a direct communication
to God.
Prayer is all about faith and trusting
in the Lord.
Many many people do not know how to pray. We don’t need to tell God a story, if we do we are praying to an audience and trying to impress them.
God will not listen to that kind of prayer. God knows all about what we are about to pray for before hand. If we have a lengthy prayer we are only trying to impress others. This is about pride and the Lord detests pride.
Be direct and short in prayer, speak directly to the Lord not an audience.
He is very busy and has no time to listen to a story or telling him or anyone else about news or facts.
God created prayer for us to receive supernatural assistance.
Answered prayer is all about Gods timing, His will.
We are here today as Christians with Jesus in our hearts because of the prayers of our parents, grandparents, siblings, spouse, etc.
We pray to God for many reasons; healing, protection, guidance, thanking him, instructions, requests, strength, humility, love, courage, endurance, faith, wisdom, etc.
It’s
extremely important each time we study the Word we pray and ask for guidance
and wisdom from the Holy Spirit. We do not want to rely on our own reasoning
and understanding.
Prayer is all about faith, not doubt. Jesus said; "stand up, your faith has healed you".
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James 1;6
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting,for the one who doubts is like a wave on the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
1 John 5;14-15
14 and this is the confidence toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked for of Him.
James 4;3
You ask and do not receive, because you spend it on your passions.
Prayer is all about faith, not doubt. Jesus said; "stand up, your faith has healed you".
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James 1;6
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting,for the one who doubts is like a wave on the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
1 John 5;14-15
14 and this is the confidence toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked for of Him.
James 4;3
You ask and do not receive, because you spend it on your passions.
There
is answered and unanswered prayer, why does this happen?
Is
it about God’s will and timing?
Many
of us might question why a prayer might go unanswered, does that create doubt?
Does our faith diminish?
We
must be strong, we must stay tuned up.
Jesus
loves us, he chose us.
We
must pray for protection because the flesh tempts us and the enemy is near.
It’s
about faith and believing!
Look
at the scriptures in the Bible where Jesus healed,
so
many times he stated;
“Get
up, your faith has healed you”.
In the scriptures it says; "The
eyes of the Lord are towards the righteous and his ear is attends to their
prayer. " This means if we as a Christian is growing in righteousness and sanctification correctly the Lord listens to us.
This means if we are not growing the way he wants us to by following his commandments, precepts, and warnings he doesn't hear us.
In Matthew 6 it states; "the lord knows what you are praying for before you ask him".
So why do we have to pray if God already knows what you are praying for?
Because God wants us to pray to show our faith and talk to him. It would be ludicrous to assume that all we had to do was think about asking for something for the Lord to handle and it would be done, we must take the effort and talk to him.
Grace grows through us with prayer.
This means if we are not growing the way he wants us to by following his commandments, precepts, and warnings he doesn't hear us.
In Matthew 6 it states; "the lord knows what you are praying for before you ask him".
So why do we have to pray if God already knows what you are praying for?
Because God wants us to pray to show our faith and talk to him. It would be ludicrous to assume that all we had to do was think about asking for something for the Lord to handle and it would be done, we must take the effort and talk to him.
Grace grows through us with prayer.
What
are the reasons we pray?
If
we pray for a new Escalade or to win the lottery our prayer might not be
answered because it’s not God’s will.
If
we pray for the protection and or healing of another it very well could be
God’s will.
I personally have experienced many miracles of healing over the years with prayer. Prayer works, praise the Lord.
Why do prayers go unanswered?
Why do prayers go unanswered?
If
we can’t forgive someone than the Lord can’t forgive us and our prayer goes
unanswered.
If
we hate or dislike someone our prayers go unanswered.
If
a prayer is not Gods will it goes unanswered.
When
we pray we must thank the Lord for all he’s done.
What
happens when we pray for someone’s healing and they are not healed?
This
can create doubt with us as the one praying and the person we are praying
for.
We
must assure that person that it may take a day or two or a week, it’s about
God’s timing and the Holy Spiriting moving.
It’s
imperative we stay in contact with the person we prayed for whether they are
healed immediately or not.
We
must continuously pray with, support, and encourage that person with love.
We
must remember the enemy will attack and create doubt in our minds if we don’t
rebuke and resist him. The enemy’s favorite word is doubt.
I
believe prayer goes unanswered if;
-we
have weak faith
-it's
not God's will.
-we
hold a grudge.
-dislike
or hate anyone.
-do
not ask for forgiveness to another.
-do
not ask the Lord for forgiveness of sins we have committed.
-if
we judge others.
-if
we possess pride.
-if
there is any unbelief near by.
-if
there is doubt.
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1
Peter 3;12
12
“For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and His ears attend to their
prayer, but
the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Matthew
11;22-25
22 Jesus
said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 I tell you the truth, if someone says
to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in
his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
24 For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that
you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 Whenever you stand praying,
if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven
will also forgive you your sins.”
Matthew
26;41
“Watch
and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but
the flesh is weak.”
Luke
11;1-4
11 Now
Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he stopped, one of his disciples
said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 So he said to them, “When you pray, say:
Father,
may your name be honored;
may
your kingdom come.
3
Give
us each day our daily bread,
4
and
forgive us our sins,
for
we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And
do not lead us into temptation.”
