Dissecting Prayer

Last year when we discussed the Armor of God, we went over the topic of prayer. From there we saw prayer is the artillery fire in a Christian’s life, it is an offensive weapon. However, it is also an area that lacks in many Christian’s lives. Simply put many Christians really do not understand or know how to pray, some even are scared to pray based on the idea it will go unanswered. Part of this problem is that many Christian’s are only spending time in the Word during church service. Which means they only ever hear their Pastor pray, so it may feel that there is a certain way to pray and if it does not follow that guideline then it cannot be right. The other issue is Christian’s feel as if we need an immediate answer to our prayers or if they are not answered the way we expected then there is no point in praying.

All of these issues prevent someone from praying, which as discussed above; prevents us from using our most powerful weapon. Satan loves to make Christians feel useless, it means that we stop spreading the Gospel and these issues with prayer are no different. When a Christian stops praying, they are not utilizing the fullness of the unique relationship we have with God. This unique relationship is the solid foundation in which the Christian is to stand upon. When we are not standing on the foundation Christ has laid out for us, we can easily be swept away by the world. However, the Bible is filled with different types of prayers, all of which set an example to a Christian to keep praying. Over the next couple of weeks, we will be discussing different examples of prayers in the Bible. This is not an exhaustive list, but is meant to encourage those who are wondering how to pray or why their prayers aren’t answered.

Before we get into the different types of prayers, I want to review a little more about what prayer is and what the Bible says about prayer. In her book, “On Our Knees” Susan Heck describes prayer as “The desire, opportunity and privilege of talking to God. Prayer is the expression of man’s dependence upon God for all things. Prayer is an absolute transfer of my will to God. Prayer requires sincerity, repentance or contrition, purpose of amendment and a good life, the spirit of consecration, faith, and submission to the will of God.” No other religion has the opportunity to talk to God, only the born again believer. Most other faiths require another human to “act” as mediator for us to confess our sins or even to talk to God. But because of Jesus Christ’s work on the cross, we have the freedom to come before God unhindered. “51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.” Matthew 27:51 the veil discussed here is the veil that separated the two sides of the room in the Tabernacle. On one side was the Holy Place which held the Alter of Incense, the lamp stand, and the table for the bread. The other side was the Holy of Holies which held the Arc of the Covenant. The veil was placed in between to keep sinful man out of the place where God resides. “31 “You shall also make a veil of violet, purple, and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skilled embroiderer. 32 Then you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, their hooks also of gold, on four bases of silver. 33 You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and bring in the ark of the testimony there within the veil; and the veil shall serve as a partition for you between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place.” Exodus 12:31-33. The only way that a priest could approach the Holy of Holies was to offer a sacrifice, the blood of a lamb. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, the veil was torn, this meant that the final sacrifice had been made and sinful man now had the ability to approach God through His Son.

Having this freedom to approach God means several things. First, we need to accept that we cannot do it on our own. We need to acknowledge Jesus Christ’s sacrifice in order for our prayers to be heard. This comes at the moment of repentance when one recognizes that they are a sinner and have fallen short of what God had planned. The individual repents of their sins and expresses their dependence upon God. Knowing what it cost to have this freedom, it also means that we need to take prayer seriously; not only is it our greatest weapon, but it came at a great cost.

This means that there should be a certain attitude that is found when you pray. This is not to say that there is a guideline you have to follow when you pray, but you should be taking it seriously. As we will see in our study, the different prayers that we will discuss will show different attitudes present. Not every prayer will have each of the attitudes discussed, but the attitudes show how seriously we need to take our prayer life. This includes an attitude of awe: with reviewing the Scripture on the veil and what it meant when it was torn, we need to approach prayer with an understanding of the seriousness of it. We have freedom in prayer and we need to have an attitude of awe that shows respect when we talk to God.

The second attitude that can be found in some prayers is an attitude of helplessness. Again, prayer is an expression of our inability to handle things on our own, it is an expression of our dependence upon God. If you feel that God is incapable or unwilling to listen to your prayers, or you feel that you can handle things on your own; then your prayer life will be affected. 

The next attitude is one of faith. “6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 it would be difficult to pray if we doubt that God is who He says He is. If we doubt that He can fulfill His promises, then taking the time to pray seems impossible and the ideas that it would be simpler to take matters into our own hands become prevalent. When we pray we need to have faith in God and His characteristics that we see in the Bible, we know then that God is faithful.

Prayer also includes an attitude of persistence. Don’t fall into the trap of believing that if you pray for something once, that is enough nor that the number of times increases your odds of getting what you ask. Jesus gives a great lesson on persistence in Luke 18 simply to teach the disciples, “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” Luke 18:1. Repeatedly pray to God about a matter, He will not tire of it! This is not to say that if you continually ask for something if will be done in the way that you will wish, but to be persistent in a matter shows your seriousness. “Pray without ceasing” 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Finally, there are prayers of earnest and boldness. We should come before God with excitement, not half-heartedly. Hebrews gives us a great example of the boldness we should have when approaching God with our prayers, “16 Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.” Hebrews 4:16 it is true that there is nothing that God does not know, and that includes our prayers. He knows what we are going to ask before we do. This should not be a hinderance to prayer though, we should come before Him pouring our heart out with sincerity because through prayer, we see the workings of God and come to have a deeper relationship with Him.

Seek the truth and encourage one another,

Alex