Teaching on PRAYER

My Teaching on PRAYER

Regarding prayer......
Ephesians 6:18 - "praying always with all prayer and supplication in
the Spirit."

1 Thess. 5:17 - "Pray without ceasing."

Jut as we pray continually we should pray diligently.
In Luke 18:2-8 Jesus tells a parable to show that we should always
pray and not give up. It's the story of a woman wo keeps pleading
with a judge to grant her justice against an adversary. The judge
who neither feared God nor cared about men, refused for awhile. But
then he gave in to her request because of her persistence. In the
same way we know that God hears and answers our prayers when we cry
out to Him and are aligned with him.
The scriptures are filled with reminders that we should always be in
communication with God.

ON PRAYER...... .
Since I am on staff and teach occasionally for a Christian Bible
College in my area and have taught on prayer on numerous occasions,
let me show you the way I teach my students on PRAYER in our Bible
College. This is what I teach about the Lord's Prayer.....

Prayer is communion and communication with the Father. (Matthew 6:9-
15 & Luke 11:2 "And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father
which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done, as in heaven, so in earth......" Please note that
those are SAMPLES not prayers we are to repeat as some do.

Jesus' actual prayer (not sample or model prayer)..... ...

People pray incorrectly when they start out their prayers:
"Lord......"
or...... "Jesus...... ."
Jesus taught us how to pray. He is our example. We need to pray to
the Father in Jesus name.
Notice our Lord Jesus praying to the Father....

Matthew 11:25 "At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank
thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto
babes.
vs 26 - "Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight".

John 11:41 "......And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I
thank thee that thou hast heard me".

THE REAL "Lord's Prayer" - John 17:1-26
It begins in verse 1 this way: "These words spake Jesus, and lifted
up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify
thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee...." and continues
through verse 26. THIS IS HIS ACTUAL PRAYER. Not a mode/sample
prayer.

Another scripture where Jesus prays:
Luke 22:42 "Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from
me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done".
Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsamane.

There are 10 main points to this SAMPLE/MODEL prayer that Jesus
taught us for this is a SAMPLE MODEL prayer and not the actual
Lord's Prayer.

1. Verse 9 - "After this manner therefore pray ye........" PATTERN.
He's telling us this is the WAY we should pray. Pattern for prayer.
He's not telling us to PRAY THOSE WORDS. Jesus is teaching us the
PROPER WAY to pray from beginning to end. This is a PATTERN for
Prayer. The words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount are not meant
to be a prayer for us to repeat word for word over and over again.
It is to "teach us to pray". Prayer being siwth ACKNOWLEDGING "who
God is" and "How" He should be addressed.
The prayer begins: "Our Heavenly Father...." When we pray we address
the Father, not the Son.

2. Verse 10 - PRAISE. After acknowledging and addressing the Father,
prayer is to be followed by Praise. We should acknowledge that His
Name should be praised. For example, "Our Heavenly FAther we praise
You for Your goodness and mercy to us.......... .etc." (Hebrews
13:15)

3. Also in Verse 10 - "Thy Kingdom come...." This is EXPECTATION AND
FAITH. WE KNOW IN WHOM we believe. So now our prayer would be so
far......... "Our Heavenly Father we praise You for Your goodness and
mercy to us we know that You are a loveling, fatiful God who HEARS
and ANSWERS our prayers...." . etc etc. Again this is a TEACHING, we
are teaching you not telling you how to pray.

4. Also found in Verse 10 - SUBMISSION. "Thy will be done." We are
acknowledging that He is God. (James 4:7)

5. Verse 11 - "Give us this day..." is our PETITION to the Lord for
our needs. WE have the right to go to the Father in Jesus Name with
our needs after we have acknowledged Him and submitted to who He is.

6. Verse 12 - "And forgive us Our sins/debts.. .." CONFESSION comes
next. Always confess sin.
I never go to bed at night without including in my nightly
prayer, "Father if I have sinned in any way, please forgive me."
We must always confess sin. Just because we are SAVED doesn't mean
we don't or can't sin. In this verse Jesus makes it clear that there
is a RELATIONSHIP between our willingngess to forgive others and our
personal forgiveness by the FAther. When we sin we have an Advocate
(Jesus). Read 1 John 1:9.

7. Verse 12 - "As we forgive those...." FORGIVENESS. This is the
hard one. Many times there is a Bro. or Sis. "Sandpaper" in the
local church that just rubs us the wrong way. We need to FORGIVE
them. (Mark 1:25)

8. Verse 13 - "And lead us not into temptation.. .." TRUST. Here's
where we ask the Lord for protection. This speaks of TRUST. We TRUST
the Lord for protection. (Prov. 3:5,6; Isaiah 26:3; 1 Corin. 10:13.)
PRAY always to be delivered from tEMPTATION and satan's power.

9. Also in Verse 13 - "But DELIVER us from evil.... DELIVERANCE. We
recognize God's power to deliver us.

10 Last, THANKSGIVING. We should always THANK HIM for our salvation,
so undeserved, yet so freely given.
Ephesians 5:20; Luke 18:1; 1 Thess. 5:18.

Daniel prayed 3 times a day with open windows, unashamedly. Do we
pray in public? Do we pray in a public restaurant or are we ashamed
to.

It is perfectly appropraite to ask the Lrod for things we desire.
However a prayed should not be "gimme, gimme, gimme Lord".
Also prayer is not effective without love (Matthew 22:36-39.
Never go to bed with your spouse angry. Always kiss and make-up.

What does Jesus want us to pray to the Father for?
1. Guidance - Psalm 143:10 - "Teach me to do thy will"
2. Strength - Ephesians 3:16
3. Love one another - 1 Thess. 3:11,12
4. Our daily bread - Matthew 6:11
5. Help in time of sickness James 5:16
Leadership of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives
7. Our needs, job, home, car, finances - 1 John 5:14,15
More faith - 1 John 5:14,15

What shouldn't we pray for?
1. God to hurt someone
2. Riches
3. To die

I hope you have a better understanding of prayer.
copyright2000 Theresa Q. Pavone,A.TH, B.TH
All rights reserved.