Ephesians 3;14-21
Prayer for
Strengthened Love
14 For this reason I kneel
before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on the
earth is named. 16 I pray that according to the
wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his
Spirit in the inner person, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts
through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, 18 you
may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length
and height and depth, 19 and thus to know the love of Christ that
surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
20 Now
to him who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all
that we ask or think,
21 to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all
generations, forever and ever. Amen.
1
Corinthians 11;4
Any
man who prays or prophesies with his head covered disgraces his
head.
Matthew
5;44
But
I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute
you.
Matthew
6:5-15
5 “When
you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to
stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be
seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6 But
you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray
to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in
secret will reward you.
7 “And
when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the
Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.
8 So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before
you ask Him.
9 “Pray,
then, in this way:
‘Our
Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed
be Your name.
10
‘Your
kingdom come.
Your
will be done,
On
earth as it is in heaven.
11
‘Give
us this day our daily bread.
12
‘And
forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13
‘And
do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the
kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]
14 For
if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, then your
Father will not forgive your transgressions.
Matthew
21;22
If
you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
Mark
11;24
Therefore
I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have
received it, and it will be yours.
Mark
11;25
And
when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone,
forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
2
Corinthians 9;14
And
in their prayers on your behalf they long for you because of the
extraordinary grace God has shown to you.
Ephesians
6;18
With
every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the
Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all
the saints.
2
thessalonians 1;11
And
in this regard we pray for you always, that our God will make you
worthy of his calling and fulfill by his power your every desire for goodness
and every work of faith.
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1
Timothy 1;1-8
Prayer for All
People
2 First of all, then, I urge
that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on
behalf of all people, 2 even for kings and all who are in
authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and
dignity. 3 Such prayer for all is good and welcomed
before God our Savior, 4 since he wants all people to be saved and
to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one
intermediary between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, himself human, 6 who
gave himself as a ransom for all, revealing God’s purpose at his appointed
time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and apostle—I am
telling the truth; I am not lying—and a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and
truth. 8 So I want the men in every place to pray,
lifting up holy hands without anger or dispute.
Prayer for Wisdom
and Revelation
Ephesians
1;15-23
15 For this reason, because I
have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 I
do not cease to give thanks for you when I remember you in my prayers.
17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory, may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation in your growing
knowledge of him, 18 —since the eyes of your heart have been
enlightened—so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the
wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is
the incomparable greatness of his power toward us who believe, as
displayed in the exercise of his immense strength. 20 This power he
exercised in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his
right hand in the heavenly realms 21 far above every rule and authority
and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but
also in the one to come. 22 And God put all things under
Christ’s feet, and he gave him to the church as head over all things. 23 Now
the church is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Jesus prayers
John
17
Jesus Prays for the
Father to Glorify Him
17 When Jesus had finished
saying these things, he looked upward to heaven and said, “Father, the time has
come. Glorify your Son, so that your Son may glorify you— 2 just as
you have given him authority over all humanity, so that he may give eternal
life to everyone you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal
life—that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent. 4 I
glorified you on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 And
now, Father, glorify me at your side with the glory I had with you before the
world was created.
Jesus Prays for the
Disciples
6 “I have revealed your name to
the men you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them
to me, and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they understand that
everything you have given me comes from you, 8 because I have given
them the words you have given me. They accepted them and really understand that
I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying
on behalf of them. I am not praying on behalf of the world, but
on behalf of those you have given me, because they belong to you. 10 Everything
I have belongs to you, and everything you have belongs to me, and I have been
glorified by them. 11 I am no longer in the world, but they are in
the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them safe in your name
that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. 12 When
I was with them I kept them safe and watched over them in your name that you
have given me. Not one of them was lost except the one destined for
destruction, so that the scripture could be fulfilled. 13 But now I
am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world, so they may
experience my joy completed in themselves. 14 I have given them
your word, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the
world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I am not asking you
to take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe from the evil one. 16 They
do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world. 17 Set
them apart in the truth; your word is truth. 18 Just as you sent me
into the world, so I sent them into the world. 19 And I set myself
apart on their behalf, so that they too may be truly set apart.
Jesus Prays for
Believers Everywhere
20 “I am not praying
only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those who believe in me through
their testimony, 21 that they will all be one, just as
you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they
will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me. 22 The
glory you gave to me I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are
one— 23 I in them and you in me—that they may be completely one, so
that the world will know that you sent me, and you have loved them just as you
have loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you
have given me to be with me where I am, so that they can see my glory that you
gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 Righteous
Father, even if the world does not know you, I know you, and these men know
that you sent me. 26 I made known your name to them, and I will
continue to make it known, so that the love you have loved me with may be in
them, and I may be in them.”
Ephesians
1;3-11
Prayer for the
Church
3 I thank my God every time I remember
you. 4 I always pray with joy in my every prayer
for all of you 5 because of your participation in the gospel from
the first day until now. 6 For I am sure of this very thing, that
the one who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ
Jesus. 7 For it is right for me to think this about all of you,
because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the
defense and confirmation of the gospel all of you became partners in God’s
grace together with me. 8 For God is my witness that I long for all
of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And I pray
this, that your love may abound even more and more in knowledge and every kind
of insight 10 so that you can decide what is best, and thus be
sincere and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the
fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise
of God.
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®
Timothy Skon,, Chaplain,Prayer Minister,
serving others, guided by Jesus
8/14/16