PRAYER as it Was Meant to Be Will God answer? Will God hear me? When should I pray? How to lead public prayer? For what should I pray? Prayer As It Was Meant To Be by A. L. Parr © A. L. Parr, 2002 http://home.earthlink.net/~acptx Corinth Road Church of Christ 1155 Corinth Road Jacksonville, TX 75766 http://home.earthlink.net/~corinthroad Dedicated to Ed Brady & Edwin Davis elders who saw the timeliness of this study and encouraged the preparation of this study guide. Table of Contents Preface ................................................. 2 A SACRED PRIVILEGE ................................... 3 LEARNING FROM JESUS HOW TO PRAY (Part 1) ............. 5 LEARNING FROM JESUS HOW TO PRAY (Part 2) ............. 7 BEING QUALIFIED TO PRAY .............................. 9 ACCEPTABLE PRAYER (Part 1) ........................... 11 ACCEPTABLE PRAYER (Part 2) ........................... 13 ACCEPTABLE PRAYER (Part 3) ........................... 15 GOD ANSWERS PRAYER ................................ 18 THE CONFIDENCE THAT WE HAVE ...................... 20 LEADING PUBLIC PRAYER (Part 1) ....................... 21 LEADING PUBLIC PRAYER (Part 2) ....................... 23 PRAYER IS OFTEN THE UNUSED BLESSING ............... 25 CONCLUSION ......................................... 26 1 Preface In a country music song in the 1950's and 1960's a little boy, being tucked into bed by his father at the end of their day together, said, “Daddy, today you’ve taught me how to throw a ball, ride a bike and catch a fish; now will you teach me how to pray?” The father turned and left the room in tears because he had “forgotten how to pray.” New Christians often ask sincere questions about prayer. What is prayer? Should we pray to the Father or to Jesus? What do you visualize in your mind as you pray? What should we say in prayer? Why should we pray? These simple questions are basic to our being comfortable in our efforts to express our inner- most concerns to our Creator, Savior and Judge, and it is not only children and young Christians who want to know the answers. Many grown and otherwise mature saints decline when asked to lead others in public prayer. They simply are not comfortable with the thought of speaking to God in the hearing of others. One of the most common explanations for this discomfort is ignorance. People simply don’t know how to pray — or at least they are not certain that they know how to pray “according to His will” (I John 5:14). At least in recent decades there has been comparatively little teaching done on the subject of prayer — other than to preach that Christians must pray obediently. Sincere saints who make every effort to meet with the rest of the church to worship Almighty God, who are eager to lend a hand when the physical work needs to be done around the property or in the homes of brothers and sisters, will be glad to be taught more specifically just what is the will of God in our prayers. Our brother Peter wrote, “His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (II Peter 1:3). In our knowledge of Jesus we have from God everything that we need in order to live in godliness and to attain unto eternal life. That being the case — and since prayer is an aspect of godliness (Psalm 32:6) — we can learn from Jesus (Him that hath called us — Matthew 11:28-30) how to pray. Even among the apostles of Jesus there was the lack of proper knowledge — or at least the confidence of knowledge — of how to pray. “And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1). It’s not a sin not to know how to pray. The disciples of John needed to be taught, and the first disciples of Jesus needed to be taught. This study is written for those who have the faith and desire of the honest souls who first heard Jesus preach and began to follow him — for those who are still today beseeching, “Lord, teach us to pray.” A. L. Parr Jacksonville, Texas April, 2002 2 Lesson 1 A SACRED PRIVILEGE I. Prayer is a sacred privilege of the children of God. It is an opportunity to commune with God. II. Righteous men through the ages have turned to God in prayer, in times both of joy and of grief. A. In the Old Testament 1. Abraham — Gen. 18:17-33 2. Moses — Ex. 32:30-32 3. David — Psa. 51 4. Elijah — I Kgs. 18:36-39 5. Jeremiah — Jer. 32:16-25 6. Nehemiah — Neh. 1:1-11 B. Jesus 1. At His baptism, the beginning of His life’s work — Lk. 3:21 2. In the evening — Matt. 14:23 3. In the early morning — Mk. 1:25 4. After the last supper, the end of His life’s work — Jn. 17:1-26 C. In the Early Church as Well 1. Jerusalem church — Ac. 2:42 2. Peter — Ac. 10:9 3. Jerusalem church — Ac. 12:12 4. Paul & Silas — Ac. 16:25 We kneel, how weak! We rise, how full of power! -”Archbishop” Trent 3 III. Though prayer is sacred to the child of God, some have used it for wrong purposes: A. So They May Fulfill Their Lusts — Jas. 4:3 B. For Show — Lk. 18:9-14 (Pharisee Exalted Himself) C. Pretense, “Outward Showing, Cloke” — Matt. 23:14 IV. Public prayer is powerful under the right circumstances. A. God Hears — I Jn. 5:13-14 B. God Heals — Jas. 5:15-18 C. So What are Those “Right Circumstances”? Learn to entwine with your prayers the small cares, the trifling sorrows, the little wants of daily life. Whatever affects you — be it a changed look, an altered tone, an unkind word, a wrong, a wound, a demand you cannot meet, a sorrow you cannot disclose — turn it into prayer and send it up to God. Disclosures you may not make to man, you can make to the Lord. Men may be too little for your great matters; God is not too great for your small ones. Only give yourself to prayer, whatever be the occasion that calls for it. -Anonymous 4 Lesson 2 LEARNING FROM JESUS HOW TO PRAY (Part 1) In Lk. 11:1 the Disciples, Seeing Jesus Pray, Asked Him to Teach Them. We Can Also Learn from Him How to Pray. I. The model prayer (Matt. 6:9-15) A. This is not “the Lord's prayer” (Jn. 17) B. We cannot pray all of this today 1. Matt. 6:7 — Don’t use vain repetitions; yet those who recite this prayer often do just that. 2. Matt. 6:9 (“after this MANNER”) — What Jesus spoke is a pattern or model for prayer, not intended to be recited verbatim. 3. Matt. 6:10 — Prayer for the coming of the kingdom today is superfluous because the kingdom is now here. a. Matt. 16:18, 19 b. Col. 1:13 c. I Thess. 1:1 and 2:12 d. Heb. 12:28 e. Rev. 1:9 C. Taught them to HALLOW the name of the Father. 1. Greek hagiazo means to sanctify, set apart 2. This is the reason many use the solemn style 3. In Lk. 18:11 did the Pharisee “hallow” God? 4. When we speak to our Father in such a manner as to bring him down to our level, we cease to “hallow” his name! D. The petitions of the model prayer: 1. “Give us this day our daily bread” (sustenance). We need to ask for his blessings each day; & He will give them if we serve him on the same schedule. a. Lk. 9:23 — we are to take up our cross daily! 5 b. Acts 2:46 — together in service daily c. Acts 5:42 — taught daily d. Acts 16:5 — increased in number daily 2. “Forgive us ... as we forgive.” a. I Jn. 1:9 — Forgiveness is available... if we confess our sins to God. b. Lk. 17:3, 4 — Do we forgive others? 3. “Lead us not into temptation.” a. Jas. 1:13-15 — God doesn't tempt us himself, but allows us to be tempted when we are drawn away from him by our own lust-driven decisions. b. We need to pray that God will providentially prohibit us from being led into situations that could arouse lust and result in temptation. 4. “Deliver us from evil.” Far from being a tempter, God is a deliverer. a. Col. 1:13 — delivered from the power of darkness b. I Thess. 1:10 — delivered us from the wrath to come c. II Tim. 3:11, 12 — As He delivered Paul physically, the Lord will deliver us spiritually, though we may suffer first. Reconciliation is a necessary prelude to worship and a condition of effective prayer. -Lewis Maclachlan 6 Lesson 3 LEARNING FROM JESUS HOW TO PRAY (Part 2) I. The Lord’s Prayer For Himself On The Cross (Matt. 27; Mk. 15; Lk. 23; Jn. 19) A. a prayer of concern: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk. 23:34) B. a prayer of crisis: “Eli, Eli, lamasabacthani?” (Matt. 27:46; Mk. 15:34) C. a prayer of conquest: “it is finished” (Jn. 19:30) — Jesus was addressing the Father regarding the work he had been sent to do. D. a prayer of confidence: “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit” (Lk.